Building Bridges

A few months ago we visited an annual school development meeting in a particularly poor area of the district. It was in the days when I had no translator so communication was limited and my understanding of what was actually spoken about in the meeting was next to zero. I did however manage to pick up the fact that there was a problem with children from a small village accessing their school because there was no bridge crossing the river which was growing every year due to erosion of the banks in the wet season. I asked to take a look at the problem and we drove out to the river. Children were crossing the river on a boat every day to come to school but it soon transpired that they had to pay for the privilege, a fare that poorer families couldn’t afford, resulting in long absences and even dropout.

In the past the area, which is prone to flooding in the rainy season, had concrete bridges built prior to the Khmer Rouge regime. During the civil war years the bridges had been destroyed and never rebuilt meaning that a whole community became reliant on the boat transport to stop from becoming completely cut off. We discussed alternatives such as the boat being free for school children but were met with obstacles at every suggestion. I immediately started thinking of all the NGOs who might be able to help fund the construction of a bridge to allow the children to come to school. This has almost become a habit now; when money is needed, who can we ask? And this time I stopped myself and decided to hand the problem over to my colleagues. There must be something we can do without going begging to a foreign organisation!! I mean, lets encourage some self-sufficiency here! Some sustainable problem solving! I politely pointed out that perhaps this was a problem for the district governor and that it was our responsibility to inform him of the fact that many children were not able to access their basic right to school because of an expensive boat toll over a small stretch of river missing a bridge! My DOE colleague promised to request a meeting with the governor and there we left the matter.

Over the past few months I have inquired about the problem until finally this month I was told a bridge had been built by the community! Whoppeee!!! Basically, a meeting took place between my colleagues and the governor, the governor sent a letter to the community and the community put money together to build a bridge a little way up the river from the school. It cost them around $200 for the bamboo and demands a toll from motos and tractors but not from school children! Great!! We were there at the wrong time of day to see it being used by school children and I hope to be able to go back another time in the near future. Let’s hope it lasts!

It was interesting to learn a bit more about the area when it was under the control of the Khmer Rouge and also to see the remains of the ancient road which runs through the district linking the temple at Banteay Chhmarr with Angkor Wat. I was also told that there are international funds available from some donor to restore the road and to improve the banks of the river to prevent it flooding in the rainy season which will have plus and minus effects. I have learnt that I usually find out this sort of information from the random informal and spontaneous visits we make which encourages me to do so more. My diary of carefully planned weeks and months are becoming more and more rough and ready for last minute changes which suits the pace and culture of this country so much more.

Tea and Biscuits

For some schools in Phnom Srok the messages of the ETL (Effective Teaching and Learning) training, Resources workshops and Child Friendly School Policy are still a long way off. Some schools have missed the bus, so to speak, for a plethora of different reasons. Some missed the training, some core cluster schools are better than others at passing on knowledge, understanding and resources to their satellite schools and some have simply been overlooked. It is impossible to reach all the teachers and school directors in one hit so it came as no surprise to visit a nearby school and find it in exactly the same state as it was a year ago. Progress can be incredibly slow! We visited this school the other week and despite our strained smiles at the teachers who were clearly petrified of our presence, it was easy to see the disappointment on my colleagues faces. My counterpart called a meeting with all the staff from the school immediately after visiting each bare classroom. I was concerned he was going to read the riot act so beforehand I managed to have a brief conversation with him about the fact that the school director was the only one who had attended any of the recent training and that is was a big job for him to spread the ‘good news’ alone, particularly without the support of his core school director. My words did not fall on deaf ears and at the meeting my colleague did not reprimand the staff of the school, but rather encouraged them. Phew! He also suggested that they visit Chey Oudom Primary school (the developing model school) for inspiration and motivation!

After the meeting we were invited to stay at the school for a drink and a snack. Now in the UK this would typically mean a cup of tea and a few digestive biscuits. Not here! We watched some teachers build a small fire directly outside the director’s office and proceed to heat up some pre-cooked rat and snake. Yes... RAT and SNAKE! It took a while to get going and by the time it was ready a huge crowd of school children had gathered to watch me watching the whole process of heating the snacks up! The rat tasted remarkably good although I could only manage a small amount of thigh meat as the fact that it was a real whole RAT, staring at me from dead black eyes was some what off putting! The snake was salty and a bit fish-like, lots of bones and quite chewy. I managed more snake than rat and washed it all down with a small amount of beer! What a treat – and at only 10am! I wonder how this would go down in England?!

Another interesting thing about the school was the fact that it had ramps for wheelchairs as well as the usual steps up to the classrooms. I asked whether they had any disabled children enrolled in the school. Most schools do but the disabled children are typically absent so I was a pleased to learn that the 2 disabled boys in Grade 6 were both at school that day but mortally embarrassed when they were called out of class to parade in front of me! I actually wanted the ground to swallow me so I was relieved when the 2 boys in question seemed completely non-plussed by the whole performance. I chatted to them for a while in my basic Khmer and asked them name, age, the usual. When I asked what they wanted to be when they were older there was a completely blank expression on both faces. It occurred to me that neither of them (both were in Grade 6 but 16 years old) had ever probably thought about their future and perhaps neither had ever been asked that question before. After a minute’s thought, the heart breaking response was to reach a higher grade!
I am continually impressed by the hospitality shown to me at the schools I visit. It is amusing to say the least, to be sat in the directors’ office when he pulls a grilled snake from his briefcase for everyone to snack on. It is also an honour that these people are so willing to share what they have. A plastic tub of some strange moonshine was pulled out from somewhere and we joined some of the staff for lunch. It is a big deal to have a barang visit their school and I only hope I am giving of myself as much as I am receiving these rich experiences from them.