Model School

For the next two weeks the original group of volunteers who I arrived in the country with in September are back in Kampong Cham for more language lessons.

Today, we were lucky enough to be taken to visit a Child-Friendly 'Model' school which has been developing over the last 10 years or so and now provides a model for other schools in the country to follow.

It was absolutely fantastic to see active learning taking place and I observed many contrasts to the majority of schools in my district...

Instead of teacher led 'chalk and talk' methods, the teacher moves around the classroom and the children get to ask questions and take more of an active role in their learning...

Instead of bare, dirty walls, learning tools and children's work is displayed...

Instead of learning by rote the children use simple resources in order to discover for themselves...

Instead of a locked library which no-one is allowed to use in case they spoil the books, there is an outdoor library which parents and younger children can access...

The visit was almost as inspirational as it was depressing - I mean, it was encouraging to see what I consider to be a positive learning environment as this is what the schools in my district are aiming for. However, it reminded me that it takes a lot of time for schools to develop and a fair amount of funding and support to bring about these positive changes. Cambodians have had so much experience in the past with change leaving them worse off that many are fearful of new ways of doing things and prefer to stick to traditional methods.

I walked into one 'model' classroom and felt completely motivated in the ideas that sprang to mind which I could realistically take back to my district. However, walking into another classroom and my thinking would shift to how impossible the task seems at the moment. In Phnom Srok money is tight, resources scarce and teaching methodology is stuck in the dark ages!

It's not all doom and gloom though. My Khmer colleagues are perfectly capable of making the changes necessary in order to develop Child-Friendly schools and I just have to get over myself and the fact that far from being an 'educational saviour from the West', the role I play in this change is going to be really quite small. A Khmer saying is 'one step at a time' and I must value the achievements I help create however small.

An example of which was a critical thinking student activity Sarey and I modelled at a school last week. We were actually interested in collecting some student opinions on school and learning so asked a group of children different questions and the students moved to the sign which represented their response: smiley face = I agree, straight face = I sometimes agree, sad face = I don't agree and ? = I don't know. It was so alien for them to experience being asked about their opinion about something, but they soon got the hang of it. We attracted quite an audience as well!

The child-friendly school criteria is so vast that I have struggled to know where or how to start in my district, but today's Model school visit was probably one of the most useful things I've done for the last four months!

They Call it Puppy Love

Wednesday 15th January 2008

With practically almost everyone I know in the UK having babies, I got to feeling quite maternal recently. Luckily for me the dog downstairs gave birth to a 5-strong litter of puppies just before Christmas so my craving for some baby company has thankfully been quenched! I have adopted all 5 pups and literally rush home from work to see how much they have grown.


The family who own the mummy dog think it's very strange that I give so much of my attention to said dogs (although it goes against all health warnings regarding rabies!). They are also highly amused by the fact that I think the dog should be named and fed regularly and generally not kicked or used as target practice!

Since the birth I have been racking my brains to come up with suitable names for the cute little pups as they won't be cute - or alive perhaps - for long. The mortality rate of puppies here is very high and as soon as they are fully grown they become scavenging, howling, flea infested mutts! There are 4 bitches and 1 dog and although I know plenty of suitable names for the bitches (Carolyn, Sarah, Ruth, Madeline all spring to mind), I can't think of a suitable and fitting name for the dog. A friend suggested I name them after the members of The Corrs but I might try for something a little more 'Khmer'. Any suggestions will be welcome...

Lost in Translation

If I worked in an office in the UK (or any other English speaking country) I would know everything that was going on. I would know what meetings I attended were about, I would know what forms someone was filling in, I would know what was being said on the phone, I would know who was being gossiped about and I would know what every poster on the wall said. Here, I know nothing, unless Sarey tells me. He is my ears and voice and has a really tough job!

When we were in a meeting at a school on his first day of work and 5 minutes had passed without a single word being translated, I eventually asked Sarey (with an element of frustration!) what was being said to which he replied, “Shh, I’ll tell you later”! However, after a few teething problems, he does a fantastic job!

There are times when I wonder if he translates all the information or paraphrases which in certain situations can be frustrating and likewise, there are times when I say a few words and takes 10 minutes to translate it into Khmer for our colleagues. Some conversations, through him, are such a jumble of questions and answers that they make no sense at all and remind me a little of my Year 3 teaching days (feels so long ago!). For example, I might’ve sent a message with 7 year old Perry to ask Mr Leeming what time assembly is today only to get Perry trundling back in a few minutes with the answer,

“He said, ''Yes if you can do his play duty on Tuesday''’’

“But Perry, I asked what time assembly is today”

“I know Miss, and that’s what he said!”

