The Voluntary Instinct

Volunteering in Khao Lak

We arrived at the busy site in the back of a pick-up. They were building 30 brand new 3 room bungalows. The operation was being run by a German construction company. I was quickly paired up with Wayne of New Zealand. Wayne had made the trip here purely to help out for six weeks. He had saved cash and ensured his business back home would survive his absence. Wayne was great. Good heart.

Our mission was to install window frames to the bungalows. Wayne had been working alone before I turned up. I'm not sure if my arrival helped, I felt I was at least good for his morale! Here is Wayne shaving the edge off a frame in order for it to fit.

My work only lasted 3 days before the volunteer effort was over. The contract was up and it was time to hand the work over the to the Thais to finish. Everything was almost complete, just a few fiddly bits and these bungalows were ready to house the people who had lost all but their lives. This is Wayne and I before the final hand-over.

This was a good experience. I met some great people giving their time and effort to help these unfortunate people. The volunteers came from all over the world to help. Some specifially just to help and others, like myself, lending a hand because we could. The work needed all over Khao Lak was massive. I hope they have returned to some sort of normality a year on from this tragedy.