Überblick:

Disabled Children Thailand

Volunteering to assist with disabled children is a valuable and worthwhile way to spend your time overseas. Our affordable long-term volunteer placement at the Kathu Special Education Center in Phuket, Southern Thailand, provides a safe and educational haven for disabled, autistic, and deaf children from ages four to sixteen.

The school aims to provide the children with a caring and stimulating environment to help them reach their potential in life. The school cares for around 25 children who come to the school on a daily bases from the surrounding area.

Location

The school is located in the district of Kathu, on Thailand's largest island, Phuket, on the stunning Andaman Coast. The school is only a 30-minute ride from picturesque Phuket town and around 20 minutes to the famous beaches of Patong and Kamala.

Volunteers can take local transport to explore around the island. There are several small shops near the school and plenty of local restaurants for you to savor the local dishes in the mornings and evenings.

Program Availability

You can volunteer at the school for two up to four weeks at any time except for public holidays when the school is closed.

Skills and Qualifications

Both skilled and unskilled volunteers are welcome at the school, as everyone has a valuable contribution to make. Skilled volunteers can share their expertise and wisdom with the staff and children. Non-skilled volunteers can provide the individual human contact that overworked staff may be unable to provide on a daily basis.

We ask that all volunteers are:

• comfortable with and enjoy working with children and teenagers, especially those with special needs
• open-minded, proactive, and patient
• willing to accept new ideas and be respectful of different cultures
• independent, mature, and flexible
• willing to learn some basic Thai

The children do have special needs and sometimes they may scratch or pull your hair unintentionally. You have to be mentally prepared for these incidents.

Ablauf:

Activity

Upon arrival, an Andaman Discoveries coordinator will introduce you to the staff at the center, show you to

your accommodation, and make sure that you are settled before starting classes.

You will be assisting the teachers at the centre ensuring that the children receive the attention that they need. All the children learn together as much as they can, spending time in classes aimed at developing their social skills such as arts and crafts, life skills, dancing, reading, and meditation.

With the help of the volunteers, the children can receive dedicated attention which will help the children get the most out of the day. The school has tools and equipments to meet the children's special needs.

Sample Daily Schedule

Food and Accommodation

Accommodation is basic but clean, comfortable and close to the school. Volunteers will have a bed, pillow, blanket and fan. Lunch is provided at the school and you will eat with the staff at specified times. There are local restaurants within walking distance for breakfast and dinner.

Flights and Transportation

Transfer will be arranged from Phuket International Airport to the school. Our coordinator will introduce you to the school staff and the children. Public transport (songtaew) is available for independent travel to shopping center, movie theatre, the beaches and other regional attractions.

Safety and Insurance

You should consider purchasing a travel insurance policy, which includes medical emergency. Make sure that all activities you plan to do both with us and in your own time are covered. Some activities, such as diving, are not covered by some insurers.

Support materials

We encourage our volunteers to learn some Thai words as well as to teach some English during their trip. And we have developed a Thai-English phrasebook and we highly encourage you to print it out and use it during your stay in Thailand.

Previous volunteers have developed a useful homestay pack with flashcards, which you can print out and laminate before you leave. It will help you communicate with the local people and it contains ideas for games and activities.

Details:

The price per person for our Special School placements ranges from approximately 6,300 Baht to 11,100 Baht per week in the high season and from 5,000 Baht to 7,250 Baht per week in the low season, always depending on the duration of your stay.

Our Prices Include:

• Donation to the school
• Lunch in school
• Accommodation in the area
• One-way transfer from Phuket International Airport to the school
• Financial contribution to regional social and environmental projects
• Support from bilingual Andaman Discoveries staff
• 7 percent Value-Added Tax

Our prices exclude:

• Flights and visas
• Vaccinations and travel insurance
• Expenses outside of school
• Transfer from the school to your next destination
• Other personal items and expenses

Reiseveranstalter/Unterkunftsanbieter

Andaman Discoveries
120/2 Sukapiban 3 Road
Moo 1, Kura
Kuraburi District
Phang Nga Province, Thailand 82150

Nachhaltigkeit:

Community-based tourism

The villagers — the guides, host families, handicraft cooperatives — receive fair wages as stipulated by the Community-based Tourism Committee.

We ensure that the majority of the money of each trip goes directly back to the villagers and a portion of guests' in-village costs is donated to the community/conservation fund.

The fund supports the continuation of local conservation projects and village-led programs, such as scholarships. Proceeds from tourism creates concrete economic opportunity for the villagers who may otherwise have to find employment outside the village.

All Andaman Discoveries activities and itineraries are designed in collaboration with the villagers themselves, based around the principles of community-based tourism.

Andaman Discoveries is committed to providing local people with a complimentary source of income while still continuing their traditional way of life.

Our translators allow guests to really engage with the villagers and assist the local guide when highlighting points of interest and explaining the region’s fascinating eco-systems.

Andaman Discoveries strives to maintain financial transparency. We believe it is socially responsible to make our spending publicly available to guests, volunteers, and other businesses. The pie chart below outlines our spending in 2009. Please see the details of each category for further details.

We support the communities in which we work by putting excess revenue back into village and organizational projects that directly support livelihoods and the well being of individuals.

For example, Andaman Discoveries supports youth scholarships, ecotourism projects, and village guide trainings.

Wild Asia's Responsible Tourism Award

Wild Asia's Responsible Tourism Awards is an annual event to recognize tourism accommodation providers in Asia that are making a difference. Established by Wild Asia in 2006, the awards are the first of their kind in Asia, as we are committed to conduct site visits and ground research, all to reward excellence in responsible tourism.

We believe that sustainable destinations can be made a reality by promoting, sharing and inspiring change from within the travel industry. To do so, we have aligned our Responsible Tourism Checklist according to the UN's Sustainable Tourism Criteria. The criteria "serves as the minimum standard that any tourism business should aspire to reach in order to protect and sustain the world's natural and cultural resources while ensuring tourism meets its potential as a tool for poverty alleviation." The Awards have given us the opportunity to highlight operators that are making a significant difference based on these criteria serving as tool to reach and inspire others.

Wild Asia is a social enterprise working to support the conservation of natural areas and the communities dependent upon their resources. Our ultimate goal is to promote sustainable practices that will minimise adverse impacts on the environment, ensure that local communities are engaged and that local cultures are respected.

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