SAC Camping Trip

4Kali was approached by the Peace Corps early in 2006 to see if we could accommodate a group of 16 students from Isan.  The children, aged from 14 to 16, were looking for an opportunity to volunteer in the Tsunami affected area.

4Kali as always was delighted to find a way to partner with other organizations and began planning the event from Phang Nga, almost 900 kilometres away from Isan.
Sarah had always wanted to hold an activity weekend with an overnight stay for the children on the SAC program but with limited resources, the logistics always seemed to be impossible.  After months of preparation, scheduling and many date changes 4Kali.org and Peace Corps finally agreed on a  weekend of the 12th / 13th /14th for a camping trip in Thai Muang National Park.  The dates coincided perfectly with Children’s Day and the 2nd Anniversary of 4Kali.org.

Four members of the Peace Corps, together with four Thai counterparts and 16 very excitable children, including two older ‘ringers’ who managed to sneak on the bus arrived on the 12th January. 

The children, many of whom had never left their village, were suddenly faced with beautiful surroundings, individual bungalows, a swimming pool, air conditioning and HOT water; this certainly helped to elevate the home sickness some of them were feeling and the tiredness of a 23 hour bus journey!

After a good night sleep 4Kali and the Isan group went to the campsite to set up tents and organize the schedule ready for the arrival of the Support-A-Child Children the next day.  The Isan group had an opportunity to plan their activities with the park rangers and enjoy an afternoon on the beach.

Bright and early on Saturday morning the 4Kali team were out finalizing details, ready to transport them to the park for lunchtime. David arrived at one of the schools to find some of the children had been waiting since 6am that morning! Davee had the difficult task of trying to co-ordinate and collect many of the children and parents who were arriving late due to their school Children’s Day festivities.

All the kids were signed in as they arrived at the park and the Isan children acting as mentors casually introduced themselves to our children.  After the initial formalities we headed to the parks restaurant, where lunch was ready and waiting for us. We had really delicious pork and rice meal topped with a fried egg. The kids went back for as many helpings as they could till they ate the kitchen dry!

After lunch had digested a little bit the children were put into four groups with four mentors per group. Everyone sat down in lines by their groups. Then one by one everyone stood up and introduced themselves using a microphone! Some of the children were shy, some were quite the opposite! After the introductions, as a way of an ice breaker Andy from the Sam and Ruby foundation brought supplies for an egg and spoon race! Everyone had a go, even the adults; there were some very inventive Thai variations to this traditional British game and lots of laughter.

Once the ice had been well and truly broken we all piled in to the Peace Corps bus and set off to Baan Lampi Water fall. When we got there we split into two groups and took two routes to the water fall. Both routes trekked through the forest, up hills, over fallen trees across streams, both groups went on a mini jungle adventure. All the children loved it, and weren't fazed by the giant bugs or ominous cobwebs, which is more than can be said of some of the grown ups! We all arrived at the waterfall and we struck with awe at the beauty of it. Some of the group climbed up a special path that led to the second tier of the waterfall. From there they had an inspiring view over the tree tops. Once everyone was ready to head home we piled back in to the bus and headed back to camp.

When we got back we played some big group games, our children learned some new songs from the Isan Group. Then we headed to the beach, a leisurely 1 minute walk away. On the beach we play so many great games, football, frisbee, building sand castles, burying each other in the sand! While some of the kids played on the beach the other more adventurous ones headed straight into the sea, the smaller of them will life jackets on. There were games of American football going on in the sea, children riding the waves, other children just floating about in the salty sea water. When it started to get dark everyone came back to the camp and had showers and freshened up for dinner. At dinner the 4Kali grown ups were given and extra special surprise, the children from Isan cooked up a local specialty: garlic fried beetles! David and Maria were the only ones to indulge and once the bug, shell, head, legs and all had been swallowed down the resounding result was that they were really tasty. Our kids loved the bugs too, and after dinner were found running about catching them!

Our next adventure was a moon lit one, along the beach quietly hunting for turtles. It was the season for sea turtles to lay their eggs, and we were hoping to catch a glimpse of them in action. We quietly walked up the beach with only small torches as our guide, so as not to disturb any turtles we might chance upon. Sadly we chanced upon no turtles. Although the moon lit walk was lovely in itself. We then stayed on the beach and 4Kali.org produced a surprise for everyone. We had brought Thai lanterns to mark the two year anniversary of our foundation. The Isan children were especially excited as they had never seen these lanterns before. The children were put in to small groups, with at least two older children in each group. Then with the help of the adults the children lit and set off their own lanterns. It was a beautiful sight and everyone spent a minute or two in silence just thinking. It truly was the perfect way to end the day. We all walked back to camp in quiet contemplation. Teeth were brushed, and faces washed and P.Js put on, and off to bed. Sarah and Emily were ready and prepared for a sleepless night full of over excited children, but they didn’t need to be. All the children once they climbed into their tents were fast asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillows!

At 6.00am sharp the next morning everyone was up and dressed, including the 4Kali SAC team; Aparna even managed to perfectly apply her eyeliner! The park rangers arranged us all into a big group and sat us down. We were going bird watching, and we need to be introduced to the equipment. There were super strength binoculars which were a definite favorite with the children. We trekked for maybe five minutes a little further into the park and set up camp. Everyone was super quiet and we waited patiently till we spotted some birds. Once the birds had been spotted the children took turns looking at them. Everyone was very well behaved and respectful of the nature surrounding them. By the time we got back to camp everyone was ready with a healthy appetite for breakfast, so their morning showers were super quick! Breakfast was delicious, with vegetable rice or a traditional Thai breakfast of rice soup. All the children as always ate heartily and didn’t stop till there was no more food to be had. Straight after breakfast the children were ushered back in to their four groups and given instructions. The Isan children with the Peace Corps had organised some group activities that were aimed at educating our children through play, this also gave the children from Isan an opportunity to practice their newly acquired leadership skills! The four groups were to do each activity in turn. There were games designed to educate them on aids awareness, ones teaching them communication and team work, one that taught them about the dangers of drinking and one that just gave them a chance to express any fears of concerns they had. These games made a real impact on the children, afterwards when asked questions about what they learned they were confidently nonchalant about their newly acquired knowledge, but it was clear they had got a lot out of it and it had reassured them about a lot of their personal concerns.

No one was ready to go when home time came. Everyone lingered about a bit longer than they needed to; everyone wanted the feeling and the weekend to last much much longer. Eventually all the kids were put in songtows or collected by their family members. Once all of 4Kali’s children were safely on their way home we took the Isan group back to our office to show them the work we do. With the help of the Peace Corps volunteers, who all speak impeccable Thai we explained the story of how 4Kali came about and the kind of work we do here in Thailand. We then showed them the Tsunami center which is full of educational information about Tsunami’s and how they come about. Once that was done they had a bit of free time, where some children went to the beach. Just before they were due to leave we all exchanged gifts. 4Kali were the happy and grateful recipients of some wonderfully fun and educational games which we can now play with our children.

Everyone at 4Kali had such an amazing weekend, the adults and children alike. None of it would have been possible with out the help of the Peace Corps and their Isan volunteers. They gave up so much of their time and came such a long way. For them, as well as us it was the first camp of its kind and it really did encourage us all to believe it was both possible and worthwhile. Also we need to thank everyone at the Tai Muang National Park, the rangers were brilliant, the food was fabulous and the place is just idyllic. 4Kali.org feels incredibly lucky to have had such an inspiring weekend.