Last week, CMRCA hosted students from Shrewsbury International School (Bangkok). On the day of their arrival, students began the program by participating in a Team Building Amazing Race. Along the way they took pictures with topiary dinosaurs, crawled through webs of terrifying plastic spiders, and braved fake minefields! Students then spent the next few days amongst the botanical gardens at Horizon Resort and rotating through three activities: climbing and rappelling at Crazy Horse Buttress, creating crafts at Lanna Wisdom School, and learning about Karen culture and sustainable agriculture at Fair Earth Farm.

Climbing and Rappelling

Each day, a group went to Crazy Horse Buttress where they were welcomed by the CMRCA guiding staff. Once fully equipped with gear, students set out to rock climb at the “Tamarind Village” and rappel inside the gigantic Anxiety State Crisis Cave. Inside the cave, they braved the Tyrolean Traverse – a 20-meter long journey across a rope bridge in midair! Since that wasn’t exciting enough, students then took on the 35-meter rappel down to the cave floor. Happy, accomplished, and a little dirty, by four o’clock the students loaded back into the red trucks and waved good-bye to the CMRCA climbing team.

Lanna Wisdoms School

The Lanna Wisdom School group started their day with some morning energizers. After the students were all warmed up and excited (the ChiangMai “chill” came as quite a surprise!), they learned about how Lanna folk wisdom and knowledge can be preserved through interaction with the Lanna community. The rest of the day was spent decorating star lanterns, creating Lanna flags and making colorful tie-dyed cloths with traditional colorings. Everyone left with a beautiful souvenir in each hand.

Fair Earth Farm

Students at Fair Earth Farm were greeted in the morning by fresh khao lam (grilled sticky rice) and a group of Pwa Ka Nyaw (Karen) Villagers from Ban Huay Thong Goh located in the pristine forests of Mae Hong Son Province. Students began the day’s activities discussing traditional farming and sustainability. They then broke into small groups for a local plant hunt, during which they learned about agro-ecology and ate fistfuls of mulberries. Afterwards, they rotated through activities including fishing, a cultural exchange, and a lesson in herbal medicine. During the second half of the day, students watched Pwa Ka Nyaw sword dancing and ate a meal prepared with organic Huay Thong Goh produce. After much anticipation, they got the chance to jump in the canal and get muddy! After fishing and slopping mud to fertilize the surrounding plants, they ended the day with a dirty but amiable mud fight.

A big CMRCA thank you to everyone who made this program a great experience: Horizon Village and Resort, Shrewsbury Teachers, Fair Earth Farm, Villagers from Huay Thong Goh, and Lanna Wisdom School.

Check out more photos from the Shrewsbury program on Facebook!