UPDATE from Laem Tong School (a.k.a. The Sea Gypsy School) on Koh Phi Phi Don, Thailand

SawadeeKa, Bermuda!
Well, I just received an email from Khun La from HiPhiPhi International & The Krabi Relief Fund telling us how excited the students at Laem Tong School were about their stocked new Library!

Our Tsunami Relief Team donated 100 000 Bahts (approx. $BDA 2 600.00) to Laem Tong School to purchase books, book shelves and two computers for their newly built Library. Khun La even had some money left over from our donation and said that the Teachers had asked if they could use the money to refurbish a part of the staff living quarters that had not been fixed since the tsunami! Knowing what I have learnt about Thai people, it is very difficult for them to ask for assistance, so you know their living quarters must really need fixing!!!

Here are some before & after pictures of the newly stocked Library!

Well done, Team & Chok Dee to the students and teachers of Laem Tong School!

So what is the 'View Point' that Tia mentions in her post you ask???

SawadeeKa, Bermuda!

Well, it sure is wonderful to see some new posts going up on our Blog. Just like some of the students have expressed, it has been a real whirlwind of emotions coming back home to Bermy and trying to make sense of everything that transpired during our Service Trip to Koh Phi Phi. But that is for another post at a later date....

What I thought I would do is post some pictures of what Tia mentions with great emotion in her previous post, the View Point on Koh Phi Phi.

The View Point is the highest point on the island and is the final stop for the newly built Tsunami Evacuation Route for the Koh Phi Phi Islanders. It is a very strenuous and exhasuting vertical climb up to a fantastic view, once you make it up. At times, the steps are so steep that if you tripped, you would keep falling for quite some time - and take anyone that was following you with you along the drop!!!

During one of our last days and after another physical day of work, some of us decided to do the climb all of the way to the top. Why...well...because it was there! Despite the physical effort to get up to the top, despite the millions of mosquitoes on the way and despite being already sore & tired from a long day of work, we made it! What a view it was! I remember feeling a real sense of accomplishment and pride at making it all of the way up there. Well, that only lasted until we met two local men who, by the time we got to the top, were busy doing sit ups and push ups to keep their heart rate up!! They said that they do the climb JOGGING every day! I didn't feel so fit & strong after that!

What I also remember is during our ascent and descent, were the many memorials, graves and shrines erected for loved ones that had perished during the devastating tsunami. They kept reminding me of why were we there on their island, why we had to be mindful and sensitive to the tremendous loss and pain the locals experienced not so long ago...