Our Unbelievable UniBreak in Thinadhoo, Maldives

COUNTRY: Maldives
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Teaching and swimming coaching
WRITTEN BY: Vivienne Zhu

I’m sad that this will be my last blog post for the trip. We’ve experienced so much, and it’s rapidly coming to an end in two days. It has been an extraordinary and memorable journey with five amazing girls and we were lucky enough to see some beautiful wildlife today; a pod of dolphins, some sharks, and a three-legged turtle!

For future Unibreakers, I want to give you a few tips.

Firstly, add your group on Facebook prior to the trip and don’t bring excessive quantities of items. There are plenty of local shops you can go to buy all your household needs: toothbrush/toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner, Nutella, peanut butter, etc. Bringing these items will just weigh your suitcase down when you could bring books and games for the kids to play.

Secondly, don’t let bad weather spoil your fun! Our second trip to Havodigalaa Island began with overcast clouds and rain, but we were still able to chill in hammocks, and watch a beautiful sunset. We concluded the night with a glow stick party and karaoke - singing and dancing until we were tired. I also helped the locals light candles to use at night (a bit difficult given the heavy winds!)

Thirdly, immerse yourself in teaching – whether it is inside or outside the classroom. You get a grasp of how unique each child is and you come to recognise their strengths and weaknesses. I will certainly miss their persistent calls of “MISS” whenever they have problems or simply want my attention. Without a doubt, putting in the time and energy has been worthwhile.

Additionally, the progress the kids have made in swimming has been phenomenal. Some are able to swim freestyle without kickboards and through constant encouragement and praise, all the students were able to get in the water. (A tip for sports coaching – “hands on heads” will have the kids quieten down almost immediately!)

On our last day at school, we held an assembly where we presented a video Janelle made and gifted the school with our painting of Australia. Ajeeb invited us for a farewell dinner at school, where we dressed up in traditional Maldivian dresses. We captured many special moments with our teachers and were constantly praised on how beautiful and model-like we looked (#MissMaldives2015). Some of us even had veils tied to our hair, and it was like our own Maldivian wedding! We were treated to a great feast prepared by our teachers, and we said our final thank you to our in-country agent and the school.

Finally, treasure the memories you create with your new friends, your teachers and your students. We may come to a resort again in the future, but how often will we be able to live on a local island in Maldives? Getting to know the locals, saying “hi” to strangers, and going on snorkelling trips were certainly the highlights of the trip for me. Living as the locals do allowed us to truly understand the culture and lifestyle of Maldivians.

The Thinadhoo group would like to give our sincerest thanks to our in-country agents. Ibrahim, our local tour guide, thank you for purchasing our small household needs whether it be fruit or toilet paper! Whilst you appear shy, we have had so much fun with you, and are so grateful that you have been able to show us around the island.

Assad, you have been so amazing. Whenever we had a problem or wanted to go somewhere, you were quick to get it fixed or organised. Words cannot describe how efficient and kind-hearted you are, and we will surely miss your singing! We will certainly miss you in the weeks to come as we will no longer have snorkelling trips or see you on a near-daily basis.

We’ve taken so many photos and created countless memories, which will remain with us forever. This past month has been unbelievable and certainly unforgettable. We will definitely keep in touch with one another and we’ve already organised meet-ups in the coming weeks!

Thanks for sharing this journey with us! Love the Thinadhoo group.

Best Things to Do in Thinadhoo, Maldives.

COUNTRY: Maldives
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Teaching and swimming coaching
WRITTEN BY: Vivienne Zhu

It has been a truly eventful week with snorkelling trips to coral reefs and uninhabited islands, and a visit to a local artist all on the agenda! Below is our ‘Must Do’ list for your trip to the Maldives.

1. Snorkelling on an uninhabited island
Last Friday, we were lucky enough to have the chance to voyage to the uninhabited Havodigala Island. With palm trees scattered along the coastline, a short walk took us to a secluded beach where the beautiful, clear, blue water was filled with an assortment of coral and wildlife. This island was truly paradise. With no one in sight, we were able to dive into the ocean and explore the magical underwater world. We were able to soak up the afternoon sun and take endless photos of cartwheels, star jumps and water hair flips.

We were treated to an exquisite dinner of BBQ fish with the sun setting on the horizon. A small bonfire was lit and we enjoyed cooking marshmallows on a stick until they were burnt and melted like clouds in our mouths. Our local partner took us to find crabs in the sand and after the initial fear (they are surprisingly similar to spiders) we had a pleasant time catching them. When we let them go, they scurried away seemingly at the speed of light (you’d be surprised how fast the Maldivian crabs crawl!)

2. Speedboat under the stars
On our journey home from the, night dawned upon us. We were able to enjoy a gentle sea breeze and millions of twinkling stars in the night sky. The view was indescribable - no photo could capture the special moment we shared. You simply have to experience it for yourselves.

3. Eat the local food!
On the weekend, we enjoyed a meal of kotthuroshi (roti mixed with curry, tuna, beef, and chicken sausage). It was absolutely magnificent and we savoured every mouthful. Another group favourite was BBQ octopus, which was definitely a highlight after a long day snorkelling.

