TEFL Charlotte

I always knew I will be in volunteering. I can't say it has changed my life , iI can say volunteering was always part of my life as I was always trying to help others, from being little skinny girl helping others who were victims of bulletin in the kindergarden, via school period when I was as best student helping others in their homework and studies, or baking cookies for old people visits. I remember one winter holiday I used to organize home theater for our parents with all the play, music, choreography. Doing things that could make happy other people, our parents, lonely old weak persons, being a friend in need- friend indeed, has changed my life forever. In fact, volunteering was not just my style of life and hobby, it became my first job, also. I started to do volunteering on SOS hotline for victims of violence six months before I got my first teaching job position. Volunteering in an office, with a telephone line, connection with city hole, advocate, made possible to help all these people. On other side my teaching job, gave me idea to teach other members of our volunteer non - government organization on workshops, and later on to have workshops for my students as well. Workshops were about human rights, battle against sex trafficking and about healthy life, which meant protection for your rights and for your daily life. After only few workshops, some women from audience suggested to me to organize my own non government organization dealing with single mothers and children. That was the period of bombing Serbia and our children were growing in poor conditions during period of war in ex Yugoslavia. So, I started to fight to found new organization, parallel with my teaching job and being single mother, bringing my little daughter to my non-government office and doing everything for my new organization. I was publisher and writer of our first newspaper, i was workshop co-ordinator and during bombing I was one of few persons volunteering, bringing help to very poor members on foot, in the time when was no people on the streets and when was no electricity after sunset when was the bombing time. To see the smile of children when I was bringing them food, clothes or toys, was enough as gift after all day stress in the middle of war zone. Let me remind you, volunteering in my country was not paid at all. Only people working for United Nations or US aid at that period could have paid volunteer job. These days, when i say I am living in thailand and doing volunteer job, people always ask me what is the name of my organization, for whom do I work etc. I am very proud to do what i am doing and say it' s not paid job as I used to see so much bureaucrat and not at all human faces working for very well paid job in some humanitarian organizations. I always like to separate me as individual philanthrope in all that chain of volunteering. Ten years ago I have visited thailand for a first time and that was love on a first sight. i liked the country, i liked the landscape, I liked the people, I liked the culture, I liked the food, I liked the south and the sea, I liked the north, most of all I liked kind and smily people. I had a feeling I will return soon. After 6 years, I was back and since then I kept coming every european winter. As a teacher by profession and humanitarian in heart and hobby, it was logical to become volunteer teacher in thailand. Sometimes i bring some money for orphans in the region of thailand and ex Indochina, sometimes I organize exhibitions of my art work and donations dedicate to orphans and children of my second home. Path of life dragged me to Golden triangle where is the challenge to teach one of many tribes that have never seen alive white person, foreigner. I can not describe their feelings during the first contact with me as foreigner and what kind of happiness it provokes in me. The challenge is to teach in surrounding where nobody talks english and where only few local teacher can use a bit of english. On other side it is good way to learn local language, but I tell you the secret: I have learnt Karen ( tribe from Golden Triangle) faster than my thai. In this material world, money is not motivation for my work. It is helping the children and orphans in the third world. It makes a different being a mum of children in the middle of jungle, my second home, like it made a difference begin a mum for children in my organization back in Europe at home during the bombing.Now I call thailand my home and being far away from the tourists and civilization, means being far away from material world, and here teaching becomes interaction, every day i am teacher and I am student of a jungle life.