After 6 months at the womens center, I have had the opportunity to see a country very different from my own, to experience another culture and to meet many new people and make new friends. But most important I have had the possibility to work with exploited women in Pattaya.

The country
My expectations before I came here, was to get to experience a very undeveloped country. Before going to Thailand the only Asian country I had been to was the north of Vietnam, and I expected Thailand to be a little of the same. So as I arrived in Bangkok I was surprised to see the almost never-ending skyline, the hectic traffic, and the modern Thai-people.
   From home I was of cause prepared, that Pattaya would be a city with a lot of bars and Farang men, but arriving here I was really shocked to see how obviously prostitution is going on in the city. It seems, that the men who come here, as “sex-turists” aren’t the least embarrassed to be here for that reason.
In Pattaya I sometimes find it hard to experience “real” Thai-culture. With the large amount of western tourists have also come a large amount of western restaurants, western bars, western hotels and other westernised facilities. I find that a pity, since I, while travelling around in Thailand during the holiday, found that Thai-culture is very rich in art, spirituality, architecture and way of life. I am glad that I also had the opportunity to experience other parts of Thailand during the holiday.
Going with Pi Tim to her village near SakonNakon in the area where many of our students come from I first really experienced what a culture-shock it must be for the women to come to Pattaya.
It has been very exiting for me to live in a different country. By working at the project, teaching Thai women, and working together with Thai colleagues, I think I have really gotten to know Thai culture much better, than if I had travelled around as a backpacker.

The teaching
Before I came to FOL, I was a little bit nervous, that I without a teacher’s education wouldn’t be skilled enough to teach English to the women. But already the first day, I felt that my students really liked to be in the center and that they were very eager to learn. That made me feel very comfortable and self-confident, and I find that the student were always able to create a warm and trusting atmosphere in the classroom. Before I came, I thought that the purpose of my stay was basically only to teach the women English to give them more possibilities in their lives. But getting to know the very hard background and life-stories of some of the students, I also realised that the teaching is just as much about playing games, having fun, and create a pleasant break from their daily lives.
As I with the time got to have a closer and more personal relationship to my students they began telling me about their problems, sometimes asking me for solutions or of my point of view, or sometimes just asking me nothing else but to listen. I think that creating a comfortable and trusting atmosphere in the classroom is one of the most important aims of the teaching. I am very grateful for all the stories that my students told me and their fellow students, and I felt that the best times with the students were when we could talk about or discuss problems of their daily lives. Very often when one student shared, it turned out, that some of the other students had experienced the same. And sometimes they also helped each other by showing compassion or by giving each other good advices.  I think these kinds of lessons were very useful for the students, who are often very alone with their problems.
I think it is very important for our students that they have a place to go where they are accepted and respected. I experience, that prostitution in Thailand is a big taboo, and that many of the students have to live with a lot of prejudices from their surroundings. Thereto comes the shame they feel themselves. It is important that they come to the center and experience that they are not alone, that someone is interested in listening to their problems, and that they are not alone to have these kind of problems. If you are not able to communicate in English, living with a Farang must sometimes be very lonesome. The language-barrier, the different culture and the often not so small age-difference make the relationships very difficult. Thereto come, that the women often are far away from their family and children, and that the Farang men in some cases treat the women very bad. On the center the women can get back some of the dignity and happiness that is taken away from them.
Getting to know what kind of problems my students have to deal with, I often felt very bad for them. And often their problems don’t seem to have an easy solution because they are caused by many factors such as poverty, lack of social security, lack of education and inequality in the world and in the Thai-society.
I feel though, that Fountain of Life is a project that does a lot of great things for the students. Fountain of life is also not able to solve the foundational problems behind prostitution, but instead they help the victims of theese structures, the women.
During our holiday we visited the Good Shephard sisters project in Nong Khai, and it was good for me to see, that there also exist projects that prevents the women to come to Pattaya, by creating job-possibilities and education in the home-area of the women.
FOL womencenter in Pattaya is a very good project that helps many women to get more selfconfidence, dignity and possibilities in their lives. I feel though, that FOL could change even more, if we opened up and gave the work with the women more publicity. Many people around the world and in Thailand don’t realise what kind of things are happening in a place like Pattaya. And people who do know, are often quick to judge the women, or to bend it over as beeing their own fault. I think that if people knew more about the background stories of the women, or what difficulties they often have to face by working in a bar or living with a Farang, prostitution and some of the prejudices about the victims of prostitution could be decreased. But, I also understand the importance of protecting the women from the reactions of the world.

