Class was much more engaging yesterday, as we learned about human rights and development. Immediately after class, a group of kids decided that they would revisit the slum communities we stayed in last week and use the UN's Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights as a framework for helping the community build its case. I thought it was amazing to see how people are willing to move--to take what they learn and do something with it.

Yesterday I made the decision to drop the Buddhism and Thai Society class. I really don't know what made me think that I would enjoy learning about religious history, but I tried. Instead, I am now doing an internship along with the two kids who are in the Intermediate Thai class, Roman and Arianne. A number of CIEE Thailand staff are involved in creating an NGO called the Thai Seeka ("Learning for Freedom") Association, which seeks to implement the kind of alternative and holistic education model we use at CIEE into teachers' curriculums and schools' and communities' strategic planning. A lot of the projects they are helping with are very much about sustainability, including a community garden in Srithan, the first community I stayed in at orientation. They are trying to get funding for a community center that would be a model for green construction and a place for education about sustainability. And they are working with the Environmental Club at a high school in Khon Kaen. I decided I would do this internship yesterday evening, and at 10pm we had a meeting with some of the TSA committee members. The ball is rolling quickly and I'm excited to see where it will go; I am just happy that I can contribute to something meaningful instead of learning about Buddhism and going nowhere productive with it! I think I will learn more Thai by working with the intermediate kids, and learn about strategies for building an NGO from scratch!