IBM ESC Team travels to Chonburi, Thailand - 2012: Smarter Kids

On Sunday we had one of the best experiences of the Service Corps assignment. We visited Mechai Pattana School to conduct a workshop on Innovation and Careers with the 10^th Grade students in residence there. The school randomly selects about 30 students each year from rural farming villages in Thailand to provide them an outstanding education. Please learn more and donate here:

http://www.mechaifoundation.org/school_donations.asp

Students welcome us with song.

The students welcomed us with songs and their rendition of John Lennon’s Imagine moved us all tremendously. I wish I could share but Blogger is choking on the video upload. They happily showed us their lush campus full of lime, papaya, coconut and banana trees. It includes an integrated farm where they work to supplement operating expenses and their food supply. They were very excited to share their plan to grow and sell limes in the off-season to command a higher price – amazing entrepreneurs!

We split the class in two with Mauricio and Anna taking one half and Denise, Krishnan and I taking the other. There were aspiring doctors, architects, engineers, and an international businesswoman in our group. We talked about iPhones, iPads and cars that will drive themselves. The kids were enthused and asked many questions about our career path and how schools in the U. S. compare to Mechai Pattana. The session ended with an exchange of gifts. The kids also presented us a beautiful pumpkin-shaped, hand-made thank you card for their classroom full of new flat-panel monitors from IBM.

Many thanks to the students, for your hospitality at Mechai Pattana School and to IBM Thailand's Corporate Social Responsibility Leader, Apapan. This was really a special day for us.