One Month, Two social Causes – My Volunteering Experience in Thailand
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I got the opportunity to be a part of two very important social causes in the rural parts of the Surin region in Thailand for one month; Medical Project and Childcare. The entire month was divided into each volunteering project with two weeks to each. It included 8 hours of volunteer work a day on average and 4 days a week in total.
It started with the medical project where I volunteered at a free clinic that served 14 local villages with 7,000 people overall. Each day was split into two parts: mornings at the clinic and wellness checks at the elementary schools. During the morning, seven others and myself would perform and observe a variety of tasks with the assistance of the two nurses that were working each day. These tasks included the following: wound dressings, wound packaging, wound cleaning, immunization injections, and diagnoses of common illnesses such as Dengue fever. After the morning tasks were completed, all of the volunteers would travel to a different school everyday to give the children their annual physicals. Each volunteer worked at a different station everyday, and each station served as a different aspect towards the patient’s physical. There were six stations overall, and they included the following: 1) height, weight, BMI station 2) blood type and glucose testing 3) vision station 4) hearing station 5) blood pressure station and 6) physical examination.
For the remaining two weeks of my stay in Surin, I volunteered my time at a childcare center that assisted 40 children aged 2-5 years old. I was thrilled to know that the specific childcare i worked at was built by the previous batch of volunteers and, is constantnly improving through construction and renovations. For the most part, each day had a similar routine: help the kids with snack time, education (reading and singing Thai and English), exercise through song and dance, arts and crafts, play time with the toys, lunchtime, and nap-time. The last week that myself and the three other volunteers were at the childcare, we were able to make new books for the children to learn English through animals and the alphabet and we were able to make a flower garden outside of the facility.
Overall, I had an incredible time working with the patients and children, and also getting a brilliant exposure to an entirely different culture as well. This experience overall was extremely worthwhile for my future; not only because I was able to gain experience and observe techniques in a foreign country, but also due to the fact that I want to be a Pediatrician upon completion of my undergraduate degree. Volunteering Solutions was able to provide me with memories that will last a lifetime and allowed me to travel the world while making a difference towards issues that I am extremely passionate about.
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