ISV - Volunteer Projects in Thailand

"Traveling makes you speechless, but you come back a story teller."
That's exactly what happened in Thailand. Within the last 4 weeks of being in Thailand I've kissed Asian elephants trunks. I rubbed Siberian tigers bellies. I got an authentic bamboo Sak yant tattoo from a monk and had it blessed by the Abbott of the temple. I took walks with monkeys. I got stung by jelly fish as I sea snorkeled in the phi phi islands. I learned a new language. I've had birds land all over my arms and eat out of my hands. I saw elephants with half of a foot and one ear and severely abused by man kind. I've also witnessed a bond between a man and an elephant that is the strongest love anyone can have. I tried so many new foods. I worked in the agricultural fields of Thailand harvesting bana grass and sugar cane. I hiked over mountains, through rice fields and kayaked through ocean caves. I've swam under water falls where fish would nip at my feet. I've felt an unborn elephant kick my hand. I've floated down rivers on my back, on a bamboo raft, and on a white water raft. I've bargained with Thai people at the market. I've fed elephants by morning and bathed them in rivers by afternoon. I found and lost love. I walked through homes that are almost shacks where a family of 30 live in. I got traditional Thai massages by ex criminals. I learned how to cook authentic Thai foods. I stood in caves where bats soared above my head. I saw spiders bigger than my own hand. I taught English in a Thai school. I've meditated in a Thai temples. I learned the history and the culture of several villages around Thailand. I won free shots at a bar by playing connect 4 with the bartender. I was taught Muay Thai kickboxing. I danced with strangers. I raced home made go karts down a hill in the Hmong village. I soared above tree tops in the rainforest by zip line. I've offered rice to monks on the street. I learned a whole new religion and way of thinking. I've cried and laughed with so many new people. I've traveled by airplane, boat, van, back of pick up trucks, and even by tracker. I've gained so many new friendships that will last me a life time and will give me new opportunities of travel.
I came back home with so many stories and memories that will last me a life time. I recommend anyone setting out on a new adventure to a new place and immerse yourself into their culture.

International Student Volunteers in Thailand gave me the most amazing experience I have ever had abroad. I have traveled to many different countries, but my time in Thailand is still my favorite. From teaching children english, building a church, to bathing elephants and zip lining, I've had so many high points of the trip that it would be hard to just share one. Educating the children of the villages of Thailand was definitely one that will always be close to my heart. Their willingness to learn and immerse themselves in a foreign language was unparalleled to anything I've seen in the US. The scenery, mountain views, and temples are unlike any other I've ever seen; they were simply breathtaking. The food is satisfyingly delicious and the language was fascinating to learn.

But when I remember my trip, I instantly remember the people and relationships I made in Thailand. The Thai people are the friendliest people you will ever meet and the reason why they are called the "land of smiles". Our ISV leaders were so compassionate, caring, and generous. They helped us along every step of the way and quickly felt like family to us. Going to Thailand, I knew absolutely no other students in the same program as me. However once we all met at the airport, it was like we all knew each other for years. We instantly became a family, helping one another through homesickness and actual sicknesses and looking out for each other. We still talk to this day, exactly a year after we came back. They were from all over Northern America and exposed me to the different mindsets, lifestyles, and customs of people who live in different regions. Not only was I getting culturally immersed into the Thai culture, but I was also learning from those who just lived in the next state over from me. The Thai people and friends I've met on this trip taught me to be more open-minded, to be more free-spirited and to "give my hands to serve and my heart to love".

The cultural immersion, heartwarming memories, meaningful relationships, and life changing experience I found in Thailand will forever make this trip my favorite.

Traveling with ISV is one of the best decisions I have ever made. Traveling to a different country can be scary, and a bit of a hassle when it comes to planning everything. I did not have one worry throughout my entire trip because everything through ISV is pre-planned by the program down to meals and accommodations. The best part was that we had tour leaders who lived in Thailand and they were always knowledgeable and teaching us fun facts and recommending what to try every step of the way! Our tour leaders were fun and participated in every activity with us. I never once worried about my safety because my leaders made me feel very secure and confident with where we were, what we were doing and who we were doing it with. Aside from the outstanding program coordination, I had so much fun and learned so much on this trip. The volunteer portion of the trip was very rewarding in that every single day we did something productive. We got to go to bed knowing we were making a difference and that is why most of us were on the trip. The adventure tour was better than I could have imagined. I can't believe how many fun things we did; zip lining, white water rafting, snorkeling, island hopping, a Thai boxing class, a cooking class, canoeing, and more. We did more in this portion of the trip (2 weeks) than most people can say they have done in a lifetime. I absolutely recommend this program to others, and I hope to continue traveling through ISV myself!

