In March 2019, four of Yaowawit children have graduated from their secondary schools–three from Phang Nga Technical College and one from Kapongpittayakom School. They are very grateful for the support you have given them. Without it, they had no means to achieve this level of education. Now young adults, they have got their own plans and ideas on how they are going to move forward in life and contribute to their communities.

Lek

Lek started her education at Yaowawit from kindergarten to primary school. While boarding at Yaowawit, she completed High School Grades 1 to 3 at Kapongpittayakom School and then won a full scholarship to study at Phang Nga Technical Vocational College (equivalent to High School Grades 4 to 6). Now graduated with a specialisation in hotel management, she has applied for a scholarship and a government loan to further her education in the same area at Prince of Songkhla University in Surat Thani.

Narm

Narm was admitted to Yaowawit when she was already in High School Grade 1. Like Lek, she also won a scholarship to study at Phang Nga Technical Vocational College after High School Grade 3 at Kapongpittayakom. In addition to majoring in hotel management, she focused on learning Chinese. Her Chinese language skills brought her to Tianjin Maritime University in China as an exchange student. Now that she graduated from her college, the university has invited her back to continue her education on a scholarship.

Yu

Like Lek, Yu also began her formal education at Yaowawit from kindergarten to primary school. After completing High School Grade 3 at Kapongpittayakom, she won a scholarship to study at Phang Nga Technical Vocational College. Now graduated from the college majoring in hotel management, she is going to take a gap year first by working at a dive shop in Khao Lak because she is now greatly interested in scuba diving and the industry that revolves around it.

Por

Like his younger sister Lek, Por also came to Yaowawit when he was in kindergarten. After completing his primary school at Yaowawit, he continued his high school (Grades 1-6) at
Kapongpittayakom, while boarding at Yaowawit. Now graduated, he is also taking a gap year first by working at a restaurant on Ko Phayam island, which is famous for seafood, pristine mangroves, and sea gypsy communities where Por is originally from. Por hopes not only to earn some money but also to learn how his communities can supply fresh sea fishes to restaurants in a sustainable way on the island.

Although these graduates are now living someplace else, they still consider Yaowawit being their home. They stay in touch with their teachers and give advice and support to the children at Yaowawit. If you want to find out more about them, please contact us at sponsoring@yaowawit.org.

Occasionally one of Yaowawit children manages to build up enough confi dence in themselves to take the opportunity to study abroad and live on their own far away from their family. This time, Narm has become such a child. Through diligence and perseverance, she has learned to speak Chinese and maintain her academic grades, qualifying her to be admitted into Tianjin Maritime College in Tianjin province, China, on a scholarship for an undergraduate study in logistics and power generation technology.

Although the scholarship covers tuition fees, accommodation, transport, and books, it does not cover her allowance. Therefore, she needs your support. As her visa does not allow her to work in China other than course related, she cannot earn money to cover the costs for food and personal necessities which amount roughly to $300 a month.

Narm is confident to complete her studies within three years. She is totally dedicated to learning the academic language and to adapt to the Chinese culture. Because of that, Yaowawit believes in her. She will be able to conduct herself responsibly on her own as an adult and a role model for other Yaowawit
children.

To support Narm, please contact us at sponsoring@yaowawit.org.

Yaowawit strives to make its English camp unique—that is, the learning experience must be different from a regular learning experience in daily school activities. Because of that, Yaowawit chose ecology in order to connect children closer to nature this time.

And the camp hosted 60 children (an equal number of boys and girls) who came from different provinces across Thailand. To ensure they made friends and had fun with one an-other from the very beginning, we held various games for ice breaking and team building including singalong, quiz night and treasure hunt alongside the main activities, which included English classes that introduced them to growing plants for food, weather patterns, clean energy, environment protection, and pollution prevention.

Other activities involved science experiments (with static electricity and balloon inflation), smart search (using Google search), art and craft (using coconut leaves to weave baskets and fishes), and farm workshops (making seed balls, goat milk soap, worm compost, and natural dyes). Outside Yaowawit, the children visited the Sea Turtle Conservation Center in Phang Nga. Furthermore, stretching, yoga, swimming, meditation, and dream travelling were part of their everyday activities.

Our next year’s camp will be different from this one. Therefore, your children will learn different experience. Please stay in touch: Yaowawit will contact you for the camp.

Early in the morning, Yaowawit children (Grades 1-6 including some high schoolers) together with their teachers were already on their way to Bangkok. It took 4 vans for the whole group for a 10-hour journey. Like other motor show trips in the previous years, this year’s trip had also been sponsored by Bangkok International Motor Show and Mercedes-Benz Thailand.

Halfway to Bangkok, the children had some breaks for lunch at Cha-am, popular for sea resorts and white sand beaches, and for sightseeing at King Rama II Memorial Park in Samut Songkhram province. Arrived in Bangkok in the evening, the children were not tired but still excited with all the places they had never seen before. They went on exploring a street market, where they had dinner.

The next day, the children spent almost the whole day at Bangkok Safari World. The zoo showed them various exotic animals, like zebras, giraffes and lions, that they had never seen at close range before. Th at evening, they had dinner at a different street market. And on their last day in Bangkok, they visited the motor show, where they got the VIP treatment for the whole day–assisted by many motor show pageants, delicious buffets for lunch and dinner, and car drive tests among others. In the middle of so many visitors, many motor show staff called our children aside for taking picture with them. Th e children felt quite like celebrities that day. Going back to Yaowawit, they fell asleep with big smiles on their faces all the way home.

Obviously, Bangkok has many other attractions for children. Yaowawit children also want to visit any of those next time. If you want to sponsor the trips, please contact us at sponsoring@yaowawit.org.

Teaching Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) has been emphasised in primary education through-out Thailand in the last three years. And Yaowawit has played an active role in it since our teachers were certified as STEM mentors by the Institute for the Promotion of Teaching Science and Technology (IPST). Therefore, Yaowawit is permitted to hold STEM workshops for teachers from primary schools.

This week’s workshop topic was teaching solar system and star clusters to Grades 4, 5, and 6. It was attended by 60 teachers from 8 schools in Kapong and other nearby districts. The goal was to motivate students in those grades to learn the topic through fun and hands-on projects that they can build themselves using everyday materials.

Up to now these workshops are held in Thai only but in the future, we also plan to hold them in English so that international teachers can also partake in the workshops. And although this week’s participants did not stay overnight at Yaowawit because they live nearby, Yaowawit is also capable of accommodating up to 50 participants at Yaowawit Lodge. So, if you need any STEM workshop for Thai teachers, Yaowawit is ready to provide one. If you need the details about the workshop, please contact us at info@yaowawit.org.