Hello friendly denizens of International House! Here’s a brief message from this year’s TREAD team.
What’s all this about?
Essentially, a team of IH-ers go to Thailand each January to teach English in a school (Suksasongkhraw Nang Rong School, Nang Rong district, Buriram Province). TREAD stands for Thai Rural Education And Development, and we aim to improve living conditions, education and life opportunities for children in schools and people in villages throughout rural Thailand. We also check out a bunch of the local schools in order to determine projects to which we’d like to allocate funding.
Funding? Where does that come from?
We’re in touch with a lot of Rotaries who are very generous, and we also apply for grants and do a lot of fundraising! The fundraising is where you’ll mostly hear about us, we’ll be selling things and generally trying to raise money and awareness about the project!
Why is this really cool?
Firstly, everyone here on the team loves working with kids, so the opportunity to help out in a school is really exciting! Secondly, because we get to spend a month in the area and actually speak to the people who run the projects we’re funding, we get the opportunity to have a really realistic and sensitive view on what we can do to help, totally informed by the Thai people actually working in the schools. Thirdly, it’s a groovy intercultural experience for everyone involved (even the wider student body to some extent!). Groovy intercultural experiences are a huge part of living here at our wonderful college, and TREAD is a way we can stretch our global muscles and become members of our international community.
How can I get involved/help out?
We’d love support in fundraising! There’s only four of us, and we can’t do as much as we’d like. If you know any Rotaries that we could get in contact with, or any effective fundraising methods from past experience, please do let us know.
Who are you guys, anyway?
This year’s team consists of Evie Dowling, Bridget Loughhead, Christine Tee and Amelia (Millie) Boland. We’re all really keen and happy to answer any questions you may have about TREAD!
