Rick Opland and his team of students from California State University Long Beach (College of Business Administration), returned again this year for a week in June (2018).

We invited the group to help us with the Rai Som school project, and work involved a number of jobs at the temporary school - tiling the floor of the second classroom, painting murals and characters on the children's bathroom block, as well as planting trees and creating a square play area using old car tyres. The murals on the bathroom wall are fantastic, and have brightened up the block immensely. A team of four students flexed their muscles and spent the majority of their time digging post holes for the inaugural building of the new school project - a toilet block! Once the post holes were finished, the hole for the cesspit was dug out (as fast as the group removed earth, the measurements changed and cave-ins occurred... so it felt a bit like a Sisyphean task for a while, but the job ended with two columns of four concrete pipes being lowered into the hole).

The trees planted are a type of cherry blossom, which will eventually provide a beautiful border to the school grounds.

Similar to last year's trip, the group mixed the volunteer work with a couple of meetings to learn business practices used by local coffee companies - one grows and sells the brand "Abedo" coffee, and the group had a pleasant morning walking around the production area learning about coffee bean processing. After lunch at Abedo's restaurant, and meeting Abedo himself, the group had a Q&A session with the manager of a family-run coffee shop outside Chiang Rai, called Lee Hu cafe.

The group had a great attitude towards the work and the project as a whole. Even a disabled dog adopted by our school principal was helped with team members building a carriage so that it could walk more easily.

We hope to see CSU again next year, and individual members are always welcome back.

The group from Deyi Secondary school in Singapore raised funds to bring 25 students and 5 teachers to our Rai Som project. The team helped to improve the grounds, buildings, and learning environment of the school where we already have 126 students registered.

The students did a fantastic job, surpassing our expectations and impressing us with their dedication and diligence. Not only did they manage to finish all the work we set them, they also found time to play with the children during breaks (breaks which many were reluctant to take because they were focused on finishing the work!).

This was Deyi Secondary's first project with us, although the lead teacher has previously brought teams when he worked with another Singapore school. Thank you and well done, Deyi Secondary school!