EIL Intercultural Learning

Naomi Meany, a student in social science from UCC in Cork, volunteered for 4 weeks in a a centre for single mothers with her friend Ciara Slattery:

I volunteered for four weeks at Wildflower Home in Northern Thailand. It was a home for pregnant women and mothers and their children who have found themselves in crisis situations. It was a great place to volunteer in and was a much-needed organisation. The women and children came from both Thailand and neighbouring countries including Vietnam, Laos and Burma. My time was mainly spent in the day-care centre with lots of children running around and playing. Which meant that I got to spend my time running around after them and playing games with them. We spent the time dancing, reading, doing arts and crafts and even taught them a few games that we used to play when we were younger. It was great to see them get excited over a new game and to be greeted by their smiling faces everyday.

I also taught an English class to some of the women in the afternoon. The classes were pretty difficult at the start but once I was settled into them they were great fun and I really started to look forward to them everyday. The language barrier was an issue at times but having Thai lessons really helped with this and the women and children tried to teach me Thai as well! So got a chance to pick up a lot of words thanks to them. They were great teachers! We had great support at all times and the volunteer co-ordinator was always available if you ever had a problem or a query.

The volunteer house was great and well situated. I really enjoyed living in a house with lots of other volunteers from all over the world and it was good to have people around that you could talk to at the end of your day. There was always lots of support available and the food was amazing!

 My time spent at Wildflower Home was great fun. The women and children were very welcoming and lots of fun. They were both great to be around and I truly learned a lot from them all, including the importance of organisations like WFH. I’m not going to lie and say it wasn’t hard at times, in both physical and emotional ways. Some things I came across were quite startling, particularly some of the women's stories. However, having said this, I am 100% sure that I wouldn’t have swapped this experience for anything in the world. I learned so much from lots of different people, especially the women and children, and I got to meet some amazing people, while being able to spend my time acting like a child, playing away happily. It was a unique experience and one that I will never forget.