Siam-Care often welcomes volunteers who help with the work for a certain period. Marlieke is one of them and he would like to share about her adventure.
My name is Marlieke van Erp (21). After finishing my bachelor of biomedical sciences in the Netherlands, I decided that I wanted to see a little more of the world. I decided to go travelling through Southeast Asia for two months, starting in Thailand. However, I realized that as a tourist I would see the countries way different compared to what the country really is like. I wondered how amazing it would be to ‘really’ be amongst the Thai people, and, if possible, to be of value to them.
In that same period I was at ‘Opwekking’, a Dutch conference that takes place every year with Pinkster, which was where I found out about Siam Care. Although in Thai culture planning is not highest priority which makes it important to be flexible, I was told that there would be plenty of things for me to do. For sure there was! Within the 14 days I was volunteer at Siam-Care in Bangkok, I was able to see and do many things. I attended a visit to prison, where Siam Care takes time to listen to the prisoners and be a remediation between prisoner and family. The prisoners that are visited by Siam Care, are regarded lowest of lowest on the social ladder, which makes the visits of Siam-Care really valuable for them. Furthermore, I taught English at a secondary school for multiple days. It was a school where, first of all, the children seemed to be fascinated by seeing a white person and blonde hair. The children are not used to having interaction in English, which made it valuable for me to teach them. After the class was finished, they would all stand up and say in choir – although with a Thai accent: “Thank you, teacher”. Being a teacher was an amazing experience.
Visit the poorest families
I also attended two home visits. It was special to see how Siam-Care is able to support the poorest families in Bangkok by listening to their stories, praying with them and sharing love with them. Furthermore we had a day activity with some of the sponsor teenagers in the weekend. We took them to the park to have some relaxing time together and to talk with them about their future. The teenagers have a live that is hard to imagine as a Dutch person. Most of them really appreciate that Siam-Care takes them away for a day and at the same time Siam-Care triggers them to seriously think about their future.
Love
Wat I’ve seen at Siam-Care can be summarized in one word: love. Siam Care shares love on places that lack of it. This way the organization supports the Thai people. I am glad that I could be part of this organization for two weeks. Although I am now about to start my next adventure, continuing my trip through Southeast Asia, the last two weeks are weeks that I will surely remember.
Thank you, Siam-Care, and keep on going!
