lindsey.srp@ohiou.edu
During Winter Intersession, students from Ohio University's Global Learning Community participated in a trip abroad to Thailand weeks before a fatal tsunami devastated the country.
Participants began preparing for their excursion during Fall Quarter by working with Thai teammates who they met online through the program. The teams worked together preparing a business project until GLC left for Thailand in late November.
Although the project was funded by GLC, students taking part in the trip covered their own expenses. Each participant paid $1,600 for travel and hundreds more on souvenirs and food.
After a 36-hour trip, the students met up with their teammates at Chiang Mai University in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Andrea Dessoffy, a sophomore broadcast journalism major, said meeting the Thai teammates for the first time was awkward.
It was a little weird at first
because we didn't really know what to say to each other. We were worried that (the Thai teammates) would be shy and quiet she said. They were actually really great; they took us to restaurants and spoke English well.
Once the project was completed, students had a chance to tour Thailand, including Phuket, where the tsunami took place. Dessoffy said the GLC left Thailand 12 days before the tsunami hit.
It's scary; you think 'where would we have been when it hit?' Dessoffy said. And I am also thinking about all of the people who we met while we were at the beach.
Drew Pierson, a sophomore environmental geography major, was also on the trip and said he too was upset about the devastation the tsunami caused.
I initially found out through an article in the paper he said. I saw a picture of a lady sitting on the beach next to her dead child. It was really moving.
Pierson said the GLC relates to the disaster on a more personal level.
You can't understand without experiencing the culture
he said. We just learned (yesterday) that one of the security guards from our hotel was killed. It's unreal; I can remember the guy's face.
GLC members also were shocked to discover many of the places they had visited in Thailand were destroyed.
Sarah Davenport, a sophomore who has not yet declared a major, said many of the buildings and vendors the GLC had seen were wiped out.
Pierson also recalled seeing a picture of a Starbucks, which the group had walked by during the trip, with a shopping cart through its window.
Overall, GLC members were thankful to have returned home safely.
In a way
I'm torn. I'm grateful and happy that we got out in time
but sad; we met a lot of the people
and I wonder if they and the hotel we stayed at were recovered
Dessoffy said.
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