You’re left wondering where it all went wrong. Was my message not clear? did Perry get confused? or is Mr Leeming playing games? (Bless Perry by the way, and bless Mr Leeming and all who sail in him!) At times I find myself in similar situations with Sarey translating.

Sometimes I ask a question which Sarey translates and getting the answer back takes so long (I explain to Sarey in English, Sarey translates to colleague, colleague answers Sarey, Sarey translates to me) that I’ve forgotten what my question was in the first place.

But I think the biggest frustration, and something I really miss, is not understanding jokes! Khmers are very funny people (in more ways than one!) but many jokes just don’t translate or by the time they have been translated, the funny moment has passed. Sometimes Sarey and a colleague have such a laugh talking to each other that I find it quite disappointing when the answer I receive is simply, “he said yes”!

Needless to say I have quickly learnt how to say “Somtoh, Khnom ot yul” (Sorry, I don’t understand) and sometimes it is a real blessing to be a non-native speaking foreigner. For example, while Sarey translates for me, I have time to think of something else to say or some other intelligent sounding question to ask. It is without doubt though, however many frustrating times there are, I would be fairly useless without him!

Last night I was invited to Sarey's family home just outside Sisaphon where I met 4 of his 5 brothers, his parents and some friends. I was shown the land around his home where his family have a pond for catching fish, a collection of ducks, chickens and cows and plenty of fruit trees. It was a really lovely evening and as there are so many men in the family, Sarey's parents agreed to have me as their adopted daughter for a couple of years!

V.I.P.

Wednesday 9th January

Today, I was officially a Very Important Person, or just Volunteer in Public, depending on how you look at it!

This week, Sarey and I found ourselves invited to a ceremony held at the District Governor’s Office – which is in the same field (literally) as the District Education Office where I work. I donned my traditional Khmer outfit and discovered I was to be guest of honor sitting on the stage along with a group of monks and the top ranking officials of the District. The purpose of the ceremony was to honor Victory over Genocide Day which was on Monday 7th January, and also to congratulate some of the District Governing staff on their various promotions.

For about 2 hours we sat on the stage, watched by about 500 pairs of eyes from the audience including my colleagues and a load of students from the local high school. There were many speeches and presentations during Sarey faithfully translated and I nodded at the appropriate times, with a fixed smile on my face and trying not to fall asleep!

The most interesting part – apart from the lunch that was served afterwards – was a speech from one of the provincial governors who was also a V.I.P. He spoke of the Khmer Rouge regime and the millions who had died in Cambodia at the hands of Pol Pot, urging people not to forget what happened and that it was important for us to celebrate the day the regime was destroyed nearly 30 years ago. All eyes were fixed on him, and even the cows were silent as he described some of the torture and misery Cambodian people went through. It was the first time I had heard a Khmer talk so publicly about what happened and I found it really interesting that he described the ‘win-win’ situation which resulted at the end of the fighting and all the weapons were handed over. Well, ‘win-win’ was how Sarey translated it to me, and to my understanding it refers to the fact that after the fall of Pol-Pot and the civil war which continued afterwards, all weapons were handed over so that peace returned to Cambodia so that ex-Khmer Rouge now live side by side with Cambodian civilians as farmers and the like.

It struck me, not for the first time, of how recently this country was a battlefield, particularly Banteay Meanchey and Battambang provinces which, being close to the Thai border, were the last strongholds of the Khmer Rouge and where there was still fighting only 8 or so years ago. Even 22 year old Sarey remembers men with guns walking the streets when he was a child. It also struck me that I might be sharing the stage or being watched from the audience by ex-Khmer Rouge soldiers – in fact it’s highly likely. It amazes me to think that people who were once dying of starvation, some of whom lost their whole families, might be living peacefully alongside some of the people who were the cause of such terror and anguish. Is this true forgiveness? or just acceptance? or the Buddhist attitude of live and let live? It seems to me that Cambodia is still in a state of recovery and the more I learn about the country and its people, the more I don’t yet (and perhaps never will) understand.

A Day in the (working) Life

Thursday 3rd January 2008

Happy New Year!

I am under the impression that blog entries to date may confuse some readers into thinking that I am on some sort of extended holiday. So in order to dispel rumours that this might be the case, today I will attempt to give you all an idea of the working life of a volunteer. I would hate you to think that I was enjoying myself too much! Here goes...

