English Class was my first introduction to the campus. The campus meets in a house in Chiang Mai and participants sit in a circle with notebooks and looking at a white board. Around the campus I can see framed Certificates, campus flags and photographs of the campus’ achievements.. The group meets weekly to practice English and is led by one of the Global Campus participants, who is fluent in English. We began class by reading some of the letters sent to Thailand by Global Campus Randolph. The class was working on their responses to these letters and asked for my help in proofreading and editing. Global Campus Randolph can look forward to letters coming soon –the letters will include pictures of GC Chiang Mai participants.
After working on the letters, I asked the group to share a bit about their interests – in English, of course! We practiced saying the phrase, “I am interested in…” and then went over some vocabulary words as they came up in discussion. The group has a diverse set of interests including farming, reading, bicycling, making jewelry, and cooking. After class, the group orders lunch together – take out from a food stall down the road. We sat around an outside table eating foods such as Pad Thai – fried noodles with egg and chili, Kao Klog Ka Pre – rice with shrimp paste, Hao Tom Ba – fish soup, or Pat See You – fried noodles with soy sauce. The noodle dishes are served with packets of chili and sugar to add more flavor to the dishes. Everything is delicious!
Many of the Global Campus Chiang Mai and San Sai participants do not come to the campus every week. In some cases, it is difficult for people to get out of their house or find transportation to the campus. To make sure all participants feel included, the group has set up a home-visit program. We spent a full day visiting participants in their homes and encouraging them to get out of the house and into the community. Ka, GCF’s Regional Director in Southeast Asia, spoke with the participants about how to advocate for themselves. Many were worried that they would be a burden to their families if they went into the community, as they would have to ask others for help. Ka brought with her an informational video about how to improve accessibility in the home and the community.
On Sundays, the city of Chiang Mai is famous for its Night Market. Non, the Director of Global Campus Chiang Mai, took me to the market to walk around and explore Thai culture. The market has a section devoted specifically for people with disabilities to sell handicrafts and many of the campus participants have set up booths. Many of the GC Chiang Mai participants spend a lot of time at a place called, The House of Potentiality, which is a cooperative craft facility for people with disabilities to use. They have learned to make jewelry, metal work, leatherwork and recently soap. A few of the participants the crafts at the night market to make some extra money. I watched Khun Oo, one of the GC Chiang Mai participants make jewelry at the market. Using copper wire and beads she curls the wire around pliers to make little loops and then adds beads. Her handiwork is beautiful and very unique.
The campus has many events planned while I’m here in Thailand. It is fun to meet the campus participants and learn about Thai culture and disability culture. Every day I learn something new! Best wishes to the GCF community and I look forward to telling more stories when I return.
Amy Miller, Academic Coordinator, Global Campuses Foundation
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