In Search of Sanuk

Last weekend I joined the Sanuk My Saturday volunteering project in Bangkok. It’s part of the wider “In Search of Sanuk” enterprise that seeks to encourage support of local Thai communities and charitable projects.

“Sanuk” is a Thai word that translates as fun or enjoyment although it’s meaning goes deeper than that in Thai culture. It refers, in a wider sense, to being jovial and, I guess, to looking on the bright side. There’s no literal translation into English.

Simply put, In Search Of Sanuk seeks to blend that sense of fun with the more serious business of supporting deserving causes.

“In Search of Sanuk (ISOS) is a community where people can collaborate on ways to change the world around them. We hope to encourage travelers to open their eyes, equip expats for self-activism, and challenge organizations to invest back into society more creatively. We’ll share advice, point out some great causes and invite you to participate in our own ongoing projects.”

The Saturday teaching programme, Sanuk My Saturday, began in a small, neglected area on the outskirts of Bangkok and has recently expanded to include a community who live beside the train line in Bangkok. And when I say that they live “beside” the train line, I mean that most residents could reach out of their front door and touch the train as it passes.

Here are a few photos from last Saturday, some from the train-line community in the morning and some from the more established project that we visited in the afternoon. If you would like to get involved with the project, whether you’re a Bangkok resident or simply passing through, then you can volunteer or offer a donation.

If you were to be in search of sanuk then you wouldn’t need to look further than these uplifting projects. Joining in on them was the most fun I’ve had in… well, in a long time. By the end of the day I was very hot, very tired but very, very happy. We may have taken food and offered teaching and a safe place to play for a few hours but what we took away from the day was of much greater value. The kids are amazing, so full of life and energy, so inquisitive and trusting, it’s hugely uplifting and enormously refreshing to have the privilege to spend some time in their company. Although I was one of the volunteers doing the “giving”, I was the one who came away the richer.

If you’d like to know more about In Search Of Sanuk then you can follow on Twitter or subscribe to the RSS feed. Better still, make contact and offer your support.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 at 11:43 am and is filed under Blog, Charity, Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.