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ENTH
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Chiang Rai Chiang Mai Bangkok Ban Nam Khem Phuket
Phuket
Ban Nam Khem
PHUKET → BAN NAM KHEM 130 km · ~2 hours by car Phuket Ban Nam Khem
Ban Nam Khem
Thailand
The day after ChristmasDecember 26, 2004
The morning was quiet.
The sea, impossibly still.
It was a perfect day.
Still water & blue skies.
The sea came back with a roar.
There was no time.
Suddenly, the tide slipped away.
9.1
Magnitude Earthquake
230,000 lives were lost
across 14 countries
in a single morning.
We honor those who were taken —
and the courage of those who stayed
to rebuild from the ruins.
One man walked out of the Marriott
that morning and couldn't look away.
He heard of a village two hours north
that had lost nearly everything.
He had to go.
24 hours for the roads to clear.
Then he got in a car and drove.
What he found in Ban Nam Khem
was a fishing village in ruins.
But among the wreckage —
people helping people.
An unbreakable spirit.
This man was Seldon Young.
He came back every year.
And from the waves, a school was born.
จากคลื่น โรงเรียนก็ถือกำเนิด
And this is how the
Waves of Words
Foundation began.
Music became the language
they all shared.

Waves
of Words

A nonprofit foundation rebuilding the children and village torn apart by the 2004 tsunami — through laughter, love & language.

Professor WOW waving
The Mission

Bridge cultures one laugh, one conversation, one song at a time.

How the internship works

Six ways you'll bring English to life.

Interns don't drill grammar. They play, eat, sing, and explore alongside the children — so English becomes a friend, not a subject. Here's what a day actually looks like.

01 / 06
Games & recess

Learn verbs by running them.

Tag, duck-duck-goose, hopscotch. Kids learn English through their bodies first. You'll be out of breath by 10am.

02 / 06
Field trips

The village is the textbook.

Beach, temple, market, mangrove. A long-tail boat is a vocabulary unit. Every outing is an English lesson in disguise.

03 / 06
Shared meals

The best English happens between bites.

Tom yum, sticky rice, curry, laughter in two languages. You'll eat with students, teachers, aunties, uncles — and pick up more Thai than you planned.

04 / 06
Classroom co-pilot

You assist. You don't replace.

Local teachers lead the room. You give kids a real voice to practice with — a friend, a listener, someone who makes English feel human.

05 / 06
Songs & stories

Songs they'll sing forever.

Head, shoulders, knees & toes. Itsy bitsy spider. The kids carry the melody home and sing it for years — your worst singing voice is more than welcome.

06 / 06
Creative projects

Your ideas shape this program.

Murals, short films, puppet shows, photo walks. This program is new — your creativity and feedback help design what it becomes.

WORLD · OF · WONDER
WAVES · OF · WORDS
Professor WOW
Meet our mascot

Professor
WOW.

The elastic, expressive embodiment of founder Seldon Young's life — Swan Princess producer, tsunami survivor, village rebuilder. Mr. Bean meets Jacques Tati meets Pixar. His pink argyle is permanent. His eyebrows do the talking.

Join the Mission

Ride the Wave.

Become an intern. Live in the village. Teach through laughter. Leave a mark on the children of Ban Nam Khem that no ocean can wash away.

Room & board covered Round-trip travel Cultural immersion 30 days → 1 year