We mentioned throughout our Cambodian blogs about how friendly the children are here. Therefore while in Phnom Penh, we decided to research about the possibility of volunteering at either an orphanage or an English speaking school. Jenna had volunteered in a Kenyan school in 2005 and found it to be an amazing and rewarding experience. Whilst searching on the internet, we came across a charity organisation called SCAO (Save Poor Children in Asia). This organisation was located on the outskirts of Phnom Penh and its website made it clear that they welcomed volunteers. The charity offers a home and food for a small number of orphans and also provides free English lessons for children of all ages in the local area.
We emailed the charity and asked if we could be of use for a couple of days. We would have loved to have offered ourselves for longer but we were a bit short on time. They emailed us back explaining that they normally only looked for long term volunteers but they would be happy to have us.
On the Monday morning, we took a tuktuk to the centre. It was located about 10 miles outside Phnom Penh. We arrived there just before 8 am and were greeted by the founder of the charity, Mr Sameth. The centre consisted of a basic large living space on the ground floor and bedrooms upstairs. We were shown to where we would sleep for the night before we made our way to the school.
The school was located just around the corner from the centre and consisted of three outdoor classrooms which were side by side and separated by tarpaulin. We arrived just in time for the start of the first lesson at 8 am. We were introduced to the teacher, a young Cambodian woman, who also taught at a local public school. We were also introduced to a few of the volunteers who come from all over the world and who either teach lessons or assist the local teachers.
We split ourselves up, Jenna sat in with a class taught by one of the volunteers and James sat in with the local teacher's class. Each class had around 15 pupils but there are usually more, the classes were smaller as it was the build up to Khmer New Year. Children in these first classes were between 5 and 8 years old and their level of English was pretty good. We sat towards the back of the classroom and helped them with their work. After the lesson was finished, these children then go on to public school for their usual lessons in Khmer. All the lessons offered by SCAO are free and help the children to develop their English. These classes are voluntary for the children to attend - How many English children would attend voluntary lessons?!
We then joined in with the second set of lessons between 9 and 10am. These children were slightly younger and were learning the phonetic alphabet in one class and how to tell the time in the other. In the phonetic lesson, the volunteer would hold up letter cards and the children would have to shout at the top of their voice what they could see; i.e N - N - Necktie and L - L - Ladder. These children as you can imagine were adorable and I think Jenna's favourite class. There was then a four hour break until the afternoon lessons so we went for a coffee with the other volunteers at a nearby roadside shack!
After our coffee, we returned to the centre and spent some time getting to know the children who actually live at the centre, as well as Mr Sameth himself. It was a very laid back atmosphere with children going and returning from school all day. The children don't attend school for the entire day so there was constantly a stream of children coming in and out. We were then served some rice and vegetables for lunch by the centre's cook, who was also one of the children's mothers. A number of girls live at the centre and help out with the food and chores in between their studies. They often act as mother figures to some of the more energetic, younger children!
We were then told that we could borrow some of the centre's bikes and go for a bike ride around the town. Along with another volunteer, we went off for about an hour exploring parts of the town which we guessed very rarely see foreigners as it was quite off the beaten track. However it was good to see parts of Cambodia which we would otherwise not have seen.
When we got back to the centre it was time for the afternoon lessons. The afternoon classes were attended by children aged between 10 and 14. In the evening there were two more classes for the older children and young adults. They were taught by the older Khmer members of the centre who spoke very good English. One of the teachers was called Lion and he spent the day studying at a nearby university and then teaching English in the evening. These classes were fun to be apart of as the level of English was really good.
The last class of the evening was taught by the same female teacher as the morning class, who asked us both to stand up in front of the class and speak about our lives back home for about half an hour. Jenna was in her element and spoke as if she had prepared a speech! The class were then asked if they had any questions for us. One girl stood up and asked Jenna about Public Relations in England. One 14 year old boy who James had been speaking to earlier about football then stood up and asked, 'What are the advantages and disadvantages of football to the English Government and the community?'. The question threw James a bit but he managed to explain that during big tournaments, football in England brings the community together and that the streets are full of flags etc. It turns out that the classes homework the previous night had been to write about the advantages and disadvantages of the television, which might explain his rather complex question!
We then returned to the centre for a late meal of rice and vegetables and sat watching the TV with some of the children and one of the volunteers. We were then woken the next morning at 7am to the sound of dozens of children playing on the streets on their way to school. The timetable of the classes was the same as the previous day and we found it even more enjoyable as we now knew some of the children. We spent our time between classes typing up some work for Mr Sameth. We stayed until the 8pm class although it was very quiet due to the huge thunder storm. We then made our way back into Phnom Penh as we had a night bus to catch to Vietnam.
All of the children at the centre and school made us feel very welcome and were extremely polite and friendly. However a couple of them stood out for one reason or another. The young boy who asked James about football was so passionate about it, as we left James asked him which team he liked and he replied Man United as Wayne Rooney played for them. James told him that although Man United were probably the best, he should keep an eye out for AFC Bournemouth, as they were on the up. He looked confused so James wrote down the name down on his homework book and he said that he would have a look on the internet. He then asked James if he was on Facebook? To which James replied, 'Yes, why are you?'. He said 'Of course!' as if it was a stupid question! We were just a bit suprised that they had access to Facebook! He told James that he would know it was him as his profile photo was of Wayne Rooney!
The Khmer teacher called Lion, who lived at the centre also stood out to us. His level of English was fantastic and he came across as a role model to some of the younger members of the centre. He said he wanted to go to university to study IT and to then live and work in Australia. We hope that he one day he has the opportunity to do this.
Some of the other children who we will fondly remember include Seyma, Li and Leap. When we were leaving, Jenna said that we would hopefully return one day and see the children again. To which Seyma replied, 'When?'. This made Jenna feel a bit emotional as we hadn't considered how many volunteers must come in and out of their lives all the time and no doubt always promise to return.
The work that we typed up for Mr Sameth included information about the children's pasts. Several of the children had lost their fathers , or other members of their family under the rule of the Khmer Rouge. Having visited the Killing Fields and S21 prison, we now understood the devastation that the regime has caused to modern day Cambodia.
We felt extremely privileged to have been given the opportunity to meet all of the wonderful children and it has been one of the highlights of our traveling experience. Many of these children have suffered personal tragedies during their lives, but they still live each day with a huge smile on their face. SCAO provides an incredible service to the local community and will improve the lives of the children who live there, as well as the children who attend the lessons. Mr Sameth has dedicated his life to this project and deserves all of the recognition that he gets. The volunteers who give up their time to help out at the centre were passionate and fundamental to the service that SCAO provides. If you are interested in learning more about the charity, as well as their fundraising ideas or sponsoring a child's education, then you can visit their website at http://www.savechildreninasia.org. and their Facebook page http://www.facebook.com
This sounds brilliant (it made me cry!) We still want to do voluntary work one day, hopefully before we get too old! well done to you both. Love Tina and Ian (ps Ian didn't cry}
ReplyDelete