I've Made It!

Saturday 23rd February 2008

Well, apparently! 5 minutes of fame on Khmer TV - or perhaps slightly less than 5.

Today my district's Office of Education was officially opened in a typically Khmer style ceremony. On the stage this time were very important people from the Provincial Office of Education, the District Governor of Phnom Srok, yours truly (but of course!) and a couple of my supporters (Pam and Corine).

I had been asked to make a speech, in advance this time, which was quite a luxury. Having advance notice meant that I could alledgedly prepare a coherent speech, however it also offered my nerves the chance to get very agitated - to the point where I had some very weird dreams about my teeth falling out the night before! I also managed to read my whole speech with my reading glasses on my head...

I spoke the first part of the speech down a dodgy microphone in Khmer to which my audience of teachers and school directors politely listened, pretended to understand and laughed (I wasn't even trying to be funny - I think it was embarrassed, nervous laughter on my behalf). Then I completed my token ramble about education, inclusion and embracing new ideas in English which Sarey translated. I kept it short and sweet(unlike my Khmer colleagues!) and after about 2 and a half hours of lengthy speeches, watching some traditional Apsara dancing, snipping a huge red ribbon and wandering into the new office as if it were the first time we had seen it, we all sat down and ate copious amounts of food!

Sadly, I'm getting used to eating and drinking at these functions whilst being watched by curious pairs of eyes. The same scruffy kids turn out to these events to scavenge and collect plastic bottles and tin cans to recycle for a few hundred Riel. I recognise some of the children as I've met them in the nearby schools. Some, I fear, dropped out of school long ago for a whole list of possible reasons and now help their families and work for their living. As they accept the weird looking barang living amongst them, I am accepting that the district I live in is poor and that this is a way of life for many. As soon as we left our table, the kids were around it like vultures, eating and drinking our leftovers.

Elbow Grease

I finally feel as though I’ve started something and done an honest day’s work! Phew! With fresh vigour and brimming with possibilities after the Model School visit in Kampong Cham and a feeling of relief that child-friendly schools actually exist in this country, I have been on somewhat of a mission to start the ball rolling in my district. It’s been a busy month for many school directors and teachers as well as my colleagues as many have been involved in training for the census collection which happens in March. However, I managed to find one teacher, a bit of a gem, a diamond in the rough, who was willing to let me loose in his classroom!

I’ve visited his school a number of times and noticed that he is what I would consider a child-friendly teacher! He acts like he actually enjoys his job, likes children, has the desks organised in groups and with very limited resources has tried to improve the environment for his Grade 1 class. And the children learn every day! through songs, games, actions, chanting, dancing! Oh how I miss being in my own classroom! He’s brilliant and he actually has fun with his class of scruffy kids and you can tell they really enjoy coming to school to learn – unlike some I observe who are almost asleep in their classes due to lacking motivation or working too hard out of school!

I showed the teacher and school director photographs of the Model School in Kampong Cham and talked to them about creating subject areas and organising resources and displays into these areas. The teacher already had many teaching aids he has made himself, from old cardboard boxes and the like, so it was just a case of removing the broken desks at the back of his classroom (many classrooms are also used as storerooms/dumping grounds!), sweeping up a bit and sorting out his resources. Easy! With a bit of elbow grease from all those involved! Of course, I involved the director of the school and a representative from the District Office of Education. Well, this has got to be sustainable afterall! My hope is that the ideas shared here will develop and spread. Schools here are organised in clusters of around 4 and they hold a meeting together once a month on a Thursday (in theory). The idea is that using resources, organising space into subject areas is something that more and more teachers will try out for themselves but I know from my own experience that these things can take an age to develop into the norm.

Pictures before:

Picture after;

We got invited to the school’s monthly Technical Thursday meeting but the school director who had obviously got some vigour and possibilities from our visit to his Grade 1 teacher. We were excited to learn that the focus for the meeting would be making resources. Fantastic! We spoke to the meeting room of teachers for a while about why and how resources and display can be used in classrooms to enhance learning and showed the group around the classroom we had all worked so hard on in the week – they were suitably impressed (I think!) and then it was the directors turn... disaster! The school Director told everyone to split into groups depending on what grade they taught and go away and make resources. Well, the teachers had no idea what to do and had nothing to do it with even if they did know. I could’ve cried! It was an absolute disaster! The teachers sat around the school grounds smoking and chatting all morning apart from a minority who could scrape together a piece of dusty paper or draw some pictures. (My Grade 1 teacher didn’t let me down however and dutifully worked with the other Grade 1 teachers from his cluster and made an alphabet game!) What topped it all off was at the end of the morning when the teachers all gave in the resources they had made to the school director. He meant to keep them and instructed everyone to make the resources again in order to use in the classroom!!!! Aaarrrrgggghhhhh!!!!!!!!!

