This has been indeed another busy year for VSP's frequent visitor Firbank Grammar from Australia. With this visit Firbank brought 100 students and 10 staff to Chiang Mai where they were split into four groups. Each took part in one of four rotational parts which represent the four main themes of the trip: History & Culture, Environment, Community Service and experiencing Southern Thailand at Krabi.
During the seventeen days Firbank was here, each group took turns to travel to Samoeng District and each took part in a one-week community service project at Wat Pangterm School. The school has 80 primary students and it needed a medical room to be able to provide immediate care for children. This is also the first project to be done at Wat Pangterm school and needless to say Firbank girls and staff eagerly participated on all fronts.
Over the course of three weeks the students and staff of Firbank mixed a phenomenal amount of cement and concrete for the construction of the base floor, sawed and hammered countless lengths of wood for the structure of the building, and still had time to come up with a beautiful design for the wall painting! During down-time students had the chance to interact with local children at the school gaining an insight into rural Thai culture and observing interesting differences between the life of these children compared to their own in Australia.
On the second-last day in Chiang Mai, all Firbank students and staff went to Samoeng one more time to join in with the school for their farewell party and the inauguration of the brand-new medical room. It was a superb effort from Firbank Grammar as once again their diligent support to Northern Thailand brought joy and happiness to the community.
