Her wheelchair might be the first thing that strikes people about Nitcharee Peneakchanasak when they meet her initially, but the radiance and frequency of her smile could be their most lasting memory of this 18-year-old who lost both legs as a result of an accident in 2011. Nitcharee’s misfortune does not seem to have dampened her spirit and during the recent long weekend for Buddhist Lent, this teenager was one of 250 youths from all over the country who took part in the Art for All Camp in Pak Chong, Khao Yai.
A volunteer helps a blind girl make a clay model.
Many labour under the misconception that underprivileged people and those with disabilities lead a glum existence, but in this unique camp, which cater to deaf, blind and physically handicapped youngsters, music, laughter and joyful voices could be heard all day and far into the evening. Some of participants came from Thailand’s southernmost provinces. Other are from hill tribe families in the North. But the lack of a single common tongue or obvious medium of communication didn’t stop anyone from learning a few of the catchy songs taught by camp counsellors, as well as the simple sign language designed to go with the melodies. Friends were made left and right despite the great differences in background and life experience.
“It was difficult at first,” Nitcharee, who’s from Bangkok, conceded. “But after a while, I started to feel that if I could understand the others a bit better, they might have more to offer me than I could ever have expected.”
The camp is called Art for All because the various uplifting activities designed to engage the youngsters’ interest all involved the use of art as the universal language on instruction. Nitcharee, who revealed she had no artistic background whatsoever, got to try her hand at various types of fine and performing arts in the company of her new friends. Together, they drew and painted, made clay models, sang, acted out stories, designed things and generally had a pretty good time with one another.
Underlying all the fun and games, however, there is a deadly serious intent, with the camp participants being encouraged to work around their personal physical limitations, as well as to experience what it might be like to live in the shoes of someone else facing a different set of challenges. Speaking to each other is sometimes forbidden for a specified period, for instance, with only sign language being allowed as a mode of communication. At other times, everyone is blindfolded so that the sighted can experience what it might be like to live without the use of their eyes. At the start of certain mealtimes there is also another barrier for the happy campers to overcome, with everyone present being asked to put one of their arms into a sling for the duration.
But what Nitcharee found most challenging of all was sleeping in the same room as some of her new-found friends. “Before the accident I used to share rooms with friends of mine whenever we’d go on school-organised summer camps together. But afterwards I always got to stay in a separate room because I have a lot of morning routines to go through in the morning, like putting on my prosthetic legs. It can be a hassle, so they always had me separated from the others.
“I want to overcome my limitations so that I can actually live with other people again,” Nitcharee said, with a nod to the camp’s motto, “I’m a bit afraid about sharing a room because I have to put on the legs every morning. I’m worried about how the other girls will look at me; we’re just not that close yet.”
Luckily, she got understanding roommates, some of whom offered to help her put on her prosthetic limbs in the morning and waited to accompany her to one of the art-activity stations set up for them that day.
The volunteer
On the other side of the campsite, Piyanan Churak, a student from Thaksin University in Songkhla province, was busy looking after her charges who all come from hill tribe communities in the North. As their group leader, she had to be by the kids’ side from dawn to dusk, getting them ready for the day’s activities and supervising them continuously until it’s time for bed. No kids get left behind; that’s one of the camp rules.
Piyanan is of the 100 or so volunteers — dedicated secondary-school or university students for the most part, plus a sprinkling of parents and other adults — who run the camp. For someone who was just seeking a productive way to spend her time during the break between college terms, she sure seems to be having fun as she contributes her time and labour to this good cause.
“This camp gives the children opportunities to learn more about one another and how they are different from each other,” Piyanan noted. “I’m quite impressed by all the diversity on display here; everyone seems so different.”
And the adolescent participants are not the only ones learning new skills and trying something new; the volunteers also get their share of novel experiences and fun moments and Piyanan said she was looking forward to making the most of her time in Khao Yai.
“I want to learn how to make malai khao dtoak [a garland made from popped grains of rice rather than flowers]. I’ve never seen what they’re like. I think I’ll be getting a chance to do this later on in the programme.”
