Wanderlust: Expat Life & Style in Thailand Dec / Jan 2017: Special Edition | Page 31

Kids & Education
don’t have a lot of budget, so we
are raising money and asking for
help from families,” Lila says.
Through volunteering, the students gain important lessons
about organization, event planning, budgeting and the execution
of tasks. They learn the importance
of clear and continual communication, too.
But, first and foremost, what
they learn about are the importance of charity and the joy of
giving.
Commenting on the videos and
photos of the children receiving
their Giving Tree bags last year,
English teacher John Frayssinhes
says, “It was nice to see their smiles.”
All involved—the teachers, students and the Karen hill tribe children—have something wonderful
to look forward to this December.
In 2015, LFIB students collected
360 bags. Each bag was packed
with presents that the children
from the Karen hill tribe had specifically requested. This year they
will try for the same, with a goal
of 300 to 350 bags—enough for
about three villages.
The Karen children send in personalized wish lists to the LIFB students. Like many children, they
ask for cars, books, games or dolls.
Then the LFIB students spend time
researching what the children really need and find out about each
child’s taste in terms of color. One
child might ask for a blue dress and
another child for a white shirt, for
example. Some just ask for stickers. (And there might be a plea for
animal stickers or pirate stickers, in
particular.) But mostly, due to the

harsh winter in Thailand’s north,
they ask for warm winter jackets.
The project is a noble endeavor, though it isn’t easy.
Communication and keeping to
a short schedule (just one hour a
week) are two of the biggest challenges, Lila explains. There are also
concerns about the budget: “We

KAREN PEOPLE
There are approximately
1,000,000 Karen people living
in Thailand. The Karen people
comprise the largest of the hill
tribes in the country.

Only women in a subgroup
of Karen, called the
Padaung, wear as many
as 32 brass rings around
their necks. This unique
cultural tradition attracts
controversial attention from
tourists. It is a painful to the
wear the rings, and many
Padaung women in Thailand
feel pressured to continue
the tradition of the rings for
economic reasons.

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