Spencer in the Community

Nigel at the orphanage

30-06-2006

Nigel Bayne, part of the Spencer team, loved teaching English in Bangkok. He'd been doing it ever since he completed the TEFL Teacher Training course with Spencer International almost three years ago. But, Nigel wanted something more fulfilling. Something that made him feel as though he was making a difference.

So, with the support of Spencer International, Nigel went to volunteer in an orphanage, and a new adventure began...

Nigel works for part of the week at Wat Kaew School, in Ang Tong, about a hundred kilometers from Bangkok, and for the rest of the week he works at a large primary school in northern Bangkok, for Spencer International. Wat Kaew School sits on the banks of the Chao Phraya River, surrounded by temples and paddy fields. The river is much smaller than its downstream version, and much calmer. The opposite back is crowded with trees, and children splash about in the light brown water amid scatterings of fishing boats.

Wat Kaew School is dedicated to orphans and children from difficult circumstances; many are from the northern hill areas of Thailand. There are around a thousand children in the school, which hosts its own hospital, two large boarding facilities, a lovely playing field and a wonderfully friendly temple with its own derelict hearse from the mid-1970s parked near the crematorium.

Nigel teaches 8 classes of Mathayom 1, 2 and 3, and a few kindergarten classes. For his trouble, Nigel gets a small townhouse on the school campus and all his meals. But wait, there's more! He also gets to live in one of the most peaceful places I'd been to in ages this close to Bangkok. As he showed me around, Nigel was greeted, hailed, smiled at and just generally treated like everyone's best friend. Being the school's first foreign teacher, he has had the opportunity to make a real impact on the English ability of the students in his classes, and they definitely seem to appreciate his efforts.

Normally, children in this kind of environment would not be able to study with foreign teachers. Not only are the number of teachers willing to work in remote areas like this one relatively low, but the money to pay for salaries for such staff is non-existent. Yes, the benefits of having someone like Nigel on the staff are immense. Increased ability to communicate in English is only the start. Having Nigel around makes these students more comfortable and confident around foreigners, and exposes them to western approaches to live. As much as Nigel is learning about Thai culture, his students are learning about ways that are foreign to them.

There are difficulties, he admits. The school is rather isolated, limiting the scope of the friends he has. But it's not too bad, he smiles, we are only 16 kilometers from Ayuthaya. It's only 2 hours maximum to Bangkok where I spend 3 days a week. I have a lot of friends there. The amount of attention he attracts is also draining and the lack of privacy must be a little frustrating at times.

It's not easy for me to leave the peace and quiet behind as I head back to Bangkok. Somehow, I feel, Nigel has got it right. There is more to EFL teaching than just the money. I suppose it's just a matter of searching for it.