The instructor
Paranee Amorndi was one of the instructors at this year’s camp and you could spot her from a long distance away because she sports a rainbow-coloured hairdo and likes to wear cowboy boots. Nobody is put off by her trendy appearance, however, because she has a kind word and a big smile for all and sundry.
“I feel that the act of giving can grant us happiness in return. These children have to cope with their condition; they have to learn how to make a life for themselves. Whereas we [camp volunteers] were born with perfectly functioning arms and legs, with good sight and hearing; so we have to help them,” reasoned Paranee, a hairstylist by profession, who had brought her mother along to assist at this year’s camp. Hovering nearby as we spoke, that elderly woman, resplendent in a cheerful purple camp-issue shirt, seemed to be getting right into the spirit of things.
Paranee’s contribution to the Art for All programme is the teaching of basic hair-cutting methods. When I visited her hairstylist’s station at the camp there was a group of youngsters standing around, closely observing Paranee’s hand movements and technique as she worked her magic on an adolescent boy who was sitting on a chair in front of her. Her scissors seemed to glide over his head in one fluid motion as her body swayed along to some upbeat music she was playing over a large CD player she had brought along.
“In the end, we all end up going to the temple crematorium,” she observed rather matter-of-factly as she gave the finishing touches to the boy’s haircut by rubbing in some glittery gel. “I want to teach these kids what I know because I can’t take anything with me when I die.”
Paranee is used to working outdoors because back in Bangkok, where she lives, she often cuts hair in Suan Luang Rama IX, a large public park and botanical gardens in the city’s Prawet district. There, she is often to be found offering haircuts to passers-by. There is no fixed fee for the service; she said she accepts whatever people can afford or whatever fee they think is fair. To make ends meet, she also gives lessons from time to time.
“If you were to ask me whether money matters, then I would reply, ‘yes, it does matter — but happiness is worth so much more’. You can run out of money, but you can never run out of happiness. It stays in your heart forever.”
The founder
“You’ll never see another camp quite like this,” said Prof Channarong Pornrungroj, the person who made all this happen and who brings all these people together once a year in pursuit of the same goals. He established the Art for All Camp 18 years ago and has been running it ever since. Before we got talking he had been leading a group of kids in a singalong, always a joyful activity and one which clearly never gets “old” for him.
The underlying concept for the camp stems from Dr Channarong’s conviction that everyone should get a chance to learn together. He views this country’s current education system — and its tendency to separate learners according to their academic or other abilities — as being essentially unfair to the physically challenged as well as students from underprivileged backgrounds.
“Putting the physically challenged into separate classes causes problems. It is a constant reminder to these students that they lack validity, that they live in a society designed to cater primarily to the needs of able-bodied people.”
So, for almost two decades now, Dr Channarong has been making valiant efforts to bring together, from all over Thailand, youngsters of widely differing abilities and from a great variety of backgrounds. Whether they are blind, deaf or physically handicapped in some other way, whether they have mental or learning disabilities or come from so-called outreach areas, places where there are logistical or other barriers to getting a proper education (children who live in remote mountain villages in the North, for example, or in the violence-racked southernmost provinces) — everyone has a place at the Art for All Camp.
To Dr Channarong, art is an international language, which is why it was chosen as the medium to bring all these youngsters together. He hopes that by sampling what’s on offer at each of the creative-activity stations set up around the camp the kids will be able to uncover some of their hidden potential.
“The camp only lasts for five days. So unless children have had prior exposure that allowed them to discover a particular artistic talent, it would be almost impossible for them to suddenly become great at something during the course of a single camp,” Dr Channarong conceded. “However, they at least get the chance to find out what artistic activity they like the most. When they discover that, it becomes the heart of everything; they can grow to love these new-found interests of theirs.
“If you can make children fall in love with art, no matter what branch of the arts or what particular format might take their fancy, once they return home they will continue developing those skills on their own. So, what they get from this camp is a road map to life. They’ve been searching, and now they’ve discovered it.”