A word of warning: NEVER eat the chillies, especially eating them whole! Imogen mistakenly believed the small chilli was a chopped up capsicum (and boy was she wrong!). The locals will certainly laugh at you if you do this!

4. Karaoke with new friends
We prepared for Australia Day with tattoos, hats and blow up hands. We arrived at a beautiful house with the Australian flag flying high and were offered a wonderful table of food including fried rice, BBQ fish and chicken, sausages and baked potato. After filling our stomachs, we belted our own renditions of pop-songs including favourites ‘Super Bass’, ‘Rolling in the Deep’, ‘Love Story’, ‘Hey Ya’ and ‘Marry You’. This helped us bond as a group and we even watched our local partner taking it away with a high score of 81!

5. Artist – Soa Bey
Yesterday, we visited a local Thinadhoo artist called Soa Bey. His paintings and charcoal drawings were unimaginable. It was evident that creativity runs in his family, as his mother makes beautiful, traditional Maldivian dresses for girls including hand-woven collars and cuffs. We were able to view an extensive range of artworks, from portraits of Nina Dobrev and Angelina Jolie, to close-ups of eyes, to paintings of turtles, fish and sunsets. His work was also recently exhibited in Switzerland. We can’t wait to receive our personalised charcoal drawings!

Tomorrow we’ll be going to the Robinsons Resort; we can’t wait to share our upcoming adventures!

Farewells and birthday celebrations from the Maldives

COUNTRY: Maldives
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Teaching & Sports Coaching
WRITTEN BY: Minna Featherstone

Tonight, after returning from our overnight trip to the Robinson's resort for Australia Day, Asad surprised us all by organising a big dinner as a sort of last-week-farewell/birthday celebration for Aditi, whose shares her birthday with Australia Day. We had been told dinner was going to be a little late tonight, and as we walked over to the cafe we heard the 7:30pm prayer call that we usually associate with sitting down and anticipating food.

When we arrived, there were candles in bottles held up by sand, plenty of naan bread and our favourite fish curry to go round, a beautiful cake made by one of the preschool teachers, a loud round of happy birthday (possibly the fourth all weekend) and after all that, Asad announced that we would soon be joined by a band who would perform a few songs for us. Moments later a group appeared to set up a couple of music stands... for their ipads! They used these to read their lyrics and music, which hit us shortly as very rhythmic, loud and intense.

There were four large double ended drums, a tambourine, maracas and lots ofclapping and singing in Divehi, songs about love and one about the Maldives, or so we were told. The music was entrancing and got everyone clapping, and the singers of the group who paraded around our seats and danced even more so. They enticed us to join them, to embarrass ourselves dancing alongside the talented and endlessly energetic musicians. It was basically lots of fun.

The week hadn't started as excitingly however. On Monday I stayed home from school with a cold, with a few others of the group returning from school earlier than usual due to various maladies. Swimming that day was also cancelled due to high winds and the fact that half of us were not quite up to it. The next day saw better weather and spirits, although I turned out to be that one annoying person in class who had sniffles, and later in the afternoon we saw our swimming students continue to improve greatly, we could really see that those who were keen and listened well did better. The group of boys mygroup teaches have mastered the basic freestyle skills, and just need to work on them and put them all together. They're also always up for a seaweed or pool noodle fight. The girls we take? Not so much, but their confidence in the water increases every lesson.

Thursday was the Prophet's Birthday which is observed as a public holiday by government institutions including the primary school. The day also marked the last day for one our group, who had to head home early to start back at uni next week. That afternoon half the group headed back to the island for more snorkelling and freshly caught and cooked crabs, staying overnight, with the rest of the group joining them on the island the next morning. We spent Friday relaxing in the water and snorkelling around the island's beautiful reef before heading home to pack for our Australia Day trip. Nextweek is our last week of school and swimming lessons, making us all sad that our trip is winding up so quickly, but with another birthday and more farewell celebrations at school and afterward, we’ve an exciting week ahead!

Growing enthusiasm to learn amongst the children in Thinadoo

Dressed as locals and ready to teach in the Maldives

COUNTRY: Maldives
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Teaching & Sports Coaching
WRITTEN BY: Minna Featherstone

After a relaxing short stay at a nearby resort - packed with luxuries that included all you can eat buffets with a huge choice of mouth-watering foods unavailable on Thinadhoo, an extremely filling 5 course meal (which takes place every week apparently!) spacious rooms with outdoor bathrooms and another dance-til-you-drop party on the sand we returned relaxed and ready to start helping out at Thinadhoo school.
The Maldivian weekend of Friday-Saturday was extended to include Sunday that week, as it was the Maldives National Day. Our group still popped by the school to meet and greet the teachers we were paired up with and to try on traditional dresses they had brought for us to wear on the first day of school. The teachers loved fussing over the girls and complaining how we were too tall to fit their dresses, with some making trips home and back to try and find a better fit. The following Monday we arrived at school early to be fussed over once more in our borrowed outfits and the teachers also insisted on us wearing ornaments in our hair. Once we were deemed satisfactorily dressed up the first bell rang and the students rushed in - all in their own traditional dresses for the girls, and a shirt and sarong combination for the boys, although a couple came in formal suits which included vests and ties - an impressive look to pull off in the heat of the day for a school kid!

