At The Learning Adventure we believe it is important to give back to the communities that we visit. It is not only important for students to learn about new cultures, but also to embrace the experience of working in a team and volunteering with the local community!
The community projects that the students can take part in range from trip to trip, so we can ensure we are doing exactly what the community needs at that time! We offer service trips throughout the whole Asia and Europe. Here are some of the trips we offer in South East Asia:
Volunteering at an Elephant Sanctuary in Thailand
Our IB Service trip in Thailand offers the opportunity for students to visit the Northern City of Chiang Mai. The city is full of beautiful temples, where we spend the first day of the trip sketching! After experiencing the city, we begin our first service project volunteering at an Elephant Sanctuary outside the city. The students will spend the day feeding the elephants, playing with them, and even giving them their medicine!
After this we head back to the city for a couple of days of being immersed in the Thai landscape: hiking, jungle trekking, and cycling. Next we begin the community project. This ranges from trip to trip but can include renovating buildings and schoolhouses, creating a system for recycling plastics and other materials in a sustainable way, demarking zones for landslide prevention, establishing firebreaks in the jungle to prevent wildfires, assisting the local community with farm work and general restoration of lands.
Take part in community projects in Bali
Our Bali trip is a hands-on tour with plenty of community projects for students to help out on. These include assisting with an infrastructure project – road rebuilding, and also practising English with students from remote villages. The students will also take part in community class lessons, where they will learn traditional Balinese recipes and about Balinese culture.
However, they won’t only be learning in a classroom. We also hike through the countryside and learn about rice cultivation and how to harvest nectar and turn it into palm sugar, before visiting a remote school and helping the students practice their English.
Stay in a tribal village in Vietnam
After flying into Danang and exploring the historic and beautiful city of Hoi An, the students are thrown into the heart of rural Vietnam. They will be staying with a tribal village 2 hours from Hoi An, sleeping in traditional stilt houses hosted by the locals and building toilets for their homes. It is an incredible and wholesome once-in-a-lifetime experience.
We are completely immersed in the village’s culture: their food, their traditional dance, their daily challenges and way of life. The students will take part in a community service project before heading back to Hoi An and learning about the farming lifestyle and the fishing lifestyle; visiting both and trying them out!
Help a Village in Laos
Laos is a beautiful country, rich in history and culture. Our volunteering trip starts off exploring Luang Prabang’s Old Quarter, followed by a hike up the stunning Phousi Mountain. The next couple of days will be focused on the students learning about and immersing themselves in the culture; museums, cooking lessons, temples and culture centres.
We then head into the countryside to the Pakxeng District. Here we will be greeted by the local authority and the project manager and have a night learning the traditional dance of the district. The next few days will be spent working hard on a community project, this can include renovating buildings and schoolhouses, creating a system for recycling plastics and other materials in a sustainable way, demarking zones for landslide prevention, establishing firebreaks in the jungle to prevent wildfires, assisting the local community with farm work and general restoration of lands.
Learn About the Importance of Recycling in Cambodia
Our service trip to Cambodia is full of incredible opportunities. Starting off by visiting the floating village, learning about life on the water and wildlife spotting; a lovely introduction to the country.
The next day the students begin working with Trash Rehashing, a recycling company, where they will spend the day litter picking, keeping the city clean and learning how to ‘rehash’ the items they find. Following this the students will take part in tree planting and learn about deforestation. The next few days are dedicated to enjoying the environment: cycling through the jungle, walking tours, circus workshops, and visiting temples.
