In October VSP had the pleasure of hosting HKIS for a week of service and adventure. The group of twenty-five students and two teachers took advantage of Chiang Mai’s picturesque countryside by mountain biking, kayaking and zip-lining. Back on campus they completed our low ropes course and were also given the opportunity to cook a three-course meal at our cooking school.
On perhaps the most memorable day, HKIS set off to visit a rural kindergarten about an hour from the Traidhos campus. VSP has been visiting the kindergarten frequently over the last few years, doing our part to help its relocation from the village temple to a new plot of land, by building classrooms. Now that the classrooms are finished we are building a dormitory for schoolchildren. This project is the combined effort of several schools, of which HKIS is the second to participate and they finished off constructing the walls that American International School Hong Kong started the previous week.
Luckily for HKIS, the kindergarten is situated just a short drive away from Pang Daeng, where there is a peaceful camp that we frequently use for overnight stays in the area. According to one of our newest staff members the drive in question is probably one of the most beautiful in the world, with great views of Doi Luang Chiang Dao – one of Thailand’s tallest and most iconic mountains.