Hi, my name is Jasmine and in November this year after exams, I will be travelling with my school to Khao Lak in Thailand to spend two weeks volunteering at the Baan Tharn Nam Orphanage to help the local community with development projects and spend time teaching English with the children at the orphanage.

This orphanage was established after the Boxing Day Tsunami, which is the deadliest natural disaster in history. Taking 5,395 lives in Thailand alone and leaving 34 children in the Khao Lak area without family, food and shelter.

I last visited this orphanage with my family when I was 7 years old and the memories of my time spent with the children and learning what they had lived through in their young lives have stayed with me, giving the motivation to return and spend more time in this very special place.

From humble beginnings the orphanage housed children who had lost their parents and were living in a tent in Phang-Nga, a town on South Thailand's Andaman Coast. Local charities worked to build the first home at Baan Tharn Namchai in August 2006. Today, Baan Tharn Namchai is home to more than 100 children.

I feel very honoured to be given the opportunity through my school to be part of this trip and give back to the Thai community and honour my Dad and our family’s Thai culture.

As part of our preparation for this trip we are to individually fundraise and raise money to donate to the Hands Across the Water Charity which supports the orphanage so we can provide much needed resources to support the execution of the projects we will be working on during our visit.

Thank you for your support, Jasmine.