A Week To Remember

ISB Week Without Walls, 2008

For a week in February 2008, the Panya Project hosted a groups of students from the International School of Bangkok. The students had come to learn about sustainable living, earthen building, permaculture, and to experience a lifestyle with a lighter footprint on the planet. Lisa Guest had this to say as she was leaving, "Thank you so much for sharing everything with us this week and teaching us incredible things. This place is going to change the world. Actually it already has for 29 high school students. I hope I have a chance to come back and see how this place has grown and changed. Again, thank you so much!"

During their week long stay, the 29 students from ISB were able to particpate in putting up the walls of an adobe building, working with wattle and cob technique, getting their hands dirty in the garden, working with bamboo, making pizza in the earthen oven and many other activities. The days were full of everything from group building games to relaxing at a local coffee shop with a coconut shake. In the evenings they took part in a great discussion of globalization and how we can help to bring about a better world.

"This is one of those places that changes the whole way you see the world! Thank you so much for the knowledge I am leaving with. I would say this is a once in a lifetime experience… but I don’t want it to be! I think it would be great to come back here or somewhere similiar. If only there were more people that could see life this way." Patrick Sine was a very active contributor to the mud building sessions, as well as acting as recorder for the group with his impressive photography skills.

Every year students from the International School of Bangkok get to choose from a large number of activities for their Week Without Walls trip. They have the choice of everything from sailing in the gulf, to hiking through the jungle, to touring universities, to working on a Habitat for Humanities site. The students are asked to choose a trip with an environmental or community service focus for at least two out of the four years. The trips can also help students to fulfill the community service hours they are required for their International Baccalaureate (IB) program. This year the Panya Project had the opportunity to be considered as one of the students choices, and considering their response, it could be an ongoing relationship. Lise Sasaki expressed it like this, "I really think we are very lucky to have been able to go on a trip like this. Thank you so much! I learned a lot from everybody here. I admire everybody’s attitude and mindset at the Panya Project. Thanks again!"

The Panya Project aims to provide students of any visiting school with an experience that will get them thinking. "We hope that every student that leaves this place goes away knowing that life isn’t just as cut and dry as it might seem. We would love for each and every student to feel empowered in their lives, not only to build their own earthen house, but to know that they can create their lives in such a way that they might be fulfilling and enjoyable along the way. The seeds that we planted in the ISB students this last week may have been the most important seeds that we have planted all year long." Christian Shearer, co-founder of the Panya Project called the week without walls trip a total success. "I was blown away with their response. The number of students who approached me and said that they really appreciated what we are doing was fantastic. I look forward to working with more student groups, and think that the visiting schools progams might be the most valuable aspect of our project."