Siddal Moor Ambassadors visit Thailand

Siddal Moor Ambassadors visit Thailand

4 More Image(s) In Gallery

The trip to Thailand was helping pioneer a completely new venture and playing a vital role in further developing the students International Links project.

This was also a chance to see the results of the work students have put into this project to date, and to take their role of Student Ambassadors and representatives of Siddal Moor to a new level. Moreover, it offered students the chance to experience and immerse themselves in a completely different culture in a rich, vibrant and fascinating part of the world.

A 'Link’ project is taking place between us here at Siddal Moor and a school in the South of Thailand called The Unified Learning Centre (ULC).

The students at the school are Burmese and their families have migrated to that area to get a better chance at life. The school is in Phang Nga Province, South Thailand, and provides education for over 400 children from the Burmese community in and around Takuapa. The school is called ‘The Unified Learning Centre’ because, like our school, it is two separate schools that have merged into one brand new building.

The ULC was recently built due to the other schools being unpractical. Some classrooms had corrugated roofs and bamboo and plastic sheeting for walls therefore it was incredibly difficult to be educated in. The new school was funded by the charity The Foundation for Education and Development (FED).

FED is a humanitarian organisation that is dedicated to providing aid or help to those that need it the most. FED are working to promote education, human rights, and safe working practices for Burmese migrants and their families in Southern Thailand. Their main objectives are:

• Providing education to the children of Burmese migrant workers;
• Promoting job opportunities and fostering a safe and lawful environment for Burmese migrant workers;
• Bridging Thai and Burmese communities

Whilst in Thailand the students also visited a Turtle Sanctuary, fed elephants and trekked through the jungle to the Chonga Fa Waterfalls.

The students were also invited to a Buddhist Temple to celebrate the full moon and to see the initiation ceremony of the new monks.

In the diary the students wrote every day for the school website, this was one of the highlights of the trip because it was such a surreal experience and not something that tourists get to see.

The students and staff arrived safely back on Friday afternoon and from first reports had a truly amazing time.