Questions? (212) 986-0989
"The orphanage has been great. Usually we play with the kids for the first two or three hours, entertaining them and giving them the individual attention they're always so hungry for"
- Alyssa, Goucher College
After a week of orientation to Chiang Mai and Payap, you will visit various service agencies; service assignments will begin shortly thereafter. As you work with local people and care for those in need, you will find your experience and understanding of the culture enriched and deepened, your leadership skills developed, and your language skills enhanced.
You will serve approximately 10-15 hours per week in a local agency. Service opportunities for most students center around:
Additional service opportunities can be arranged depending on your Thai language ability. These may include work with:
Following are examples of agencies where IPSL students have served in the past or may be able to serve. Other service placements may be available. Your placement will be determined by community and agency needs, as well as your interests, goals, and skills (including Thai language ability).
This is a government school that provides classes from kindergarten to Mattayom 3 (grade 9). The school is one of the largest and most famous in the area. It has 17 teachers and 302 students, and it has one English study center and one computer laboratory. The school also offers a special program for autistic children. As part of a pilot service-learning project between Payap University and the Baan Mae Khu School, a group of Payap English majors took courses in teaching English to Thai students so that they might teach English at the school this past semester. The goal of this project is to improve and expand English instruction at the school, which cannot meet demand on its own. With guidance from senior teachers, the students designed their own curricula, lesson plans, and examinations.
Population Served: Youth
Areas of Service:
Children & Youth
/
Education
/
ESL
/
Teaching/tutoring
This organization is run by both Thai and foreign women in Chiang Mai working together to advance the status of women. For example, in northern Thailand, HIV infection has often resulted in the illness of women who are wives and mothers. In a very special way, and particularly among poor families who cannot afford hospital care, this places the entire stability of the family at risk. Care-giving responsibilities in these situations often fall to the grandparents, and particularly grandmothers. Although Thai grandmothers have always had important roles in the care and upbringing of children, this unexpected burden in their later years is a heavy one. This is particularly true if they have no previous knowledge of HIV/AIDS or of basic home care techniques such as precautions. This organization runs an income-generating and donation-support program for poor grandmothers raising their grandchildren who have lost their parents to HIV/AIDS. They also organize numerous fundraising events to generate scholarship money to support the schooling costs of underprivileged Thai children in the Chiang Mai area.
Population Served: Women and families affected by HIV
Areas of Service:
Women's issues
/
HIV/AIDS issues
/
Fundraising
/
Children & Youth
This Christian organization reaches out to women, children, and youth involved in, at risk of, or affected by prostitution, sexual exploitation and/or trafficking, by developing relationships and offering alternative livelihoods and resources for personal development so these individuals may experience a life of restoration, dignity, and hope that will lead to the transformation of Chiang Mai and Northern Thailand. The goal of this organization is to offer comprehensive, holistic programs that bring restoration and healing to those in, at risk of, or exiting prostitution and trafficking. In addition to conducting outreach to women and children in or at risk of entering prostitution or trafficked situations, this NGO is expanding its services to include the creation of a children’s drop-in center and retreat center where women and children can receive holistic healing. IPSL students usually help either with outreach to women or with grant proposal-writing.
Population Served: Women, children, and youth involved in, at risk of, or affected by prostitution, sexual exploitation and/or trafficking
Areas of Service:
Women's issues
/
Children & Youth
/
Fundraising
This school offers traditional and vocational education to blind students in elementary grades through high school. There are three groups of students in the school: (1) 4 to 12 year-old students who learn daily living skills; (2) ordinary primary and high school students who attend regular school with other handicapped students; and (3) students who are either too old to attend regular school, have severe physical limitations, or are learning disabled. The school has both commuter students who live at home and boarding students who live on campus.
Population Served: Blind children (elementary through high school)
Areas of Service:
Children & Youth
/
Teaching/tutoring
/
Disabilities
/
Education
/
Special education
