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Regent’s delegates attend Round Square International
Conference in India – part 1
Sirapat Champrasit (Boon)
Every year all the Round Square member schools meet at a conference
at one of the member’s school. The purpose of this is for all of us to
discuss and share our ideas on how our school contributes to the Round
Square IDEALS, students and teachers alike. This year the conference was
held in India and for the first time the Regents students also attended a
pre-conference tour for a week. It was an amazing experience. India is a
very interesting country because for 5000 years India has been the melting
pot of civilizations, cultures and religions. The host school this year was
The Daly College, Indore - a school which has a history of more than 100
years. It was founded by General Sir Henry Daly in 1870 and the school
itself covers a gigantic area of 118 acres.
This year the theme of the conference was “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam”, which can
be translated into English as “The World Is One Family”. The theme was then
split up into three aspects for discussion: spiritualism, the environment,
and economic-political. The emblem of the conference showed the people of
the world holding hands and had the religious symbols and national flags of
all the participating nations.
The Pre-Conference Tour
Prakhar Dubey
The Regent’s School delegates went on a pre-conference tour of
India, where we had the opportunity to experience India and its true nature.
Out of many available choices, our school chose a tour where we explored the
northern parts of India and the foothills of the Himalayas.
 Waiting
to listen to a keynote speaker.
We arrived in India on the 10th of October, late at night at the Delhi
International Airport, where we were fortunate enough to meet delegates from
Appleby College, Canada, a Round Square School. After immigration and
baggage collection, we were transferred straight to our hotel as it was
quite late and we were all tired from the journey.
On the 11th of October, the combined group of Regent’s delegates and Appleby
delegates along with our teachers and guide, Arif, went on a city tour of
Delhi. First we went to the Qutub Minar which is a 13th century monument
which stands 72.5m high today after being struck by lightning twice! The
tower is surrounded by funerary buildings and notably the magnificent
Alai-Darwaza Gate, the masterpiece of Indo-Muslim art, and two mosques,
including the Quwwatu’l-Islam, the oldest in northern India. After this we
went to the Lotus Temple – the centre of Bahai religion in the world. What
followed was a visit around the parliament buildings in Delhi where we
glimpsed the wonderful architecture of the Presidential House, the India
Gate and the Indian High Court. We then visited the Lal Qila or the Red
Fort. It is known as the Red Fort because of the thick red sandstone that
was used to construct it. We spent a lot of our evening there before a quick
experience of one of the most crowded markets of the world known as Chandni
Chawk which was at walking distance from the fort. Having spent the day
looking at the legacies of India’s illustrious past we felt overwhelmed and
were eager to experience more. We were then transferred to Delhi Railway
Station where we were joined by another Round Square School called the Doon
School.
We journeyed on the train overnight and arrived at Pathankot in the morning.
After a quick breakfast we were transferred to Dharamshala, the peaceful
home of the Dalai Lama built on the foothills of the Himalayas at around
1500m and consequently it was much cooler here. Although the Dalai Lama was
not present when we were at the Tibetan temple where he resides, we got to
experience the diversity of India as we were able to see many people who
spoke different languages and followed different religions yet blended in
with each other brilliantly. We also saw majestic mountains rise high and
steep above us and we awed at their beautiful snow capped peaks and the
wonders of nature. After an eventful 2 nights stay at Dharamshala, we were
transferred to Dalhousie by bus which was around 2000m above sea level and
hence was even cooler. We stayed here for 3 nights and had a fun time here
as everything was far more relaxed and we had a lot of time to explore the
local area. We also went on a day trip to Kajjiar during our stay at
Dalhousie, where we engaged in many fun activities and admired the beautiful
meadows. We also came across a school where there were 91 students and one
teacher for them all. The school was nothing more than 2 rooms and many of
the things we take for granted, were missing. This made us realize how
privileged we are and hence we also decided to help these children. Using
money raised through a bake sale at school, we bought essential stationery
for all the children.
As the 3 days at Dalhousie came to an end, we were transferred back to
Pathankot from our hotel to get onto trains to our next destination: The
Daly College, in Indore, for the conference. It was with a long 34 hours
train journey that our pre-conference tour concluded. During this tour we
all made really good friends with delegates from Applbey and Doon and also
truly experienced India. By the end of the tour we felt we had really seen
things we would maybe never see again, things that both shocked us and
surprised us. By the end we were all truly changed as we had built upon the
person we were through our experience and were eager to get stuck into the
conference.
Conference photo outside Daly
College.
Two Regent’s School Pattaya students awarded 1st in Thailand for IGCSE
On Monday 15th October The Regent’s School, Bangkok
hosted the Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) Brilliance in
Thailand ceremony for the June 2007 examinations.
 Hyun
Jin Chung
From The Regent’s School, Pattaya Pierre Schifflers received the award
for 1st in Thailand for Business Studies, and also received Hyun Jin
Chung’s award for 1st in Thailand for English as a Second Language, as
she was in India at the Round Square International Conference.
Of note is the fact that about half of The Regent’s School’s IGCSE/GCSE
entries are with CIE, the remainder are with another examination body,
Edexcel (who do not announce or recognize their best performing
students).
Headmaster Mr. Michael
Walton (left) and Head of Secondary (right) were pleased to be there
with Pierre Schifflers and his family on this auspicious occasion.
Asian U students visit Pattaya Orphanage
Geng with baby.
Aun and friend.
Poppy with two girls.
Kirill and tall friend.
Playing together (Bic in
striped shirt).
Pak teaches the megaphone.
Joice and friend.
Beau explains how this
works.
Signing with the deaf
children.
Susan Joyce
On Wednesday November 14, about 40 Asian University students travelled
by bus from campus to the Pattaya Orphanage. They took along some food,
for supper, and some games to play with the children. They also took
along a few treats for the youngsters.
The orphanage was founded by Father Ray Brennan, a Redemptorist Priest.
He was in Pattaya when a tiny, unwanted infant was left with him in
1970. Soon, by default, Father Ray had an orphanage. It became his
life’s passion, and the work grew and grew.
After a brief introduction to the orphanage, which has over 170 children
in residence, the students visited the nursery and played with the
infants for a while. Then they met up with the older children and played
with them, inside and out. Some students went to join the deaf children,
and learnt a little about the hardships of using sign language.
The students, lead by the chairman of the Community Service Committee,
Khun Bic, organised games and took part with the children, talking with
them in both Thai and English.
The staff of the home prepared a meal for everyone, using some of the
donated food and drink from the students, and after everyone had enjoyed
their ice creams, the students returned to campus on Highway 331.
The photos (mostly taken by Ajarn Robert) show the Asian U students
playing with the children at the orphanage.
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