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Published: January 26th 2013
We started our working week with a volunteer meeting
on Monday morning. Ideas were tossed around, grievances aired and things generally sorted. These meetings will be held regularly from now on, as it's good to get feedback, and hear the problems others may be having.
Later in the day we had an escorted walk through the neighbouring village, where a lot of our students lived. This was to make us aware of their living conditions and to give us an idea of the adversity they face at home every day. No cameras were allowed. The village was little more than a shanty town, homes built from whatever they could find - bamboo, sheets of corrugated iron and lengths of timber. Most homes were one room with a lean-to on the front or side. Most had no electricity or running water, and certainly no rubbish disposal, so piles of garbage littered the track. We walked through the dusty main throughfare to the local market. It was similar to The Old Market in Pub Street, but on a much smaller scale and not under cover. It was shaded by a motley collection of market umbrellas. Lots of produce for sale, all sitting in the
Reading Stories
This girl is one of my favourite students. We're reading a book during a break here.heat of the
morning sun, including the meat. Flies were everywhere, and we had to side step the litter. And strangely enough, not a tourist in sight!
It was a walk that we all needed to do, to better understand the kids and where they come from. Despite the fact that they come from such poverty, they're a loving, friendly bunch. The girls will often sidle up beside us and slip their hands into ours, and look up at us with a smile. How can we resist them?
There was little I could do towards the other afternoon classes, once I'd completed my reading comprehension one. One of the classroom roofs had been rethatched, so I decided to clean up the old thatching which was all over the ground around the building. It was a filthy dusty job as it all had to be carted, via wheelbarrow, next door to Full Belly Farm where it would be used as mulch. I persevered and got half it done, and then called it quits. I couldn't wait to get home and shower and be clean again. We stayed in during the evening. The thought of ordering a tuk tuk and going
to Pub Street for a meal was more than we could contemplate.
Tuesday dawned hot and dusty again, we braved the traffic and cycled to school. We decided to take a tuk tuk to and from the afternoon session as I planned to finish moving the thatching during the afternoon and would appreciate not having to cycle home after a couple of hours of dirty work. I was still hard at it when the bell rang, signalling a break, and the kids come racing from their classrooms.
Within minutes I had eight enthusiastic little helpers, all grabbing huge armfuls of dusty thatch and piling it into the wheelbarrow. Chattering away to each other in Khmer, they headed off to the farm next door, all of them trying to be the one to steer the barrow. We eventually got there, leaving a trail of dropped thatch behind us, and unloaded. One of the girls jumped in for a ride back to school, where we loaded up another barrow and did it all again! We had it finished in no time. I can't believe how eager to help these kids where. They were filthy themselves by the time we finished.
I wonder how many of them got the chance to bathe when they got home.
Tom and Monica, two of the full time workers at ABC's and Rice, invited us to join them for dinner, which we accepted, as we planned to eat out anyway. We were keen to learn their history and how they became involved with ABC's, and what better way to do it than over a nice meal? We met later at a German Restaurant, enjoyed their company for a couple of hours and then headed home to bed....
Ginny and I had been talking between ourselves and decided the school grounds could benefit from a good raking. The kids raced around and did a litter clean up every morning before school, but there was certainly room for improvement. The grounds are dirt, sand or gravel with tired patches of clumpy grass. After inspecting the only rake the farm had, we decided a shopping trip was needed to purchase a new one.
We had half an hour during the second afternoon break, so we went back to the village where our escorted walk took us on Monday. We knew no one there could speak
much English, so Ginny drew a picture of a rake on a piece of paper, which we hoped would get the message across. We approached the first dusty roadside stand we came to, which looked like it might sell what we were looking for. We showed the old woman sitting out front our sketch, and she quickly dusted off two stools and gestured for us to sit. She shouted to people out back and soon we had four of them trying to figure out what we wanted. Then I saw them - rakes, but they had no handles! So the hunt was on for a suitable handle without much success. We tried to get them to understand that we would try and buy a handle further up the road, and left.
Eventually we bought a piece of bright blue PVC pipe for a dollar, and headed back. By the time we got back, the young fellow there had fashioned a very sturdy handle from a piece of timber and attached a rake head to it, and the old woman was sanding and dusting it. My PVC pipe was also the perfect fit so we had them attach another rake
head to it as well. So now we had two rakes.... what to do? We bought them both, of course, for the princely sum of $4. Ginny made the old woman's day by giving her $5, and we were the proud owners of two new rakes. We headed back to school, very pleased with ourselves. Tom laughed when he saw what we had done, as we, rakes in hand, posed for a photo.
At the end of term in March, the kids hold a concert, which their families are invited to attend. It's held in the school grounds and each class has a simple song and dance routine to learn. We've been listening to one class learn 'Yellow Submarine' for days now. We all find ourselves humming it, it's etched on our brains now, I think! I have been given the task of helping the kids create a big yellow submarine cutout which they will hold and stand behind whilst singing their song.