What did I gain?
I definitely gained a lot from my stay on FOL. During the last 6 months I got to experience another part of the world at very close range. By watching the news at home I was of cause aware that all over the world there are poor people, people who don’t have access to education, and people who don’t have much choice, freedom or possibilities in their lives.
In Fountain of Life I got to work with these people. I learned that our women are strong, caring and proud women. To support their often poor families, coming to Pattaya and find work in a bar, or find a farang man, is often one of their only possibilities. And it is not an easy life. These six months have opened my eyes and have awakened a lot of compassion, and respect for these women.
I really liked to teach, and what I gave in the classroom I felt that I got more than ten times in return. The teaching made me feel that I made a difference for someone, and working with the women often made me very happy.
Being only 19 years old, and coming from a rich country, I think I had a very naive view on the problems in the world. Working with the women in Pattaya has made me realise that prostitution is a very complicated matter, which is due to many different factors, and which unfortunately can’t easily be solved. But I have also experienced, that by doing a little you can help a lot. I find the slogan of the good shephard sisters “one person is of more value than the whole world” very true. Because I could see in the work with the women, that coming to the center makes a difference. It doesn’t change their position in life, but giving them the feeling that they are respected, and able to learn gives them some tools and some self-confidence that they can use to make their own life better.
Still though, I am convinced that it is also important to change the world through politics. I think it is very important that subjects as poverty, inequality and prostitution are brought more to debate as well in the poor as in the rich countries. I hope that I, by telling people at home about some of my experiences with the women in Pattaya can contribute a little to making people realize the earnesty of these problems.
At least I hope and think that I will never forget what I saw and learned here in Fountain of Life.
I will also remember the people I met here. For me it was great to live in the flat with people from different countries. I met some people who made my six months a lot of fun and with whom I could discuss and talk about the experiences in the classroom. I am very happy for the Thai that I learned with Pi Aor. It made me able to communicate better with my students and some of the Thai-staff, and made me able to get a closer relationship with some of the Thais. Especially it made me able to communicate with Pi Dim, who has been a great friend, and whom I will miss a lot when I go back.
I felt that we, the volunteers, the last three months had a very good and well functioning team, where we could communicate, help each other and have fun. Although we were not enough volunteers to teach the large number of students.

What troubled me?
Of cause anywhere you spend six months, there will be some problems or annoyances that is “included” in the experience.
   For me it was sometimes really frustrating how things were organised. I felt that I never knew anything in advance, and that even if there were a clear plan, everything could still be changed in the last minute. At home I am used to plan everything a long time in advance so it was difficult for me, that here it is done in another way.
   I think it was quite a problem when we went from 7 volunteers to 4 volunteers just before the Songkran holiday. It was difficult for us to arrange the classes so that we could still teach the same number of students. What made it more frustrating was, that it seemed, that we the volunteers, where the only ones considered it a problem.
It seems that the center has this problem with a changing number of volunteers every year, and I think it would be a good idea to try to solve this problem before it occurs, for example by actively asking the organisations for more volunteers for the period where you know there will be few.
   I know that there, because of the new situation with the visa and work permit, has been a lot of troubles, not only for the volunteers, but indeed also for the center. But despite of these problems, I think that it would be a very bad development for the center and for the women, if the center decides to decrease the number of longterm volunteers, by accepting fewer applicants.  
   Another thing that was difficult for me to understand is the way people discuss problems here in Thailand. It is very different from in Europe. In Europe it is normal to say things very directly, and we work with constructive critique, which means that you give critique not only to criticise, but instead to give your solution on how to make things even better. Therefore I hope that you will take this evaluation as my suggestions on how to improve the work of the FOL and not as criticism.
  Through my six months I didn’t really get used to the very indirect way things are said, if someone feels offended or that someone else stepped on their toes. I feel that it gives a bad atmosphere when you can easily see that people are annoyed with each other, but that they don’t tell it to the person who hurt them. Instead they choose to tell it to everybody else. I think this is a very childish way to deal with problems.
  I think that the center should really consider accepting more male volunteers. It would only be a good and healthy experience for the women to learn with a male teacher who treats them with a respect they are not use to from their Farang costumers and boyfriends. And I am convinced that a man could be just as qualified to be a volunteer at the FOL center as a woman. It only takes that the staff on the center are acting naturally and open towards the male volunteer, and treat him the same way, as they would have treaded a female volunteer.

What could I have done different.
Now I am going home in one week. And that makes me think about what I could have done different during my stay. Generally it is a strange feeling for me to go home, because I feel that I haven’t finished my work here in Pattaya. The students still need the teaching and the talking. But of cause there will be new volunteers to continue the work with the women in the center.
While visiting the SWING and the SISTERS project for ladyboys and male prostitutes I realised, that we in the center could put more emphasise on teaching the women about using protection, about condoms and about HIV and AIDS. They have the visit to the Cammillian social center, and the days with sex education. But I regret a little bit that I didn’t put more emphasise in teaching them important sentences like “I am afraid of HIV I want you to use a condom”..
What I did teach a couple of times was sentences to use when you feel threatened or when you feel that your boyfriend doesn’t treat you right. Sentences like “Stop, don’t come closer” or “You hurt me when you say/do like this..”  Maybe if I had had a little bit more guidance from sisters or former volunteers before I started teaching, I could have put more emphasise on such themes.

How can I use this experience in my future life?
My experiences here in Thailand have taught me a lot about the world, and some of its problems. I hope that I can use this knowledge to make a change. I hope that I can tell other people about my experiences from the center, and also open their eyes the same way as this stay has opened mine.
I will definitely consider doing voluntary work again. If it will be on FOL I don’t know yet, but I am sure that I will come back for a visit during the next following years.
When I come home I will start to study, and start a life, that will be very different from my 6 months in Thailand. But I hope and think that I will not forget all that I have experienced and learned from my stay in FOL. Also in Denmark there are victims of prostitution. Some of them are trafficked from other countries among them Thailand, and some of them are Danish citizens. Maybe I can use some of the knowledge that I gained on FOL to participate in projects that helps women in prostitution in Denmark.
My plan for the future has changed a bit during the last six moths, and I know now, that I would like to find a job where I get the possibility to work with people. And I think it could be great to do some kind of social work or development projects. In September I will start to study political science in Copenhagen.
  Even though I am looking very much forward to go home to my friends and family, I know that I will miss many things from Thailand when I am coming home: The delicious food, the sunshine, the good friends that I got here and especially the work with the women.
I want to thank every one of the sisters, the Thai staff, the volunteers and the women, who al made my stay six moths that I will never forget. I wish you all good luck in the future.

Agnete Aslung Kjær