The first day of school flew by pretty fast, there was a welcoming assembly for the entire school and then the grade 3 class I am helping out with sat three tests in a row. I was shocked how the students seemed completely unfazed by this on their first day! The children seemed a little timid at first, but opened up and were very friendly and eager learners. The following day involved zero tests and proper classes. Thinadhoo School follows the Cambridge Syllabus and the way classes are structured reminded me a lot of my primary school days. The principal Ajeeb explained to us that their aim was to impart knowledge via activities that engaged the children, such as class discussions and group activities. So far very much like the primary school I attended so long ago. But there are certainly differences to schools back home, every school day begins with a ten minute morning prayer and only three or four classes here are taught in English. These are English, environmental science, maths and for the older children PE. The other two main classes all the children have are Islam and Dhivehi, their local language. Two of our volunteers have raised their hands to help out at the nearby preschool which has little access to resources and almost zero help from the government.

After school’s out we have a short walk home and a couple of hours to nap or prepare for swimming lessons which begin at 4pm. We take two groups, first grades 6-7 and then grades 4-5, both for 45 minute lessons. Our first swimming lesson involved all the volunteers splitting up into pairs or threes and taking a small number of children out into the water after a short safety talk. We then assessed what level the kids swimming abilities were at and numbered them off into groups of similar skill levels. After resorting groups (which worked out to usually be 3-5 kids per group) we then got to know the children in our group and began to work on basic skills such as kicking and blowing bubbles, and after the serious stuff we played some games. Many of the children that I asked about taking swimming lessons had said they had been several times before with the Australians. It showed that they had previously learnt basic floating and kicking skills, but even though they live in the beautiful tropics of the Maldives, they don’t have too many opportunities to practise these skills, some only go swimming when there are volunteers teaching lessons.

The rest of the week followed with more helping out at the school (when we don't have a class we spend a LOT of time cutting and colouring classroom decorations). We also learnt that the kids love to give small handmade gifts to us in class. More than half of the group decided on another overnight trip to the nearby uninhabited island who went fishing and learnt to make naan bread with Asad. A small group of us decided to pass sleeping out on the cold and uncomfortable hard sand of the beach to stay on Thinadhoo trying the food on offer from the local cafes, which included our first opportunity to order the local version of fish and chips! Both groups had a chance to do some more snorkelling over the weekend. Our first week of helping out at school and teaching swimming lessons now over marks the halfway point of our trip. Next week some of us will start to take a few classes and continue to see our enthusiastic swimming students improve their skills!

Arriving in the heat of Thinadoo

COUNTRY: Maldives
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Teaching; Sports Coaching
WRITTEN BY: Minna Featherstone

Three plane rides and one midnight speedboat later I finally arrived with six others at Thinadhoo, the island our group of fifteen would be living on for the next month together. After the first sleep in and drowsy introductions, Asad, our super friendly in-country partner took all of us out snorkelling on a small uninhabited island just off the coast of Thinadhoo.

For many of us who had just arrived in the small hours of the previous night, the short 2 minute walk from the guesthouse we are staying at to the boat waiting to ferry us away almost seemed too much to cope with. How could we imagine teaching and living and walking through this thick, sticky heat for an entire month? As soon as we hopped on the boat and climbed onto the deck above, we were hit by a cool reassuring sea breeze that stayed with us until we arrived at our destination, jumping into the crystal clear water straight from the deck of the boat, close to gorgeous coral reef to snorkel in before the shore.

When we reached the island we were treated with a delicious feast of spicy fried rice, freshly caught barbequed fish and cold milos. On the boat trip back dolphins chased our boat and returning to Thinadhoo felt exciting again.

Thinadhoo has around 6000 residents, but we had trouble believing it when walking around the island because all the locals smartly stay inside to keep cool during the hottest parts of the day. We visited Thinadhoo school and met with the principal Ajeeb who introduced us to the teachers we will work with when school starts next week. The primary school is one of two on the island and has bright gorgeous murals painted in all of the classrooms.Starting next Monday we will help out at the school from the 7:30 in the morning until 2:30pm and then start our swimming lessons from 4:30 in the afternoon at the local beach.

So far whilst we have been enjoying our time exploring the island rain has poured on us whilst we were returning from snorkeling, we've waved to many excited children we've seen on our walks, played a lot of uno, had a dance party on a deserted beach which we also stayed overnight on under the stars and gone fishing with Asad and reeled in many great catches. Tomorrow we are going to visit a nearby resort island and we are all excited to bask in some aircon and have a break from spicy foods for a few meals.

Next week will be great when we finally meet all of the school kids and start teaching, but right now, we are all really grateful to be easing into the heat with a lot of fun adventures.