Oh well! We made a difference to one teacher’s life and if others follow then all well and good! We also managed to take the Grade 1 teacher to see some up and coming model schools in a neighbouring district and he got straight back to his classroom to create more resources! Great stuff!

I have more plans round the corner too... after persuading my colleagues that staggering the monthly meetings schools have would be better for supporting, training and monitoring them, rather than absolutely every cluster in the district meeting on the last Thursday of the month, I now want to be involved in supporting, training and monitoring them... I’d like to get some Leadership and Management training (which already exists by the way!) to School Directors by ambushing their monthly meetings... and possibly repeat this for the DOE staff... take a group of teachers and staff ton a Study Tour to visit some local model schools in the province... and set up a committee of teachers to help spread the ‘Child-Friendly’ message... and go and watch the Formula 1 in Kuala Lumpa... and visit my friends in Battambang again... and get a puppy!

English Speakers Need Not Apply

Today was shortlisting day. Surprisingly I have received 8 applications for the job of my VA (Volunteer Assistant). What follows is a mere selection of quotations from the aforementioned cover letters and CVs...

"I wish to apply for any vacant post under your kind control in accordance with my experiences and qualification"

"I hope that the above position that I love I am given as soon as possible"

"I am pleased very much interested to participating with you as Full Time Assistant"

"I know your organisation is high standard profile and need high qualified staffs within core competency to promoting and improving within planning purpose in your industries"

"I look forward to talking and staying in contact with you in hopes that there may be an opportunity to join your body"

"I have had a lot of experience of teaching fields"

"I am anxious to discuss this opportunity with you further, with have no expectation on utilities"

Don't Worry, Be Happy!

I had recently reached a point of feeling quite miserable about being here in Cambodia. It was nothing I could put my finger on but probably a combination of a period of low self-esteem coupled with missing friends (who are becoming pregnant at a rate of 2 per month at the moment!!) and missing family.

During our in-country training we were warned that most of us would experience an emotional roller-coaster consisting of, enjoyment and immense happiness at the novelty of being in a wonderfully new country, depression as the novelty wore off, acceptance of how things are and then finally when you start enjoying yourself and feel like you're really making a difference it's time to go home!

Well, the novelty has definitely worn thin (if not off!). Sensing this, I have received numerous messages from friends in the UK, most of which have encouraged me to get over myself and keep my chin up, although not in those exact words. Mads even spent her normally very busy week nights penning a song in my honour in order to cheer me up. It worked!

Despite it not being her 'best work' (her words, not mine), she allowed me full permission to publish it on my blog for all to read, sing along to and enjoy...

I've written you this song to the tune of 'Don't worry be Happy' by Bill Withers (you can sing this to yourself in pop idol styleee!)

Here's a little song I wrote,
About a ginger friend on whom I dote,
She's ginger - well ginger.

She's really far away in a dust filled land,
And even though it's hot she's still not tanned,
But don't worry - white's healthy.

Remember everthing can't always got to plan,
But she'll persevere and things will turn out grand,
I'm not worried - she'll get there!

And when she leaves she'll leave behind,
A model school created from her mind,
So don't worry - be happy.

I can't wait to visit and join the fun,
And hear about all the things that she has done,
We're all proud - well proud.

So get all your troubles out of your head,
And remember these words that Bill Withers said,
Don't worry - be happy!!!

It worked... I'm well and truely cheered up! Thank you Mads!

Frogging

Tuesday 12th February 2008

This afternoon I was invited by my landlady's family to go with them to their pond which is situated in their field, a few minutes down the road. They told me they would be fishing and based on my enjoyment of the last fishing trip, I graciously accepted the invitation and looked forward to catching a few myslef if given the opportunity.

I was mistaken however, by thinking that fishing meant with a net or line and this style of fishing was new to me! A huge motor pumped the water out of the pond and into a neighbouring field. This left a dirty, muddy bog with the wildlife ready to be caught and cooked! A group of (mostly male) volunteers then went about catching what ever they could find whilst knee deep in mud. It was highly entertaining to watch and I only just suppressed the overwhelming urge to abandon my flipflops and join them!

