Well what a month. The NHCC is an organisation that supports children with HIV/AIDS. After meeting a previous volunteer, Angela, in Koh Chang I'd decided to sign up for a month to teach English!, or whatever else needed doing.

I was actually working at a kids village orphanage that is based just outside the city. There are about 150 kids living there but the numbers grow on a weekly basis. It's a really great place with a fantastic set of kids and adults all supporting the program.

I was actually a bit nervous about the old teaching side of things with absolutley zip experience and I am known for a bit of a London accent, but I ended up loving it. I took nursery and pre-school kids from 7am to 10am, then you have lunch! You then prepared your classes for the afternooon. I was taking two classes on my second day. Teaching English to kids is a funny old thing, you think you are getting absolutley nowhere, but then you have a breakthrough and it's great feeling. Keeping a straight face for a lot of the lesson is half the battle, because when kids think they can make you laugh you can forget about the teaching!

A typical example of a class would go something along the lines of this.

Me: OK what's this? Kids: CIRCLE! (Capitals used for 10 kids screaming at once!)

Me: No it's a square. What's this? Kids: CIRCLE!

Me: No it's a triangle, but good try! What's this? Kids: CIRCLE!, CIRCLE, CIRCLE!

Me: No, a rectangle. What's this? (trying to keep a straight face) Kids: SQUARE!

Me: Is this a bloody wind up? It's a flippin CIRCLE!

The words bloody and flippin have been added for comedy effect, the rest is verbatim, I would never curse in front of a child

I did have some major progress with a few of the kids thatI caught on video that I've put on the blog, so you can judge my natural ability as an Engligh teacher!

The one drawback of nursery was after putting yourself through the daily routine of a cold bucket shower, it would be a matter of minutes before someone affectionatly peed on your leg, before laughing their little heads off.

Most of the kids were extremely extrovert, because if I got the camera out and they were not part of the official shoot. I'd Britney Spears tantrum, and that includes the boys. Hence I've ended up with over 400 photos!

Anyway the whole experience was fantastic, and I'm so glad I took the time out to do it. It's been a while since I've had some real job satisfaction, but the Swiss volunteer Katya said on the way to dinner in her very broken English, "You know Risshard (she's French speaking!), how do you say in Inglissh, you are a real foo!" However just as I was about to unleash my verbal retaliation regarding Switzerland's exit from the Euro Championships, she added, "with the kids I mean, it's really good" And for me that was a top job performance appraisal!

Anyway I finished there today so thought I'd get the blog completely upto date before heading off to Nepal. Hope you like the photos!