Going to the school

Saturday, 10 Feb 2007 | Journal

After having received a few more suggestions for my ‘do good for my birthday’ project, I have just decided that I have settled on going for the visiting of the school idea. It was the first idea and still the one that appeals to me the most.

I love the fact that it has something to do with kids, kids are the future of any country and so to provide kids with support in any way is always a good thing. Even if it as small a thing as buying them lunch. One of the ideas I loved about the water buffalo story is how it had nothing to do with established charities but was just a little thing. So here is the plan.

When

I will be leaving Bangkok on the 15th and return on the 17th of this month. My actual birthday, Friday the 16th of February, is when I plan to visit the school.

Where

Nat suggested this idea to me and so we are visiting the school she went when she was a kid. That means we are traveling to a village near the city of Kalasin to do this. Kalasin is quite far from Bangkok (over 500 km), but that will give me all the more chance to see more of this country. Well, I don’t know how much I can actually see sitting on a bus and making such a short trip. But whatever.

Budget

The total cost of this trip if I were to do it barebones is about 450 euro. About 1/3rd of that budget is spent on the food and other things for the kids, 1/3rd is spent locally in Kalasin for a hotel for me, food for the ‘team’ and getting everything everywhere. About 1/3rd is spent on travel expenses from and back to Bangkok, either by coach or minibus.

I will be spending a little more than that. I have to fly back for instance, because I have a rather important event to attend the night of the 17th. But the extra expenses for luxuries like that are not included in the budget as defined above.

While 450 euro is quite a hefty sum for someone living on their savings, I have decided the experience is worth the money. Nonetheless I am delighted to announce that Natalie has decided to contribute towards the budget as well. She felt it was a better birthday present than buying and mailing me something and I love her for it!

The Plan

Preparations for the trip has already started. The school is being informed about the plan. It was also suggested to buy notebooks and pencils for the higher grades, which I will buy from the supermarket near my home. I don’t know exactly where I will buy the toys like footballs and what not, I’m not sure how much stuff I could bring with me when travelling on a minibus. A general plan, as described below, exists but since this is Thailand many things are likely to not go exactly as planned. We’ll see how it works out.

The trip from Bangkok to Kalasin will be either by coach or minibus. The price is about the same, a minibus I’m told is faster, makes less stops and above all comes to pick me up at my home and drops me in front of the hotel. I’m a little scared about space for my legs, so the decision has not been made just yet.

We’ll leave in the night of the 14th and arrive in Kalasin early morning of the 15th. It’s a 10 hour trip during which I probably won’t sleep a whole lot. So I’ll catch up a little in the hotel while Nat goes to visit her family and in the afternoon have a look around Kalasin. The night of the 15th I’ll probably turn in early, as the 16th is going to be a very early morning.

Preparations for the lunch start at 5am when the food is to be bought at the market. Exactly what to buy I’m sure I will have plenty of advisers for. Sometime during the morning I’ll go to the school to prepare everything. The school has two buildings, one for the really small kids until about 5 years old I think and one for the older kids till 11 years old. I’ll discuss with the school what is best as far as where to go first.

After lunch I will have a look around the area and perhaps have a little birthday drink with Nat’s family. I have been warned about misinterpretations of me visiting someone’s family, but Nat assures me she will be informing her family about this ahead of time. And then it’s back to the hotel, where I’m sure I’ll have a great night sleep after a day like this. In the morning I’ll have to find my way to the airport and fly back in the afternoon.