my first ever volunteer trip and definitely not my last. taung kun village was a village left almost unscathed by globalization. contact with the outside world was minimal let alone foreigners. when we stepped foot into their village, we were the first ever foreigners they ever come into contact with. they were at first apprehensive and it certainly took awhile before they started warming up to us. the bathing experience was unique to say the least. we bathed in our DUs in the first night, with just bailers and cold water with a tinge of metal taste from the relatively new well that was recently dug before we came. as for sleeping, everyone was simply confined to their own body outline and we had to have our fingers locked together at our bellies. any other movement will result in knocking into someone else. i often had to fan myself to sleep due to the unbearable heat and sometimes had my sleep disrupted because of the chickens (chirping?) or dogs barking. but it was the healthiest ever sleeping habit i ever adopted. well who sleeps at 10 and wakes up at 6 nowadays? as for the meals we had to cook for ourselves with each van taking turns to do so. the others will then have construction duties like building toilets and wells or teaching in the schools. well there were many first times for me in this trip ie cooking charsiew, peeling vegetable leaves, mixing cement, laying bricks, operating the well machine, teaching children, buying groceries in a wet market and even being in a farm. i especially love it how independent i was from technology

village slang day. we went back to the previous village that the past two expeditions team went and we were greeted by the huge banner they had in their house. the ppl there were warmer (but then again they have encountered many volunteers in their village) the desire of their youths to improve their command of english was admirable as they constantly chatted with us throughout the tour. we ended up playing monkey with the kids with the rugby ball and although the time spent with them was short, there was this sudden surge of emotions when we said our goodbyes.

culture day was definitely one of the highlights although not the most enjoyable. it started with how we prepared local delicacies like bak kut teh and sambal kangkong which was too spicy for the villagers liking and curry chicken. we then attempted to show them how singapore was like through photos and our members donning the traditional costumes. for dinner they prepared food for us and the preparation was rather shocking. how they used the well water to wash the rice (we bought and use distilled water) how they used the pail used for daily activities like washing to contain their curry but i must say the chu mifen is not bad. they then ordered huge ass speakers for us so we can party village style. nvm the humid conditions but the terrible music? omg. but it was not polite not to dance for it must have cost them quite a bit to rent those speakers plus lights given their meagre income so we pressed on for like a good 3 to 4 hours.

the last day: i anticipated a teary goodbye. it turned out anything but. partly everything was damn rush in the morning. every van had their duties to do before we leave the village so everyone was just frantically rushing plus some last minute packing here and there.

initially i thought the whole expeditions thing was a bit of an overkill in terms of commitment but after going on the trip, i realised the importance. i can't imagine going on a trip like this with a bunch of random ivle individuals. and there's more to expeditions than must merely toilets wells and teaching. aung kunh had their fair share of social problems like gambling and laziness. many of their padi fields were not irrigated and it can be done despite the harsh weather conditions with the use of the irrigation machines but they did not. also, it was not so much a closely knitted commmunity as reflected by one incident. there was a storm and the family opposite us had a tree uprooted. instead of approaching their fellow village members, they approached us instead. initially, i was hell bent on joining other expeditions team to avoid the heavy workload but i think i'm sticking to eusoff expeditions for now.

its definitely one of the highlights of my life and i am looking to relieving the experience again next year. afterall, its free:)