English 
正體中文 
On June 24, 2025, the Northern Thailand International Volunteer Team from Yuan Ze University, led by Hsiu-Chu Lin, traveled deep into the mountainous region of Chiang Rai to visit Taikwang Elementary School.
There, they held a warm cross-cultural exchange with 56 children from the Akha, Lahu, and other minority groups, including second- and third-graders as well as kindergarteners. This child-led, volunteer-accompanied event brought everyone closer together through shared activities, overcoming language and cultural barriers to create lasting and meaningful memories.
That afternoon, the volunteers set out from their camp and navigated bumpy mountain roads to finally reach Taikwang Elementary. The event opened with a lively welcome dance. As the music started, the children’s shy expressions slowly turned into smiles, and they began to take tentative steps to join in. The kindergarteners clapped and danced along to “Baby Shark” and built block towers with the volunteers, moving from unfamiliarity to trust through one interaction after another. The atmosphere was relaxed and warm, with the children naturally revealing their innocence and giving the volunteers a sense of the purest kind of human connection.
One of the most memorable moments was the “You Teach Me” activity, where the older elementary students became little teachers, enthusiastically instructing the volunteers in Thai on the whiteboard. Thai letters, English letters, and common animal words in Thai were carefully written out. The children pointed at them one by one, explaining the pronunciation—some speaking quickly, some a little nervously—but all showing unprecedented confidence and focus.
In this child-led language lesson, it wasn’t just the volunteers who were learning—the children also felt a sense of pride at being able to teach someone else. Even with the language barrier, they communicated through eye contact, gestures, and smiles, making “learning” a truly two-way conversation. This experience became the most touching moment of the visit, truly embodying the meaning of cultural exchange.
Beyond language learning, the volunteers also prepared group games, guiding the children to work in teams to complete challenges, with laughter echoing throughout. The games revealed the children’s spirit of encouragement and teamwork, letting the volunteers see their innocence and boundless energy.
As the event drew to a close, the volunteers handed out the snacks they had prepared in advance to each child. The children accepted them happily—some shyly, some with great enthusiasm—and offered thanks and waved goodbye to the volunteers. Though the time together was short, it left a lasting warmth in everyone’s hearts.
The journey had been long and the mountain roads rough, but seeing the children’s smiles made all the hardship worthwhile. Every dance, every interaction, every shared laugh became a shining fragment of memory. This was not merely an event, but a pure encounter from the mountains. The volunteers left with full hearts and a lingering sense of connection. They believed this brief but sincere exchange would remain quietly in everyone’s memory, waiting to be recalled on some ordinary day in the future, still able to bring a smile.
