New staff. New partners. New programs! That’s right, ISDSI is growing and we’re excited!

With new students starting their semester abroad at ISDSI tomorrow, our staff have been busy preparing for the students’ arrival and also looking forward to where ISDSI is headed.  Here’s a quick look back over the past two weeks….

As ISDSI increases short-term programs, we do not want to over-burden the communities we work with already.  Therefore, we found an additional community, Don Jiang village, to visit with one of the new programs.  Similar to our program in Mae Taa village, students will learn about organic farming, stay with host families and be immersed in the local culture.  ISDSI staff recently visited the village and enjoyed spending time with the locals – helping transplant rice, visiting the farms, experiencing a night in the home-stays, and more.

With 27 students to place with host families, ISDSI welcomed both the returning and new families to a special dinner and training, MCed by our two Host Family Coordinators. The 19 returning families and 8 new families were all greeted by ISDSI Field Instructors and office staff at the door, and the evening was very informational and a great start to a new semester.

ISDSI has two new staff!  Pi Bee and Pi Jeap have enjoyed spending time with other ISDSI staff visiting communities and partners who ISDSI works with.  Their travels have taken them to Don Jiang village, Chiang Dao, Fang and other locations.