Project Children of Tomorrow – Why stop a good thing?
Every year, Greenheart awards Global Impact Grants to participants and alumni who want to make a difference in their world. In May 2022, one of our winners was Shannon from The United States, currently on a Teach in Thailand program. Recently, Shannon used her grant to create a workshop for the less-privileged youth of in Suan Phueng, teaching them English, Math, Sports and Arts in a camp-like setting. You can find her reflection video here. Here’s what she said about it:
When I first moved to Thailand, I knew a huge part of my purpose in this beautiful country was to help people. My friend and I immediately set out to find a place where we could sow into a community. Thankfully, we got connected to a village orphanage/child center in Suan Phueng, a city on the border of Thailand and Myanmar. Immediately, I could see that this community was open and receptive, healthy, and tight knit. Nonetheless, I wanted to find a fresh and fun way to invigorate and enrich the community there. I thought that implementing a “summer camp” once a month in the village would be the best way to do that. In the camp, we would have four stations: English, Math, Sports, and Art. I aimed to name this camp “Project Children of Tomorrow” (or “Project COT”) because I wanted to focus on investing in the youth who will be the world leaders of “tomorrow”. Thankfully, the idea of Project CoT was brewing at the same time Greenheart was giving grant opportunities, so I applied in good faith… and won! For me, the Impact Grant is what differentiated Greenheart from other travel programs and immediately hooked me into signing up with them. I knew the spirit of the Impact Grant aligned with my hopeful vision… today, I am especially glad I chose Greenheart!
A handful of my core goals with the grant was to
- Help the kids and people there improve their overall English skills
- Get kids excited and eager about learning via games and fun learning experiences; and
- Enrich the community holistically, such as teaching them tangible skills and intangible ones as well (i.e. teaching them first-hand about teamwork, patience, communal cooperation, confidence, kindness, etc.).
I am incredibly happy to say that I believe we have reached these goals and continue to improve in all these areas of each camp. The English comprehension levels of the attendees have soared through the roof. Their intangible skills like patience, teamwork, and respect have improved immensely; and the overall love and excitement for learning became more evident each camp. We also implemented an adult English station because some of the elders really liked what we were doing, so they wanted to join in on the learning and fun too!
I’m really proud of this project – I’m proud of the communal buy-in, the diversity and willingness of our volunteers, and I’m proud of what we have and will continue to accomplish each camp.
What’s next? Well, Project COT was initially supposed to be a six-month project. But with all the support, enthusiasm, and improvement surrounding the project, we decided to continue this camp indefinitely! Why stop a good thing? We will continue this project as long as I live in Thailand, but the greater goal is to pass the torch and maintain the camps far beyond my time here. I hope Project Children of Tomorrow will become a pillar in the Suan Phueng community!
Thank you Shannon for your hard work and dedication!
Click here if you’d like to donate to help Greenheart fund the Global Impact Grant program.