I'm not too sure that typing my experience through text will come anywhere close to actually getting the real life experience. To say the least my eyes were opened up more than I expected from this amazing trip and I definitely recommend volunteering abroad to any, and everybody. This was my first time out of the country and I feel that Thailand was the country for me. The people, the cities, the villages, the culture, the climate, everything about Thailand I fell in love with. I was there for a month and I feel that was the perfect amount of time to see everything that I saw on my trip. I volunteered for two weeks in Northern Thailand, at the DEPDC which was the most amazing two weeks of my entire life. I am hoping that someday soon I can already go back and visit all the kids again. Then I spent two weeks sight-seeing throughout some of Northern Thailand and some of the Southern areas as well. Overall, this was a trip and an experience of a lifetime. A trip I will never forget with some of the most amazing people I have ever encountered. I can not even stress it enough how amazing it was to get the experience to make a difference and volunteer abroad in a different country. I just want to thank ISV for making this all possible for me.

ISV was an amazing program to travel with and I plan to take more trips through this program as well. I took a month long volunteer trip to Thailand and had never really traveled outside the United States before. Everything was well planned and directed; I never felt in danger during the time I was there. There are so many things that I would not have been able to do if I had made this trip by myself or even with others that have never been to Thailand before. All the staff and leaders that were with my group were very informative and had lived in Thailand, so they were able to share special information all throughout the trip. I learned so much about the culture and language with the ISV leaders help. Not only were there many activities planned, but there was also free time to go out and explore on your own which was very cool. I highly recommend taking a trip with the ISV program and will never forget this trip of a lifetime.

From the moment I was handed a flyer for ISV in my Political Science class I knew it was something I wanted to do. I took it into my own hands to go to an information session about ISV and the different programs it offers and I was blown away. They offer so many different countries and many types of volunteer work. Of course, I chose Thailand. I have an immense love for elephants and have wanted to visit Thailand for years, and going through ISV seemed like the best way to do it. Throughout my two weeks working elephant conservation, I learned more about not only myself, but about elephants, thai culture and thai language. The village people even took us out to places we would have never seen or known about without their friendship and kindness. I worked at Ran Tong Save & Rescue Centre, and loved every second of it. They aren't funded by the government so people that come to volunteer, or pay for a whole day with elephants makes a huge difference for the site. That's how the fund everything. Our main task was to build a bamboo fence along the entrance of the centre so that the elephants may roam wherever they please without disturbing the nearby villagers. While the work was hard and strenuous, I wouldn't have traded that opportunity for anything. Getting to know the elephants and the mahouts on a personal level was unbelievable. We even got a day off from the elephant conservation (who would want that?) & we got to teach English at the local elementary school! That was an amazing experience, I purchased things at a local store to donate to the class and they absolutely loved it. The students already knew so much English it was hard to actually teach them! We ended up just playing games. That was really cool, and I feel lucky that they through something like that into our work. The people at Ran Tong have so much kindness and generosity it is absolutely amazing. My group and I didn't even want to leave Ran Tong at the end of the Project Tour! We would have been easily happy working there for the whole month. Yet, moving on to the Adventure Tour was insane! We got to experience things together that I've never experienced before. From white water rafting in Northern Thailand to Snorkeling at the Phi Phi Islands. We adventured our butts off! This experience was actually mind blowing, and it still amazes me that I've done all the things I've done in such a small amount of time. I did not want to leave Thailand and all the wonderful friends I made through the ISV program. I definitely recommend it, and I would encourage everyone to choose elephant conservation in hopes that they get Ran Tong Save & Rescue Centre, because they deserve so much more attention and gratitude.

Serving at Ran Tong Elephant Save and Rescue Center was the most rewarding and amazing experience. I learned about myself, my faith, the elephants, Thailand's culture and language, and made friends with the locals. My group was fortunate enough to work along side some of the local villagers who taught us how to say things in Thai and picked fruits off of the trees for us to try. We were fully immersed and engaged with Thai culture. They took us on adventures that we would not have experienced had we been typical tourists. Hiking to the waterfalls and hunting for Earth Star mushrooms were unlike anything I've ever done before. We made friends with the men from the village and in return, we were given special blessings and gifts to bring home with us.

The moments that will stick with me most from my experience in Thailand will definitely be from the two weeks I spent at Ran Tong Save and Rescue Elephant Centre. Every day we were immersed into the lives of the elephants and shown that there is no need to be afraid of these gentle giants. We were able to build relationships with them, especially the newest member of the Ran Tong family, the four month old baby named Harry Potter. Now, don't take "baby" the wrong way, he is more like a 400 pound puppy. While trying to clean his pen he would try and play with us by pushing us around and trying to take our tools and hats. He would grab our hands with his little trunk and teethe on them gently.
Not only did we get to experience the elephant's world, but we got to experience the villager's world. During our project we had the mayor of the village, the head of the village, and the former head of the village, helping us the entire time with our construction. They were incredibly kind and welcoming and taught us as much Thai as they could considering their English was quite poor.