Keele University students take up the challenge in Thailand

Five Keele University students are heading to Thailand to take part in a four-week volunteering challenge.

Michael Rogalski, Simran Nagi and Esther Dick, all of Newcastle, will travel to Thailand with fellow Keele students Sarah Lloyd, of Southport, and Olivia Higginson, from Derbyshire.

Overseas Challenge 2009 – a partnership between student voluntary organisation VE@Keele, Manchester Metropolitan University volunteer project coMMUni and charity Volunteers for Educational Support and Learning (VESL) – will provide a summer school experience to primary school age children in the rural northern province of Chiang Rai in Thailand.

The main role of the volunteers will be to teach English conversational skills, but they will also have an opportunity to draw on their existing skills and interests such as arts and crafts or sports.

While VESL provide in-country volunteer coordinators during the Thailand project, VE@Keele project leader Becky Wardell will be travelling to Thailand with the volunteers to support and assist them for the first two weeks of the project.

Becky said: “This will be an amazing and life-changing experience for Keele student volunteers. They will have a unique opportunity to make a real difference to the lives of others, see first-hand what it is like to live in rural communities in Thailand and develop essential skills which will put them in good stead in today’s competitive jobs market.”

Each volunteer must raise the £1,255 cost of the trip to Thailand, which will include their flight, accommodation and food costs. Volunteers have undertaken fundraising events at Keele and in their local communities over the last few months in an attempt to raise the full cost of taking part in this unique opportunity to help communities in Thailand.

Anyone interested in finding out more about Overseas Challenge 2009, or to make a donation to support volunteers’ costs, should contact Becky at VE@Keele on 01782 733626 or volunteering@kusu.keele.ac.uk