So, last lesson on Wednesday, I'm standing on the concrete outside the craft room, with 18 kids, their teacher and another volunteer, trying to explain to them what the plan was. My instructions were translated
into Khmer by their teacher, so the kids would understand. We had lots of cardboard boxes to use and the first step was to cut down one side of each box and lay them out flat on the concrete. Our sub had to be three metres long by a metre high, so boxes needed to be taped together.
Well, once the kids saw me with the masking tape and understood what we were doing, they took over. I started taping the boxes together, and six hands were there instantly, all smoothing down the tape. I handed the roll to one of the boys, and left them too it. Well, you couldn't see the cardboard, there were so many kids trying to help. Those who stood back were fanning the workers with the flaps I had cut off the boxes! It was organised bedlam, if such a thing exists, and we had the boxes taped together, on both sides, in no time at all. We sang the song, gave ourselves a clap, and got organised to go home! Can't wait until the next lesson - we get the yellow paint out and paint the cardboard, before drawing and cutting out
our submarine shape...hmmm, will be interesting!
We have decided to cycle to and from school in the mornings and catch a tuk tuk in the afternoon. It's just too hot, and we are tired. Sometimes we come straight home or asked to be dropped in Pub Street, so we can eat dinner first, and then hire another tuk tuk to get us home. Each section of the trip costs us $2.00, certainly within the budget.
Cycling home from school this morning (Thursday), we witnessed an accident on the roads. Thankfully not a bad one, and it seemed to have left us more shaken than the people involved. It was a collusion between a woman on a bicycle and a scooter which was carrying four people, including a toddler and a baby. We stopped and went to their aid but thankfully they all seemed okay. We were concerned for the children but both of them escaped without a scratch. The woman held on to the baby as she fell, protecting her from harm. Had they needed medical attention we would have got them to a doctor and paid for their treatment ourselves, as they certainly wouldn't have been able
to afford it. A visit to the doctor costs only $2.50 here, but it's still out of reach for many people. The kids from ABC's are taken to both the doctor and the dentist if needed, and ABC's pays the bill.
The afternoon classes were disrupted by the unexpected visit of a man who volunteered with ABC's a year ago, an Irish fellow whom the kids called Teacher Dave. Well, Dave arrived with his Scottish buddy, both of them carrying guitars, and had an impromptu sing-a-long with the kids. Well, they sang songs from Nirvana to Johnny Cash. The kids were handed printed out sheets with the words beforehand, but they seemed to remember songs from his last visit. They sang with such gusto and enthusiasm, it bought tears to my eyes. It was such a surprise for me to find these two great guys, who appeared out of nowhere, engaging a room full of kids. When Dave was about to finish up with his last song, I called out, 'one more song, clap, clap, clap.' Then the kids picked it up, but they yelled, clapped and thumped on desks! What could Dave do, but oblige? A great finale
Massage Anyone?
This would be the largest container of massage oil I've ever seen! to an enjoyable hour.
If someone had told me 12 months ago, that the next time I would sing a Johnny Cash song I'd be in a Cambodian charity school, singing along with the kids, to Irish and Scottish guitarists, I would have said 'No way!' but here I am!
Tonight we stopped off in Pub Street on our way home from school. We ate at Le Grande Cafe. Very nice decor and music but unfortunately the food wasn't quite 'La Grande'. We were disappointed as it was the most expensive place we had eaten in since being here, a club sandwich costing $5.50. We won't go there again.
Another busy day at school on Friday. It started with introducing the children to the new toilets. They won't be in operation until next week but the urinals are ready, and the boys need to learn how to use them. The girls were also given a look, to satisfy their curiosity, and they have been told they are for the boy's use only!
Ginny has spent a lot of time cleaning and trying to brighten up the classroom she is teaching in. Tatty posters, outdated photos and
Pub Street
Another view of Pub Street in the early evening. grubby mobiles have all been taken down, and sticky tape residue cleaned from the walls. The wall behind the whiteboard in all the classrooms had been painted white and has become rather grotty over time. We are brightening the rooms up by cleaning down and painting these walls in bright colours. We only have blue or green, but the difference this bright fresh paint has made is amazing.
Tonight (Friday) there is a quiz night on at Molly Malone's Irish Bar, to raise funds for Honour Village, another of the charities Globalteer places volunteers with. We went along in support and I enjoyed a good meal, washed down with a couple of barcardis. Our team of seven actually came second, thanks to Tom who is definitely a quiz wizz. I was lucky enough to win an hour long massage at Origins Spa in the raffles. Ginny and I will go halves in the cost of another so we can both enjoy one. Home in a tuk tuk later, it's been a big day.
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Roslyn Amiss
non-member comment
Everywhere you go in the world the kids are the same - curious and so open - a pity that they don't have the same advantages as western kids. And I get so mad when I see kids in Australia not taking their education opportunities seriously. Great job girls.