6.00am – alarm clock goes off and I jump out of bed ready to do good things all day!
Well, sort off. The alarm certainly goes off at 6am but more often than not I am already awake having had the pleasure of listening to the dawn chorus of cockerels and dogs competing for air space.

6.45am – breakfast time!
I am still enjoying breakfast at my local restaurant where the owners know my order much better than I do.

7.30am – work starts.
I usually meet Sarey (my translator) at the office at 7.30. This morning we had to attend a meeting with the Child Friendly Schools Implementation Committee. Sarey has the tough job of translating everything into English for me, I have the tough job of trying to understand what on earth is going on and give some sort of acceptable response which Sarey then translates back into Khmer.
Quite often, so far at least, the morning will consist of a visit to a school. Sometimes I will ride my own moto there or sometimes I will ride pillion on Sarey’s – it usually depends how far away the school is (sometimes up to 30km away) and how bad the roads are (generally the roads aren’t too bad but I’m dreading the wet season!) If the school we are visiting is far away we usually have lunch there (fish and rice combination if I’m lucky!).

11.00 – lunch break.
I then have 3 hours to amuse myself until the office opens again in the afternoon. This can go surprisingly quickly especially if I need to go the market, buy ice for the cool box, eat lunch, drink water, sleep, shower and brush my teeth! I don’t normally do all those things in one lunch time but usually my lunch time consists of some if not all of those activities. It is however the hottest part of the day when everything stops so there’s not a lot else to do. It’s a far cry from the 45 minute lunch break at school in the UK when you barely have time to sit down with a sandwich as you multi-task all the other things necessary to fit it before the kids finish their lunch!

2.00pm – back to work.
There is definitely fewer people at the office in the afternoon for a variety of reasons. Many people in Cambodia (if not all of them in the rural areas) have a second or sometimes third job to boost their income to one they can actually live on, so many go to work in their rice field (particularly now as it is harvesting time), go and help their families or carry out other business of some sort. Some just start drinking beer at lunch time and forget to stop!
Today, we continued the meeting into the afternoon and then Sarey and I planned (if you can call it that!) the rest of the month as I travel to Kampong Cham in a few weeks for more language training so time is limited.

5.00pm – finish working! Phew!
After work I tend to sit with the family downstairs, pet the dogs, laugh at the children and attempt to speak some Khmer. My motivation with language learning has waned slightly as I used to take my language books to study down there for at least an hour a night! I also occasionally go and join the English class down the road if I have the energy but I’m conscious of upstaging the actual teacher and need my translator to help me come to an arrangement with him so that I know which day to come and help. I really enjoy it though – didn’t expect to miss being in a classroom of children quite as much as I do and even though our understanding of each other is a struggle (no different to the UK then!) it is great fun being with kids who are so eager to learn!

Other evening activities I have found myself doing are writing this blog so it’s ready to upload when I’m next in the vicinity of Internet. I also have taken up ironing my clothes as unlike teaching in the UK, I simply cannot turn up at work in a creased outfit! My Khmer colleagues are immaculately turned out in clean and crease-free shirts and trousers and I have followed suit – so to speak. So despite the fact that the office is in a field shared with a herd of cows and you have to dodge the shit to reach the front door, and despite the omnipresent dust which covers everything, I turn up to work in an ironed top and trousers! I also (thanks to my generous mates back home) have an iPod which provides a great means of entertainment in the evenings, oh and I have been known to write the odd letter!

8.00pm – bath time!
I shower at around 8pm in my lovely! bathroom. At the start of my placement I didn’t have running water so would have a scoop bath out of the tank of water in the bathroom – very cold but probably more energy efficient. Now I am blessed with running water so I have a (cold) shower and tap in the bathroom and a tap in the kitchen too!

8.30pm – bedtime!
Yes folks, Anna the night owl is in bed by 8.30 and usually asleep by 9pm. In fact, the whole of the district goes to bed then too!

Having submitted this blog entry, there really isn’t a typical day’s work and although the working week is Monday to Friday, the Cambodian calendar has about 40 national holidays so quite often the week is only 4 days long. There are also numerous summonses to Sisaphon and Phnom Penh for various meetings so I never seem to find myself in my district for longer than about 6 days at a time. Anyway, I hope it sounds like I am busy doing lots of work! The placement is still in the early stages and I still sometimes find myself wondering what I’m supposed to be doing here!