Sharing a Lifetime of Experience as a Volunteer in Thailand
By John O’Dea
A retired clinical psychologist, John O’Dea, who contracted polio as a child and uses crutches for mobility and a spinal brace, traveled to Thailand at age 65 to gain credentials as a Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) instructor and to volunteer with students at Mahidol University. He can’t wait to return to Thailand.
The notion of volunteering abroad came through an awareness of the desire of many in Asian countries to become fluent in English. I have always enjoyed the English language and realized that, although disabled, I had something to offer. I decided to take a risk and give it a try. I enrolled in a four-week intensive TESOL training course in Ban Phe, Thailand, a coastal village three hours south of Bangkok. The advantage of the location was that housing was provided at the training center and center staff provided transportation to and from the schools where we did our student teaching.
Apart from the risk of falling, the biggest problem for me when traveling is distance and speed of movement. I contracted polio when I was eleven years old and use crutches and a spinal brace for support. Over time, increasing curvature of my spine led to decreasing lung capacity. I began to use a ventilator at night. Although my arms are unaffected, the muscles in my legs are very weak. I cannot travel far or fast without assistance. A related problem is the speed at which everything else travels. Crossing a road or hailing a taxi can be hazardous. Fortunately, there is usually someone near at hand willing to help.
I loved the ambiance in Ban Phe, simply watching Thais going to work and at play. Teaching was new to me and highly regimented, but it was great to learn to communicate simply and clearly in English to school students.
My positive experience in Ban Phe immediately led to thoughts of how I could put my TESOL training to work. I looked on the Internet for volunteer organizations and came across Cross-Cultural Solutions (CCS). I decided to visit the CCS home base in Bangkok at the conclusion of my TESOL training. We could check each other out and they could decide if I was a suitable volunteer, disability included!
A few weeks later, I met with CCS staff and we discussed volunteer placements. The possibility of a university placement (I have a Master’s degree) excited me and I applied to return for four weeks later the same year. The advantages of volunteering with CCS were that all meals were provided and volunteers were transported to and from their placements. Although it was costly to volunteer, everything was included in the program fee, which meant I did not need to shop for food or do other household tasks.
When I arrived, I was impressed by the friendliness of the staff and the efficient way everything worked at the home base. The bathroom had been outfitted with rails and other accommodations to assist me. The dormitory style bedroom was on the ground floor and I was offered assistance on excursions. A delightful language teacher came to the home base to provide lessons in the Thai language.
My placement at Mahidol University involved assisting third-year students completing a degree in public health. It was a wonderful experience. The professor who facilitated my placement had a wheelchair for his mother, should she visit, and this was offered to me though I did not need it. I was given a large, air-conditioned room that served as my office in which I met with students and staff. My volunteer service required very little walking.
The staff and students at Mahidol University were magnificent. The students helped me in any way they could. I never had to ask for help because they were so tuned in to being helpful and courteous. They asked me to take them through American pop songs to explain their meaning as well as points of grammar. I also assisted a young man as he prepared for an examination in English as a step to becoming a lecturer in the public health department. His success was a very rewarding experience for me. Invitations to faculty dinners and a student cultural party made me feel fully accepted and appreciated by everyone I met.
Indeed, it has always been my experience when I have traveled in countries, such as Fiji, India, Morocco, and Thailand, that local people reach out to help. There is always a way through difficult barriers, but it does require flexibility. I have been lifted and carried up stairs before I could refuse. When I was nervous about getting down crowded and slippery marble stairs at the Taj Mahal, I sat and slid down the stairs to minimize the risk of falling.
Ironically, I did fall on my last day in Thailand, a few hours before I was due to go to the airport to fly home. I had checked out of the CCS home base to spend two days with a Thai friend. I slipped in a bathroom and fractured my left femur. I was taken to a large general private hospital where I had surgery and spent six days in recovery. Treatment was of a high standard and I was fully insured.
Seven months later, I continue to study the Thai language and can’t wait to return to Thailand as a volunteer. Despite my enthusiasm, the comforts of life at home with my family sometimes make it hard to think about traveling back to Thailand. Nevertheless, volunteering is a challenging option that can enrich one’s own experience while contributing to the lives of others in a different cultural setting.
Travel, in general, is a risk for me, as I am very vulnerable to falls. An issue I now have is that I will have to travel without insurance coverage for fractures if it is considered a pre-existing condition by travel insurance companies, although I will have insurance coverage for falls if I volunteer again with CCS (read more in the box below). On the other hand, I traveled to India, Morocco, and Spain, and spent two months in Thailand without a fall. My previous fracture was thirteen years earlier. So, risk is all in how you look at it.
While at the home base in Bangkok, I was, at 65 years of age, the eldest of ten volunteers from the United States, Canada and Australia. The youngest was fifteen years old (traveling with his mother). Half a century between us! I conserved my energy for my placement and chose not to go to markets and shopping centers with the other volunteers. However, we did go to restaurants together as a group. The volunteers were all helpful and caring and we had a lot of fun. Obviously, there is great affinity between North Americans and Australians, but there were times that, because of my disability and perhaps age, I experienced an equally great affinity and acceptance with the local Thai people.
For a person with a disability, traveling in countries like India and Thailand can be a magical experience. I will never forget a moment of connection with an older man with a walking stick and a misshaped foot at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India. I was unwell, had had my ventilator stolen and was limping barefoot into the Temple. He reached out and we clasped hands and for a moment we were one, each identifying with and understanding the experience of the other. Such experiences are authentic exchanges with the lives of others. Strangely, sometimes disability becomes a credential to connection. For a time you cease to be a tourist, a foreigner and even a volunteer. You are interconnected as one.
