Page 4 T uesday , March 31 , 2015 newsroom@sherbrookerecord.com The Record

By Lauren Cavanagh

My departure from MaeSot in December wasbittersweet. It was filled

with goodbyes from my stu-dents and fellow teachers, butonly after an amazing visitfrom my parents and boyfriend.It was an honour to show myloved ones the place I fell inlove with, and I think their visithelped them understand whyMae Sot had become my happyplace. My parents went back toCanada, and my boyfriend and Icontinued our travels throughThailand, Myanmar, and In-donesia. Having him with medulled the ache of leaving MaeSot, but it didn’t stop my brainfrom constantly processing thelast six months of my life.

For a long time, I questionedwhether I had made the rightdecision in leaving Mae Sot andnot seeing through the acade-mic year with my students.When I left, there was no one totake over my classes. I foundmyself wondering: doesn’t thatmake what I did unsustainable?Wasn’t there someone morequalified than I was who couldhave been a better teacher? Didmy students benefit from mypresence? Did I even make adifference?

Now that I am back inCanada and have had time to re-flect, some of my questionshave been answered. I realizethat leaving Mae Sot with noone to take over my position didundermine the sustainability ofmy contribution. However, Ialso realize that the issue of sus-

tainability is a problem thatmany organizations and theirpartners face and a challengethat will require commitmentand creativity to overcome, notonly on the part of the organi-zations, but also on the part ofthe recipient communities.

I realize that the odds arethat there are many peoplemore qualified than I am whocould have been a teacher formy ESL students. While I didtake the Teaching EnglishGrammar class at Bishop’s Uni-versity and participated inworkshops to expand my skillsas a volunteer teacher, therewere many scenarios that I wasunprepared for. However, as agraduate of political studies,combined with the training Idid receive, I was able to teachto the best of my ability, and Ilearned along the way. My stu-dents learned along with me,and in many respects, theytaught me just as much as Itaught them.

Recently, I got some newsthat told me that my studentsdid in fact benefit from mypresence. I learned that six ofmy pre-GED students passed awritten entrance exam for aGED (General EducationDiploma) program in Mae Sot. Iam overwhelmed with pride asI think of hours spent on gram-mar lessons and writing skillsthat have paid off for these sixstudents. With that in mind, Irealize that I have helped makea difference, no matter howsmall.

In light of these realizations,I can finally see the big pictureof the Mae Sot Education Pro-

ject. With the project’s supportbehind me, I was allowed theopportunity to grow on my ownand with a school community. Ilearned, more than ever, thevalue of human connection andkindness and the importance ofproviding a helping hand with-out overriding community val-ues or imposing direction thatfurthers unsustainable rela-tionships between organiza-tions and partners. A whole lotof good comes out of this pro-

ject, and at the end of the day, Ithink that’s what matters most.

Lauren Cavanagh was a 2014 MaeSot Education Project Volunteer

Editor’s note: This articlewas provided by the Mae Sot Ed-ucation Project, a communityproject based at Bishop’s Uni-versity and Champlain College.Since 2004, the program hasprovided assistance to sixschools for migrant and refugee

youth from Myanmar whose ac-cess to education depends onsupport from the internationalcommunity. The project’s web-site is www.maesot.ubishops.ca.

The program will be holdingits annual Thai-Burmese Dinneron April 25. To reserve a placeat a table (or an entire table)call 819-346-7278. There is alsoa murder mystery dinner onApril 19, and tickets are avail-able from volunteer Jonah Bald-win at 819-588-2070.

Volunteering abroad with the Mae Sot Project:Some thoughts on sustainability

COURTESY

Lauren Cavanagh (standing) with some of her students. She was a volunteer with the Mae Sot program in the lasthalf of 2014.

CONT’D FROM PAGE 1

According to Springate, stu-dents participated in four dif-ferent workshops over thecourse of the week based onpreferenced they had indicatedin advance. Each day had amorning and an afternoonworkshop block of 90 minutes,followed by a recess. After thatbreak students would return totheir classes and write abouttheir experiences in a specialjournal, using a photo takenduring the previous block as awriting prompt. Six of theworkshops ran on Monday,Wednesday and Friday, whilethe other six took place onTuesday and Thursday.

“We’ve talked to them abouthow neural pathways areformed and how with practicethings get easier because thebrain recognizes what it’s sup-posed to be doing,” the princi-pal said. “The kids are actually

starting to understand howthat works.”

The workshops, funded by agrant from the Eastern Town-ships School Board and withthe help of support from theTownshippers’ Research andCultural Foundation, were re-liant on the help of numerouscommunity members.

The forms that went hometo parents on which students’preferences were to be indicat-ed also invited parents andgrandparents to come and getinvolved.

“The parents mostly could-n’t, but the ones who are hav-ing the most fun are thegrandparents,” Springgatesaid, explaining that the weekof activities saw communityparticipants from all ages: Tod-dlers right up to grandparents.“They’re having a hoot; theycome in here and really inter-act with the children, they givereally generously of their time

and ask for nothing in ex-change.”

Asked about the motivationbehind the week, Springatesaid that above all it was just todo something fun and differ-ent that still had an education-al element, but she then addedthat the intergenerational ele-ment really brought to her at-tention the importance ofschools as community gather-ing points.

“Ayer’s Cliff Elementary is astrange community becausethe majority of our childrencome from Coaticook now,” theprincipal said.

“What makes the communi-ty here is the children; it’s notgepgraphical or linguistic, it re-ally is the children that bringus together. There’s nothingelse that does that in the sameway anymore, and I really seethst as being the schools’ rolegoing into the future.”

The creations of the ACES

students will be on displayWednesday night when theschool once again opens its

doors to the community for aspaghetti supper and officialopening.

Traditional skills at ACES

GORDON LAMBIE

Square dancing was also on the agenda at Ayer’s Cliff Elementary Schoollast week.