Teach hill tribe communities

Product Details

Unspoilt mountain forests. A welcoming tribal village. New friends and unique experiences. Ever spent a night in the jungle under crystal-clear stars? Ever caught your own dinner and washed it down with a drink of honey and moonshine? The KHT Volunteer Experience offers you the chance to be part of an entirely different culture - live, work and share your life as part of a Karen hilltribe community.

As a summer volunteer with KHT, you will be welcomed into a remote Karen community and spend 8 weeks living with a Karen family and even adopting a Karen name! During the day, you'll teach at a local school, helping to improve their English skills (while they improve your Karen and Thai). Get involved, arrange activities and sports, find friends and make the most of your time as part of such a close community - the experience will stay with you for life.

Our short term placements get the chance to work in some of the most remote Karen villages – many of which have never had English speaking visitors before.

Volunteer Work
For 8 weeks you will become a key member of a small international development charity. Every volunteer brings new skills and experience that are valuable to the Karen people - regardless of your age or background. You will be teaching English five days a week in Thai and Karen schools at primary and secondary levels - sometimes you will act as a teaching assistant, but you will also be able to do a lot of teaching on your own two feet. Outside school times, you can get involved in every aspect of Karen life. You don't need to have a TEFL qualification (although you may find it useful), as training can be provided.

Our users say...
"Our time in the village was an absolutely amazing experience, one of the best of my life. The sense of community was so strong: children would just wander into other people's houses and everybody knew everybody else's name. Whilst I'm certain that we gave a lot to the village I'm equally sure that the three of us got as much back. We were incredibly lucky to have had this experience"
Sam Cronin.



More about the Karen hill tribes

- Karen people speak the Karen language, and some speak Thai. The children learn to speak Thai and English at school.

- In the remote villages, houses are made of teak or bamboo and are usually on stilts, the space underneath being used for animals (buffalo, pigs or chickens). There is no electricity in these villages. Toilets are situated in a separate outbuilding. Water from the river is used for washing the body and clothes.

- The Karen people have few possessions, and usually sleep on mats on the floor. Cooking is over an open fire. There is generally no furniture.

- Both men and women wear colourful, hand-made clothes. The Karen women are often seen weaving underneath their houses. Unmarried girls traditionally wear long white dresses. Some natural dyes are used, produced from tree and plant extracts, and artificial dyes are also used to create the brighter colours. Karen people are very proud of their national costumes.

- The traditional Karen diet is made up largely of rice, eggs and spices. There are also fruits (papaya, banana, mango, lycheem, longan), chicken, pork and fish.

- The Karen usually live in close-knit communities, with a strong sense of community spirit and high moral and religious values.

- Each village is presided over by an elected headman, who represents the villagers in external affairs. He is recognised by the Thai government as the political leader in the village. However, the village headman's role is to seek village consensus.

Please note: Your placement fee includes a direct contribution to the project on which you will be working.

If you would like to live and work with the Karen people, fill in the form below for more information...