Sep 5: Final Day of English and Farewell Dinner

Today we had our last day of English lessons with the KWAT interns. We were very sad to leave them and amazingly proud to see them accomplish so much!

We warmed up by having the interns ask questions about their plans for the weekend. They were much more comfortable conversing than they were a week ago.

Afterwards, everyone wrote a story on whatever topic he or she wanted. Some of the interns recounted major experiences from their lives while others used their imaginations to make up stories. The interns were able to use English to express their complex thoughts and communicate effectively. It was truly inspiring to see how far they’ve come!

For lunch, we had our last meal at the intern house. As always, it was delicious. Nick and Katharine are definitely going to miss the sautéed morning glories.

In the afternoon, the interns reflected on what they had learned in the class. We were so touched by their thoughtful words of gratitude and by their declarations of newfound confidence. We told them how sad we were to leave and reminded them to keep practicing their English every day.

As our cab pulled away from the house, several interns chased after us. They wanted us to stay longer! Luckily, we can continue to talk to them over Facebook.

Next, we headed to the KWAT office for our farewell dinner. The KWAT staff cooked us an amazing Kachin meal, including bamboo shoot soup, spicy fish and several plates of rambutan. Over dinner, we shared some great stories about our chapter back in the US and took time to reflect on our work here and talk about our hopes for the future.

After dinner, we picked up our income generation crafts to sell back at Dartmouth. Ah Noh, Mai, and the rest of KWAT staff presented us with a beautiful handmade gift – a traditional Kachin woven banner that we can hang on our wall back home. We thanked them so much and pledged to continue and strengthen our partnership for years to come. They told us how valued we were by KWAT and how much they appreciate all that we have done both in Chiang Mai and at Dartmouth. They very much want us to come and visit them again, hopefully one day in the Kachin state.