Let’s face it, my day-to-day work really isn’t that exciting. Thankfully I’m someone who often thinks about the ‘big picture’ and so I can be encouraged to keep going because of the part my work plays in the bigger picture. That said, every so often even I need a direct reminder of why I’m doing what I’m doing – if you like, the chance to ‘complete’ a task and to see a result! My trips to Asia, such as my time in Thailand in early March, serve as just such reminder.
My latest trip was split into two parts. It started with a visit to a government school near to the border with Myanmar. The school serves a minority language community that, despite having moved from Myanmar to Thailand many years ago, still struggles to be recognised as Thai. The community exist largely separate from the surrounding people groups and because of this they mainly use their own language (their ‘mother tongue’) at home and for daily activities. Because of this the children’s ability in Thai is very limited and so the school is trying to help the children by allowing lessons in pre-primary and the first couple of years of primary school to be delivered in their mother tongue instead of just Thai. It was great to see the children enjoying learning, but the trip also helped me to understand better some of the challenges such initiatives can face. Minority communities, and the institutions that exist to serve them (such as this school), face very real challenges in terms of resources and opportunities. That is why my team, LEAD Asia, are trying to support this kind of work (and ultimately why I do what I do!).
The second part of my trip was based in Bangkok where we (the LEAD team) facilitated an experience-sharing event around the topic of ‘Identity Based Community Development’ (for more about what this means see here [http://wisbeys.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/exploring-identity-and-development.html]). It was such a privilege to be in a room with 60 people from all over Asia sharing about how they are successfully addressing language and culture in their education and development work. Whilst we did introduce a few new tools/techniques, the majority of the time was spent facilitating the sharing of knowledge between participants themselves. In fact, one of the most exciting things for me to see was actually AFTER the event had formally finished! One morning, on the way to breakfast, I walked past two colleagues from different countries sitting at the end of the corridor excitedly explaining their work to each other! Our events are attended by people who are part of what we call our ‘Community of Practice’, if you like ‘a group of people who do the same stuff’, and they represent all kinds of different organisations and types of projects. Seeing these participants discussing in such energised ways encourages me that there really is a ‘community’ after all.
Now I am back in the UK the real work begins! As part of the funding we are required to write a report, a guide, explaining the discussions from the event. Although it is going to be challenging to summarise such rich and diverse discussions, I am looking forward to sharing people’s experiences, challenges and encouragements with a wider audience. We will try and do justice to the excited conversations that took place!
Before then, however, I am in the middle of teaching on the ‘Language Project Planning and Implementation’ course, helping 23 students think about how they can better plan, monitor and implement their work (literacy, development, translation etc.) so that it brings about change in peoples lives. This is particularly exciting as, once again, the participants come from all over the world and bring a wealth of knowledge and experience. This not only enriches their own learning but also challenges me to think about how these tools can be used in different kinds of situations. These connections, both with the students themselves and the communities with which they are working, again help to remind me why I do what I do. Thank you for continuing to be a part of that with us.