Volunteer in Thailand with Friends for Asia

Children’s Home Volunteer Project – Additional Info

Children’s Home Additional Info

The Children’s Home Project site is outside the city of Chiang Mai. There are roughly 50 boys and girls at the home, ranging in age from 4 to 16 years old. Many of the children are of ethnic hill-tribe decent, which is different than Thai ethnicity.

The Children’s Home is a Christian based organization. Volunteers are not required to be Christian to volunteer in the project, but must be respectful and understanding that Christianity does play a role with the workers, administration and children at the project sites.

The home does not receive much funding. Therefore, there is no cook, no cleaner and no big play equipment. The boys and girls are responsible for the cleaning, cooking, household chores, washing and ironing their own clothes. These are areas where volunteers are able to help out.

The Children’s Home Daily Schedule

When school is in session, from mid-May to the end of February, volunteers will depart for the Children’s Home around 3:00 / 3:30pm, Monday to Friday. The kids start arriving back from school from 3:30 – 4:00 (depending on the child’s age). Upon the arrival of the children back to the home, volunteers will spend time with the children, help cook, help clean, try to engage them in different activities – sports, games, arts and crafts, help them with their homework, etc. Volunteers will eat dinner with the children and help clean up. Normally, the volunteers will begin their trip back to town at around 7:30pm. This is the general schedule for Mondays – Fridays. Saturdays, the kids are off from school and volunteers will spend the entire day with the children.

When school is out, for the Thai summer (March to mid-May), volunteers will be out to the children’s home in the middle of the day. During the Thai summer many of the children will go back to their home villages and spend time with their relatives. Therefore, not all of the children will be there at the home during these months.

Volunteer Role

Volunteers are asked to help out with whatever they are able to, during their project at the Children’s Home. The main responsibilities that volunteers normally assist with are: Teaching informal English to the children Cleaning Cooking Help with homework Help with daily chores Conduct fun activities with the kids Play games Sing songs / play music Give attention and love

Children’s Home Volunteer Project Video

Below is the same video on the main Children’s Home Volunteer Project page. Please watch it, if you haven’t already.

Volunteer Transportation

Airport pick up, the city tour and the transportation to and from the cultural show and dinner are covered in the project fee. Friends for Asia staff sends volunteers and interns to seek medical assistance in non-emergency situations. Obviously, in the case of an emergency a proper ambulance would be called and used. A volunteer will have to cover the cost of their own transportation if they make multiple appointments to see a doctor or dentist.

Special Activities

The children do not normally receive opportunities to visit fun and interesting places around Chiang Mai. Therefore it is looked upon highly to take some (not all) of the children to a trip outside of the orphanage, if possible. Friends for Asia can assist with the logistics of the trip, along with advice as to what may and may not be suitable.

Volunteers can also arrange for special, fun activities to be conducted there at the Children’s Home for all of the children. Different things that may work well are cultural activities or celebrating holidays and customs from abroad.

Please understand, however, that there is no budget for these special activities, so if a volunteer, or a group, would like to conduct a special activity, the costs of the activity or event, will be on that volunteer.

Health

It is important that volunteers follow common sense health rules when working with children at the home. There are so many of these rules that I’m not going to write them all here. For volunteers with little experience in working with children, it is advised to speak with professional day care workers, or individuals who have spent a lot of time around small children for different tips and advice regarding health and safety.

Not only is it important that the volunteers keep in mind the importance of staying healthy, it is also important to keep in mind the health and safety of the children. For this reason, we ask that volunteers do not participate in the project if/when they are sick with communicable colds or other diseases.

Volunteer Appearances and Code of Conduct

Dress code at the Children’s Home Project is casual. However, it’s not considered appropriate to wear clothes that are too revealing around children. Our volunteers are required to wear long pants, capris, or long shorts that come to their knee. Volunteers are also required to wear shirts that are not revealing, covering their shoulders and chests. T-shirts, jeans and other casual clothes should be fine. Volunteers will also be asked to take out any piercings and cover any exposed tattoos.

Smoking and drinking are strictly prohibited at the children’s home. During the entire four hours that volunteers are at the children’s home, they are requested to refrain from smoking (even off premises).

As always, it’s important to keep in mind that this is Thailand. Please remain flexible and patient. Things often change last minute. Unlike some of our other projects, this one has a lot less structure. The structure here is to be built by the volunteer themselves. If you want to teach English – do it! If you want to play a game with the kids – do it! If you want to help with cooking – do it! Don’t wait for the orphanage staff or kids to come to you and ask you to do things. These are things that you’re going to initiate on your own.

Visit the Children’s Home Volunteer Project

Read advice written by previous volunteers in the Children’s Home Project