Humanitarian work in Thailand

Anne-Sophie Thibault Start Date: Oct 31, 2019 - End Date: Apr 30, 2020
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My Travel Story

by: Anne-Sophie Thibault Start Date: Oct 31, 2019 - End Date: Apr 30, 2020
Hi, my name is Anne-Sophie, I'm 18 years old and I am adopted from Thailand.  At a young age, I always wanted to learn Thai culture and the language. As I grew up, I realized that a part of my identity was missing. I really wanted to connect with my homeland. I went the first time when I was 13. I loved my homeland. Recently, my adoption agency received an invitation to go to what we call Nativeland. It's a program that makes all Thai adoptees return to Thailand and reconnect with their roots. During that program, I realized certain things. I didn’t realize how poor Thailand was. How people live in such tiny places. How people work hard to make a living here. And even with all the hardship, they still smile, and they are happy. While we had free time, we went to talk around. I asked my mom that I wanted to know the reality of Bangkok. As we walked, we saw people taking picture of an event. Me and my mom got curious and one of the ladies was there. She explained to us that they were a food bank. So, she asked me if I wanted to give a little child his/her food. I gladly accepted. At that moment, I really wanted to help all of them. I promised myself to go back alone and just go and help my orphanage and go help with the food bank in Bangkok. I also wanted to go to Narai and do the same because this is where they found me.  So, when I got back from the trip, I started to do community services to the elders. Everyone told me to go and work either with the elders or the kids. The main reason is that I love talking with people and learn their stories. But for certain reasons, I felt like it would impact me more if I would do it in Thailand and most importantly, to decide what I’m going to do in life.
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