tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7145117592063944458.post7114415456224589135..comments2023-11-02T03:40:09.064-07:00Comments on Human Perspective on Development and Environment: Our Baby Steps for Rasi SalaiCIEE - Thailandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00702040572805817922noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7145117592063944458.post-23334322833121001712012-11-17T22:33:20.191-08:002012-11-17T22:33:20.191-08:00As students, I think that there are many of us tha...As students, I think that there are many of us that don’t believe something as small as a brochure can help. I know that I also was skeptical. A brochure is so simple, it’s seems like we should be doing something larger. But after thinking about my situation and the villager’s situation, I realize that we are living in two completely different worlds and a brochure for me might seem silly to me, but the villagers are so thirsty for knowledge that a brochure would actually help them so much. I think that as students we take advantage of the access we have to information and facts and don’t realize how lucky we are. Just like Mekala said, most of the villagers don’t have access to internet, and we use the internet almost every day. We, as students, are the villagers connection to information and the internet. We can easily provide the villagers with a brochure of information, something that might take them months to create if they were doing the research on their own.Marissa Strongnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7145117592063944458.post-90976292439790488832012-11-17T17:16:43.811-08:002012-11-17T17:16:43.811-08:00I think you made some really good points Anne. I i...I think you made some really good points Anne. I initially felt that making brochures wouldn't really be helpfully when there are bigger issues at hand. Our job as CIEE students is to collaborate with the villages and help give them what they want and what they believe they need for the future. If Rasi Salai wants brochures, then it is our job to give them what they want. Being in Thailand has made me realize how much I take for granted small, daily activities I do at home. For example, the ability to type a question into Google. Many villagers don’t have the access to Internet. They don’t have the ability to get some of there even most simple question answered and have no ability to do basic research. Being able to do some research and compile it into a brochure which might answer some question e might actually be very beneficial to the community in many ways.Mekala Pavlinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7145117592063944458.post-43204323577196973812012-11-12T03:24:50.969-08:002012-11-12T03:24:50.969-08:00I really appreciate the points you make. It's ...I really appreciate the points you make. It's a small example of a much larger theme in our world. Many people believe that doing the small things in order to create greater change is usually ineffective and useless. I know many people that feel that when they change their lifestyle to live more sustainably or for whatever greater cause, that it's actually not doing a whole lot in the grand scheme of things. I can directly relate this to the feelings people were having when we found out that all we could really do for the village was do some research and maybe make a few brochures. I felt similar feelings as others, how could this really help the much bigger issue they are facing? We were excited and enthusiastic about the prospect of having a bid project before we heard what the village wanted, but we failed to keep in mind why we are here, and what the final project is for. Rasi Salai is a pretty well organized community. They have a good idea of what they want and all they need from us is to hear what they have to say and decide if it is feasible for us. Not if it will be fun and exciting the whole time, but if we can do the project and if the villagers really believe it will help. We should trust their judgement on whether this project would be beneficial for them as they are the ones that will be left with the results. Anya Chang-DePuynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7145117592063944458.post-55838612874530915392012-11-11T06:40:09.894-08:002012-11-11T06:40:09.894-08:00I think you make an important point that the whole...I think you make an important point that the whole point of our efforts is collaboration. I think it is really easy for us to get caught up on our end of things and we forget to realize that we’re dealing with real people with real lives. It is so easy to look at the schedule and agenda for the things we have to do and just look at it all as a course or a part of the experience. It makes a huge difference when we are able to connect with the communities on a personal level and get a clear sense of their voices and their specific expectations of us in a given situation. A lot of time our actions seem small in the grand scheme of these big issues. But I guess as long as we’re linked with the villagers and play a role in the greater scheme of what they want to accomplish, we can rest assured that our actions aren’t going unnoticed.Alex Mnoreply@blogger.com