the last line wrote, "Engineers figure out how to harness the power of technology;
economists figure out how to harness the power of incentives. Our
prosperity relies on both.". was just thinking, since engineers and economists require some sort of higher education, wouldn't that mean that people in places like khao lak where education is so unimportant will never be able to prosper?
i guess that is why it takes such a long time for developing countries to be fully developed. there's a vicious cycle of poverty in play here.
back to my main blogging content. haha.
my second day of lesson was conducted in the computer room. the computers are pentium 4! and all of the computers are new. the kids were basically super happy to get to touch the computers again. heh.
first 3 photos show the kids playing games like blow wind blow and the name game. they LOVED blow wind blow even though they kept blowing the same stuff; last photo shows the kids using the comps. some of them were really fascinated by the stuff you could do with the computer.
i can't remember his name!; xinen and la; i can't remember her name!; biya; on; i can't remember both their names in the next two photos!; xinen; nang; shiyun; i can't remember his name!; and group photos for the rest.=)
they were basically super slack during the computer lessons, cos they were either playing solitaire, spider solitaire, pinball or minesweeper, or they were gliding around with the chairs. of cos there were a handful still working hard on their powerpoint slides. haha. it wasn't easy teaching them computer skills simply cos they dunno how to read english! like if they didn't know how to read "custom animation", they'd definitely forget how to do animation even after teaching them. they can only remember based on the position of the command.
la, my favourite boy in the class. isn't he soooo cute and handsome?=P
next was visit to the villages. took a few photos along the way too.
i dun think these photos need any explanation. just compare with the houses we have in developed countries.
pop and biya who were my companions for the village visit. they were seriously damn nice. throughout the whole walk, they were leading me through the driest places, telling me to take photos whenever there were nice stuff, helping me keep my camera after i take photos, and even plucking the best parts of the leaves for me. along the way, they were also plucking flowers for me. towards the end of the visit, one of them even bought me a small packet of mentoes-like sweets. aww man. it's like they are already so poor yet they still took so good care of me. during the whole walk, i was just super touched at how the two of them were "protecting" me instead of me, being the older one, protecting them. they even helped me remove all sorts of insects that landed on me.=X
the ride back was fun! on the back of jimmy's van. too many bumpy places but jimmy just drove through all of them, and we were just screaming and shouting the whole way through. heh.
a not-so-thin pig. yowie, that SOOOO doesn't look like me does it?=X
on the way back, we saw an auntie selling roti prata. decided to buy one and oh gosh it was damn nice! the auntie must have been so happy that all of us were staying in the school.
all the flowers that biya and nang and pop gave me along the way. i took this photo too late, so all of the flowers seem to be dying...=(
i earned a reputation during area cleaning man. shan't say anything here just in case you end up puking after reading it. haha! but yes, the news spread so quickly that people started questioning me after a while. it's not really a good thing really, to have that sort of reputation.=X there are just some things you have to do as a leader, no matter how much you dun want to, if your group members are even more scared of doing the same thing.
also saved some people from having no water during their baths by pulling up the lever of the pump. heh.
this day was better in a sense that i really made myself come out of my shell to do things i normally won't do. started opening up a lot more as well.
some quotes from leslie:
"Whenever you face a problem, look in the mirror and in it you'll find the cause and solution of the problem." so true ain't it. i never believed in blaming others for anything that happens, but would rather reflect inward first before pushing the blame to others, if i even do so. this quote really summarises this principle of mine.
"You have to learn to manage surprises." i guess in life, there are just so many things that you can't expect. we can't be sheltered all our lives. perhaps being flexible is the best way to go. i liked his whole talk about thinking out of the box. really triggered some thoughts, though the rest were dozing off from tiredness.
i can't believe i couldn't even escape from you during the trip. sometimes i find myself stoning and jerking up whenever i hear your name. tragic isn't it.