They quickly filled the buckets with the fish they caught by hand. Huge water snails also turned up, were thrown out of the emptying pond towards the watching women so that they could be placed in a stack of burning hay and cooked! Unfortunately I didn't get to try one! It was amazing what came out of this pond other than fish. There were a few snakes caught, swiftly kiled and plopped into the bucket of fish. There was one crab which was also thrown into one bucket and loads and loads of frogs! Huge, ugly, green frogs!!

They looked like quite a challenge to catch. They were also quite a challenge to kill as I witnessed against my better judgement! They were held by the legs and their heads smashed against a near by tree stump or whatever was close to hand. This would have to be repeated several times until quite often the eyes started to bleed, the tongue and goodness knows what else fell out of their mouths but still they lived! Watching this and then watching them being skinned was enough to turn my stomach. I am trying to be more Khmer and not let my face always betray my feelings but I was really quite physically repelled watching the capture, execution and skinning of these animals. The family laughed at my revulsion and I declined the offer to taste a cooked one. I have eaten frog before at Khmer restaurants and they've been really tasty but I couldn't bring myself to this time after having witnessed their brutal murders! I have heard that in the marekts, frogs are skinned while they're still alive so it could've been worse!

The fish tasted great though. Funny, but I didn't experience the same ethical challenges watching them being caught, kept alive in buckets and then hit on the head before being thrown into the fire. Yum yum!

Banteay Chhmar

Saturday 9th February 2008

What can three volunteers in Sisaphon do to liven up a dull Saturday? Hop on their motos and ride 71km on a very bumpy road north of Sisaphon to Banteay Chhmar. Well, that's exactly what we did!

Corine, Debbie and I drove north for a good couple of hours, through the districts of Svay Chek and Tmour Puok to reach the Ankorian temple ruins of Banteay Chhmar (Narrow Fortress).

The temple is probably as old as other famous Khmer temples from the Angkorian area, but lesser-known. It was a city surrounded by a large moat and a 900m-long wall, and its bas-reliefs were believed to rival that of the Bayon, 150km away, in the Angkor Wat complex near Siam Reap (which I have yet to visit!).

At the center of this temple was one of the largest Buddhist monasteries of the Angkor period. However, now little remains. Banteay Chhmar is slowly being smothered by trees and the most impressive pieces stolen or sold to Thailand.

It was an exhillerating moto ride up to see the temples and we stopped off in Thmour Puok district to visit another VSO volunteer working in the Health sector. She showed us round the 'hospital' where we accidently walked in on a woman in labour (she later gave birth to a healthy boy!) and saw a thankfully empty A&E department. I'm sure she has a much tougher job than us in Education. She has to witness people dying from illness and disease daily, which wouldn't even reach a hospital in the west because of our vaccination programmes.

It was an interesting day all in all. I wish I could've taken photos while driving my moto because the sights we passed on the way home were 'some-ing else!'

Dust? Anyone? Anyone for Dust?

Thursday 8th February 2008

It has not rained since November and the roads have turned to dust, rivers and ponds are drying up and its altogether fairly depressing really. I think I arrived in the country when Cambodia was at its most beautiful. Everything was lush and the landscape was bright green with flooded rice fields. Now, the rice has been harvested and in my district many of the rice fields have been burnt so the landscape has a scorched, wasted look about it. Every movement, be it from cow, moto, feet or car, creates a cloud of dust in its wake which covers absolutely everything!

Everthing looks dull brown because of the layer of dust covering it. I often return home from work thinking I have developed a lovely golden brown tan during the day only to find that it washes off in the shower! And even after my shower, the towel I dry myself with appears covered in dust! I never feel clean!

The novelty of moving far away from home, friends and family is most definitely wearing off. I have stopped 'ohh-ing' and 'ahh-ing' and 'wow-ing' at everyting I see and do now as I develop the realisation of the fact that I'm staying here for another 2 years. It is now home. Everything that was initially so different from my experiences in the UK is becoming the norm. I am noticing the beautiful Cambodian smiles and beautiful Cambodian countryside less and less and I now notice the rubbish everywhere, the dirt everywhere, the unhappiness and the poverty.

Can you tell I've had a crap week?