asia /OCEaNia
Asia A Few Words From ... Masako Volunteer Stories
Whether waiting out the summer Masako Fujii is our In-Country Co-ordinator Eibhlin Mahon taught English in Beijing:
monsoons of the subcontinent, floating
in Thailand. We asked her what impact i-to-i
“When I was teaching art, there was a
down the Mekong, cruising the backwaters
volunteers had in her country. This is what
little boy in the class who I knew from
of the Malabar coast, fighting your way
she had to say …
previous lessons as the ‘class messer.’ As
through the crowds of a Beijing rush hour,
“We frequently visit our projects to see the he worked on the still life drawing with the
or just kicking back on the beaches of
improvements that we make, especially rest of the class, I noticed he was a pretty
the Malay Peninsula; there is nowhere on
projects with children in difficult situations. good sketcher. When I praised him, I could
the planet which offers such scope for
Although an individual volunteer does not see see a small smile slowly spread across his
life-changing, spine-tingling travel as the
the huge differences while they are staying face. From then on he was always the first
incomparable and irresistible continent of in Thailand with us, we see kids smiling, not into art and took each lesson so seriously,
Asia. scared to have contact with adults and happy correcting anyone who attempted to be noisy
Oceania
to chat with ‘farang’ (foreigners) without or misbehave.”
hesitation. When we see these smiles, we feel
We have a small but perfectly formed
we can do much more for them and we look
selection of conservation projects in Australia
for more projects to bring smiles to the faces
and New Zealand. Both countries are on the
of even more kids.”
‘round-the-world route,’ so they’re perfect for
gap year travellers and offer a chance to see
some of the most dramatic landscapes on the
planet. And the nightlife isn’t bad either!
028 www.wwwi-to-i..i-to-i.com +353 (0)58 40050com +353 (0)58 40050
28_asia.indd 28 19/09/2007 14:23:34
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40