Students from Garden International School (GIS) visited a war cemetery, met the British Ambassador and raised funds for war veterans to mark Remembrance Day.
A volunteer from the Royal British Legion came to GIS to talk to Year 9 students about why we wear poppies each November. He explained that the Royal British Legion collects donations each year, and this money is spent on helping families who have lost relatives in wars. Funds are also spent on helping soldiers who have been injured while fighting. In Thailand, 20 percent of donations go to help local groups and families.
GIS students stand by a grave at the War Cemetery in Kanchanaburi.
A group of Year 9 students went to Kanchanaburi with History teacher Mr Armstrong. They visited the Death Railway and the Bridge Over the River Kwai and also took part in a moving ceremony at the main War Cemetery in the town. While there, the GIS students helped war veterans from Southeast Asia and were able to chat with the British Ambassador for Thailand, Mr Mark Kent. Students took part in the ceremony and laid a wreath by the cemetery’s cenotaph.
Generous GIS students help sell poppies in Kanchanaburi.
Back at GIS, which is based in Ban Chang near Pattaya, there was a whole school assembly. Students read out poems, including Dulce Et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen, and sang songs, including John Lennon’s Imagine, to mark the occasion. Parents also came in to school to teach students how to make paper peace cranes – as it was World Origami Day – and in addition these helped students think about Remembrance Day.
Students bought poppies and wristbands to remember war victims in the week leading up to Remembrance Day. Last year, generous GIS students raised more than anyone else in the region – and they are hoping when the totals are counted up this year, they are again number one!
To watch a video of the Remembrance Day activities, visit the media page at www.gardenrayong.com.
A Royal British Legion volunteer sells poppies to GIS students.
Parents helped students make hundreds of ‘paper peace cranes’ to mark Remembrance Day.
GIS students along with the British Ambassador for Thailand, Mr Mark Kent (back row, far left).
