Wow What a Day
It is now 21:00 and after a very quick shower this is the
first opportunity we have had to sit down and think about our blog.
Where to start, well if we are doing things in chronological
order we had better start with the group meetings. For Peter this started with a fascinating
discussion about how the YMCA in Chennai are supporting the Tamils, ether
returning from Sri Lanka as returners or refugees (it is important to understand
the difference between the two) with the refugees needing a lot of support with
conflict resolution and training.
Peter was also inspired by Gritt (from Denmark’s) passion to
get the young people of Denmark involved in recycling.
Beth felt her group really bonded today. When talking about the problems facing the
young people in YMCA’s globally and the challenges local branches are feeling,
the group discovered that from England to Peru, Panama to Sweden, across the
pond to Canada and back to Germany and Romania many of the challenges are the
same. Many YMCA’s are beginning to open
doors, invite the community in and become more inclusive, but for a lot of the
group, really understanding our young people and what they need is a
challenge.
Olivia’s group agreed and recognised that mental health is a real issue across the globe. Feeling as though a high standard of training is a must, to understand the different areas of mental health, but also how to support those who have a mental health illness.
Olivia’s group agreed and recognised that mental health is a real issue across the globe. Feeling as though a high standard of training is a must, to understand the different areas of mental health, but also how to support those who have a mental health illness.
After lunch the YMCA party, which consists of 6 of us, all
headed off in different directions to join the group excursions. After a tour of Chiang Mai walls, Peter’s
group went to a temple where he was honoured to plant a tree and as a result
become wedded to that temple.
I say honoured but this was not a ceremonial placing a spade full of dirt on prepared plant but 15 minutes of proper graft in the hot sun. Still it’s a good job done and Peter says he will now need to make regular trips back to Chaing Mai to check on its progress. I wander if our YMCA will pay for this?
I say honoured but this was not a ceremonial placing a spade full of dirt on prepared plant but 15 minutes of proper graft in the hot sun. Still it’s a good job done and Peter says he will now need to make regular trips back to Chaing Mai to check on its progress. I wander if our YMCA will pay for this?
Beth’s group visited the Mon Tha Than Waterfall in Doi Sutep
– Pui National Park, followed by a visit to the Buddhist Palad Temple. Beth really enjoyed visiting the national
park and getting out of the city for a few hours. The nature trail (although muddy) was great
fun and the group managed to spot butterflies, dragon flies and some great
fluffy caterpillars. However, the
highlight of Beth’s day was the visit to the Temple, hosted by Prof . Dr Wasan
Jompakdee from Chiang Mai University and one of the Temple monks. The Temple was in the middle of the forest,
surrounded by natural beauty and the group were taught how to correctly enter
and leave a Temple, praying three times, and learnt how to sit correctly,
keeping your feet facing away from the front of the temple. Beth’s favourite quote of the day was from
the Monk she met at the temple who said ‘Nature is an international language, listen
to the waterfall, birds and forest and hear them, let them become your friends’
– Beth is taking this back to Fairthorne Manor to use with her Forest school
group!
Olivia, Georgia and Katy’s group got the opportunity to
visit YMCA international centre Chiang Mai where they had a presentation on
Human trafficking and how they have been helping to tackle this problem since
the new law was brought in, in 2008. They have come up with a great approach to
this piece of vital work. After the presentation they got to have dinner with
all the delegates in their group and watch a fantastic performance from the
change agents.
Before they Visited the YMCA centre, they had a great time at the Elephant PooPoo paper park where they were taught how to make sustainable paper using Elephant poo. They were all very surprised that it didn’t smell bad and no chemicals or machinery were used. They then got to make the paper themselves and decorate their own note book to take home. Overall, they had lots of fun and found it very knowledgeable. This has given them great ideas on how we can use the same approaches within their own, early years and housing, work.
Before they Visited the YMCA centre, they had a great time at the Elephant PooPoo paper park where they were taught how to make sustainable paper using Elephant poo. They were all very surprised that it didn’t smell bad and no chemicals or machinery were used. They then got to make the paper themselves and decorate their own note book to take home. Overall, they had lots of fun and found it very knowledgeable. This has given them great ideas on how we can use the same approaches within their own, early years and housing, work.
A final thought to end on
That’s it, its getting late and
we need to prepare ourselves physically and mentally for tonight’s game.
Come on England
The Fairthorne Team
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