Robb Klassen, January – March 2011Robb Klassen, 24, young American man from a small and peaceful town of Iowa travelled across the borders and seas to volunteer in a small village of Northeastern Thailand. As a newly graduated student from Brook Institute of Photography, California, with passion for photography he brought along 8 film camera with him, and lunched a photography workshop for the local students, inspired by one of the best literatures “The Three Cups of Tea”, took part in Learn2Give project to mainly teach basic photography skill to students at Thungswang School, Sriratana, Sisaket province for three months. Through all of his volunteer experiences, let’s discover what he has to say behind his volunteer mission!
L2G: How did you come across our project and what inspired you to work for our project?
ROBB: I came across the Learn2Give project through the website helpx.net. I was finishing up my time at Brooks Institute of Photography and was wanting to find an opportunity that would allow me to learn about a culture while also being able to teach photography to children. Your project gave me the perfect opportunity to learn about Thai culture while also teaching English and photography to younger kids.
L2G: We heard that you worked so hard in preparing for the voluntary teaching in Sisaket, would you mind sharing us with some of your preparation.
ROOB: Before coming to Thailand I began researching different teaching methods. My family, friends and I began to find different English learning games that we thought the kids would really enjoy. Once getting to Thailand I began making flash cards and a very minimal layout that I would use with the children.
L2G: Why did you lunch a photography workshop apart from English class to your students? /How do you think photography is important and relevant to other learning skills of young students?
ROBB: The main reason I started a photography workshop with the kids is because I was wanting to give them an opportunity to explore the creative side of themselves through the use of photography. I also thought it would be a great chance for them to capture their culture. I think photography is very important to students because it allows them the chance to learn about themselves through what they photography. It also gives them the chance to learn about their surroundings because of what they choose to photograph. By giving a child a camera and letting them go into the forest to take photographs, that is giving them a chance to interact with nature and become more in tune with their natural surroundings.
L2G: Once you told us that you feel lucky to have enough to give it forwards and one of your dreams is to travel around the world to help the children who have less opportunity as you possibly can. Here, the beginning of your dream journey started with us, has our project fulfilled part of your dream? If yes, how? And what would be your next steps onwards?
ROBB: Learn2Give most certainly fulfilled part of my dream of working with others. You guys allowed me an incredibly beautiful opportunity to embrace a culture that I had never been a part of while also helping those around me. You set me up with a host family that was very welcoming and who allowed me to help around the house while also giving me time alone when I needed it. Aside from teaching, living with my host family was some of my best memories while staying in Sisaket. They taught me a lot about the Isaan culture and opened my eyes to a whole new way of living, which was living simply and living off of the land that is around us. My next step is to continue going to different schools around the world, teaching English and learning about different cultures. I would eventually like to build my own school in a rural area that will be open anyone who is wanting to come and learn.
L2G: How did you find our project give the light of the hope to the underprivileged children in the rural community?
ROBB: I thought that Learn2Give gave great hope to the children in the rural communities. It gave them the chance to interact with a foreigner who was there wanting to help them and not who was wanting to exploit them like I believe a lot of foreigners want to do unfortunately. I give Learn2Give all of my best wishes and sincerely hope that you are able to continue with your project.
L2G: Tell us about your photography project you did with Thai students.
ROBB: Each week I would work with a group of fifteen kids. We would have three photography classes during that week. The first class we would break into three groups of five and each group would have their own 35mm camera to work with. I would teach them how to load their film and then how to take a photograph with the correct exposure once the film was loaded. On our second class day we would go around the school property and take photographs. On the third day we would make a trip to a nearby temple or village and take photographs around that area.
L2G: Can you please tell us about the coolest, weirdest and tastiest food you ate while staying with your host family?
ROBB: All of my host families food was delicious! The weirdest dish I probably tried was raw pork that was marinated in pork blood and lime juice. The tastiest dish that I had was my host moms papaya salad with fried fish, sticky rice and chili sauce. I could eat that every day! I also really enjoyed this dish that I cannot remember the name of. It was made up of fish, garlic, fermented fish sauce, chilis and sugar and it was all mashed together in the mortar and served with sticky rice or white rice. It was so delicious! Her curries where also incredible. I miss her food very much.
L2G: Being in Isaan region for month, teaching students, working with school teachers, staying with the host family in Si Sa Ket. You told us that you are falling in love with Isaan culture. Is that right? If yes, what make you fall in love this our culture?
ROBB: I definitely fell in love with Isaan culture. I really enjoyed how the Isaan communities held on to their beliefs and traditions. The Isaans love for their land and Buddhist beliefs was incredible.
L2G: What was the most impressive moment in your host family and community?
ROBB: My favorite memory with my host family was on the day that we drained their ponds and collected all of the fish. It was so much fun getting extremely dirty in the mud with them, collecting fish and then seeing the entire community come in to buy the fish that we caught. I also enjoyed our evenings together when they would try to teach me Thai and I would try to teach them English. I enjoyed cooking with my host mom and helping my host grandma around the house. My host grandma and I went to the local forest monastery and I stayed the night there. The next day I went on the alms walk with the youngest monk and later helped distribute the food for the monks. That was an incredible experience and I will never forget it.
L2G: If life is travelling, photography is a life’s snapshot, how would you compare ‘volunteering’ to? And why?
ROBB: I would say that international volunteer is one of the best and in my opinion only way of traveling. Volunteering while traveling gives you the chance to live in a culture that is completely foreign to you and therefore opening you up that much more to all that is around you
L2G: How would you say to interested volunteers to help us promote learn2give project.
ROBB: I would tell the interested volunteers that if they are wanting an opportunity that will very much immerse them into a beautiful culture then this experience is something that they should take.
For more stories about Robb's voluntary experience, please visit him at http://robbklassen.wordpress.com/2011/01/
