John Yann ran through his notes one last time as he pulled up the presentation he prepared on the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), a concept he became familiar with as an intern at ECHO Florida. He stood in front of a group of eager community members who listened intently, taking notes and asking questions often. Less than a year ago, he was in their shoes, learning concepts such as SRI. Now, in a suburb on the outskirts of Chiang Mai, John is putting these theoretical concepts into practice and seeing the impacts these methods have first-hand.
While every student in the ECHO Internship Program stays on the Fort Myers campus for close to 12 months, many have the opportunity to extend their experience with the ECHOsix-month field experience. This partnership allows interns to travel to one of ECHO’s three impact centers where they spend six months in the field, using their learned skills, techniques, and knowledge to better serve the community they are in. This opportunity fully immerses interns into a new country, its language(s), culture, cuisine, and people.
In June 2023, Chrissy and John left for ECHO Asia and arrived at a farm located in a suburb on the outskirts of Chiang Mai. Their first three months were spent getting acclimated to their new surroundings, meeting their host families and the ECHO staff they’d be working with, exploring Thailand, and taking language
classes. To become familiar with the different areas of the farm, Chrissy and John rotated where they worked and who they worked with each week.
The two quickly realized how practical and applicable their training at ECHO Florida would be in Thailand.
“I think [the ECHO internship] made the culture shock a lot easier because I wasn’t learning a new job and culture at the same time,” Chrissy said. “I just had to focus on culture and language, and that helped so much.”
John was assigned to work with black soldier flies, something he became familiar with while at ECHO Florida. His time was spent sifting through compost to find black soldier fly grubs, which can be converted from organic waste into high-quality nutrients for animal feed and residue fertilizer for soil amendment.
“I was able to face the real challenges that I had only ever heard about or was taught and realized not every method or practice is as perfect and seamless as it seems, but you can still pick out something from there,” he said.
Chrissy spent much of her time working alongside the hospitality coordinator, preparing a newly acquired property as a conference center. From October to December, three conferences were held there.
They also completed writing projects on several different topics, gave tours, and participated in training sessions with the community.
Both were amazed by the people they met and how welcomed they felt.
“People understand each other through the eyes and the heart. This is crucial for building relationships, and for international and community development,” Chrissy said. “I learned about myself and the diversity of people God has made. At the same time, I was amazed at the similarities I shared with those who were raised in, in many ways, an opposite culture from me.”
“I think the Lord especially gives us different paths and communities than we expect and different things to do and lessons to learn than we ever imagined,” Chrissy said.
Outside of their work on the farm, Chrissy and John had many opportunities to explore the country of Thailand with ECHO staff, walk through local markets, hold Monday morning devotions, and play friendly games of soccer.
