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Monkeys Costa Rica
January 2007

2006 Volunteer Stats

T2T continued to grow during 2006 with from 25 different countries
Holland has always been our leading volunteer country but has now given way to Germany and Unites States, with the UK in fourth place and Sweden number five.

The average age for our volunteers during the year was 24, 60% of our volunteers where female, and 80% had an academic exam or where still at university.

New staff in Nongkhai

After volunteering with our Nongkhai and Pai programs
Joyce stayed on for six months last year teaching at Phathumthep. She went back to Holland for three months and has now returned to Nongkhai again. Joyce will help Rick with coordination in Nongkhai and with our Internships program and developments connected to that.

Volunteer of the Month

Joe Pournovin from England’s main reason for volunteering with Travel to Teach was to gain experience teaching and living abroad in order gain acceptance into the JET Program (the Japan teaching and exchange program).

He was with us this fall for 2 months in the small Thai village of Phon Phisai which is 40 km outside of Nongkhai. What he found was much more than a means to an end. He quickly found himself a member of a small Thai community with many friends and discovered a previously unknown love for teaching

Joe threw himself wholeheartedly into this experience, even tutoring students extra hours at the end of the school day. His enthusiasm and spirit were greatly appreciated by T2T and the students of Phon Phisai.

Costa Rica: T2T's new location in Central America

T2T Volunteers It's long been a dream for T2T to open a program in Costa Rica and this has now become reality thanks to our former volunteer, webmaster and Technical Director Phi'Nat.

Based in the coastal city of Samara, programs include Teaching, Wildlife and Turtle conservation, Community Development and Ecological Farming.

Samara, described in Nat's own words: "Playa Samara is considered to be one of Costa Rica's most beautiful beaches. The town is located on the edge of a 7 km stretch of pristine white sand beach. There are many rural villages surrounding the horse shoe shaped cove with small islands that rise out of the turquoise ocean.

The town's life revolves around the soccer field that lies in the middle of Samara, which is how traditional Costa Rican towns are typically laid out. The Guanacaste province is home to farming communities and villages that have managed to escape over-development and retain traditional Costa Rican culture and traditions. As a result, Guanacaste is one of best the places to be if you want to experience traditional Costa Rican culture first-hand."

T2T Costa Rica Homepage


New Location in Ecuador

ambato Our ever expanding Ecuador program has launched a new volunteer site this past month in the city of Ambato.

Ambato is located 3 hours south of the capital city of Quito and is located in the Llanganates Mountain Range and Nacional Park bordering the Amazon Region. The city is known as the “Garden of Ecuador” for its production of peaches, apples, pears, grapes, oranges, strawberries, sugar cane, cereals and a variety of vegetables.

Volunteer programs in Ambato include conservation, English and computer teaching, social work, and health/medical work.


Festivals and parties

haloween The Holiday season has arrived in Nongkhai. With volunteers of many different nationalities and traditions, plus the huge number of Thai festivals, this time of the year can be very busy!

Having just finished Naga Festival and Loi Kratong it's was then time for Halloween and Thanksgiving, Chinese Dragon festival, Thai Kings birthday, Dutch Sinterklaas, Swedish Lucia and finally preparations for Christmas and New Year.

Christmas is usually a quite time for us with many volunteers returning home to spend Christmas with their families but this year we had 8 volunteers in Thailand who celebrated Christmas on Koh Chang.

The picture shows our Halloween party in Surreal Bar in Nongkhai.

Internship Programs

Khon Khaen Uni students T2T has decided to start an internship program for Thai students in Nongkhai. This will be an ambitious program centered on developing and marketing eco-tourism projects.

The University of Khong Khaen (ranked as the fifth best in Thailand) has a Campus in Nongkhai and Travel to Teach has been working with students from their English and tourism programs.

We hope that this mix of volunteers and Thai students will come up with several ideas on how to develop sustainable cultural and/or ecological tourism in the Isan Area.

Picture shows some of the students at Michai School Sports Day.

Please mail your comments on this newsletter to Travel to Teach.

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