Logos Connector, Laura McLellan, (19) set off earlier this year for Marist Asia Foundation in Ranong, Thailand. She is embarking on a eleven-month Marist experience volunteering as a teacher in the Burmese Migrant Education Programme.
Read below to hear Laura’s experience after one month in Ranong:
Logos “Time feels non existent here. I’ve never been away from my family or homeland for this long, but I have now gained even more family and found another space to call home. I find beauty in every day and that’s what makes me feel so content in Ranong. Strip back the distractions and materialistic things that can consume my mind back in NZ and here I have nothing left to focus on but pure life and the special moments we share as humans. I draw energy from my students and the way they enter my class everyday with big smiles and positivity, knowing that their backgrounds ans what happens out of school probably doesn’t give them much ti smile about at all. They have taught me patience, to know when to slow down and take things one step at a time. They have taught me courage, to put up your hand and try to speak another language even if you’re not sure of yourself. Taught me that being emotional is okay, they don’t hide how they feel and it changes my whole perception of transparency. And taught me strength, to just keep going, even it it seems the whole world is against you some days. The interesting thing is and I often forget, but we are only a couple years apart but our lived couldn’t be more different. Yet we are both growing and learning together and creating new connections through the difference. And at the end of every day, I just feel straight up blessed and then I wonder why haven’t I felt this way every other day of my life? It’s the simple things that matter most.”
