FunFit Abroad

In July 2006 FunFit’s Erin Nicholson traveled to Mae Sot in Thailand to undertake volunteer work with Burmese refugee children. Erin was readily accepted by one of the small primary schools in this town and worked with the grade 1-4 students on a daily basis over the course of one week. This was such an amazing experience for Erin and she loved working with the children, teaching them Hip-Hop Dancing, Breakdancing, Creative Dance and Circus Skills. The children absolutely loved their classes and were amazing to work with, their skills progressing at a rapid rate over the course of the week. It was a challenging experience for Erin as she doesn’t know how to speak Burmese so she very quickly became skilled at miming!

There is no physical education or performing arts in the school curriculum of schools in Mae Sot. The teachers at the school were very thankful for the experience and Erin worked with them to implement regular dance and circus classes in their school curriculum and at another school they are affiliated with. Erin loved this experience so much that she will be returning to Mae Sot in June 2007, loaded up with mini sound system, hula hoops and other circus equipment, to spend one month working with the children at this school and other schools in the area, working closely with the teachers to ensure the children are able to receive ongoing dance and circus tuition.

Here are some photos taken during the classes: