ABC's & Rice School

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We were up early on Tuesday, with mixed feelings about starting our first real day at school. Neither of us has any classroom experience but it wasn't a requirement to teach at ABC's & Rice. It certainly would have been handy to have some idea where to start, so we'll be feeling our way for a little while. We decided to take a tuk tuk for our first morning. We had been given bicycles to ride but had no idea how to get there! So, armed with pen and paper to write down the directions, we hopped into our little taxi and headed off. There seems to be a serious lack of street signs in Siem Reap, so we planned our route by jotting down landmarks.

A day at school for the children at ABC's & Rice is a world away from a similar day in Australia. No clean children in uniforms, no colourful backpacks or lunch boxes, and certainly no shoes and socks to wear. The children turn up in whatever clothes they have, thongs or plastic sandals on their feet and lunch boxes are unheard of.

The teacher in the classroom where I spend my days is named Sareth. He isn't a qualified teacher but a university graduate who hopes to be a teacher one day. He's happy go lucky and more like a big kid himself sometimes. He doesn't have a problem with me correcting his pronunciation or spelling from time to time, so he's still keen to learn himself. He speaks good English but I find him hard to understand at times.

No maths is taught at ABC's & Rice, that is left to the State schools. They concentrate on English - speaking, pronunciation, spelling and the written word. Also lots of sport and craft classes. Two treadle sewing machines have been purchased by another volunteer and 65 students are in the process of making themselves a basic pair of shorts, all in the same 'angry bird' fabric. We won't be able to tell them apart when they wear them to school! Some students are using satchels made from rice bags, which they also made themselves on these sewing machines. It's great to see them using these items every day.

Ginny and I have been asked if we'd like to create a mural on a rather large concrete wall. The idea is for us to come up with a design, which must incorporate a verse which has already been decided on - something along the lines of 'you can be anything you want to be'. The kids will be the artists, but it's up to us to create the design, paint the background colour and oversee the painting of the project. We're thinking of a flower garden as flowers are sadly lacking here. A lot of the kids have artistic ability so this will be an interesting project. It will be awesome also to leave such a big mark on ABC's & Rice.

The kids in my classroom are aged 12 years and older. They all have a good grasp on basic English and are keen to learn. They come to school with one pad and pen and a small soft covered English text book, if they're lucky. Even though they have two breaks in the three hours they're there, it's only the lucky ones who bring a snack with them. We have purchased some biscuits which we'll take to school and share during the breaks. They are so appreciative of a small treat. Sareth's wage is $20 a week, a packet of biscuits costs upwards of $2 - you do the maths.

We're starting to learn the kid's names, but find them a little hard to remember at times! I have a small admirer, a 12 year old student from my class. She sits with me during the breaks and asks me lots of questions about my life in Australia. I'm only too happy to feed her curiosity as she is practising her English, which she speaks very well.

All of the children at ABC's & Rice come from very poor village homes. Every morning, at 7.30am, the school has 'Breakfast Club' where all students who come are given a meal. This consists of chicken, rice and veges ( which are grown at Full Belly Farm). For many of these children, this will be the only meal they will have for the day. Every child is given 3.5kg of rice once a month, to take home. This helps to feed their family and frees them from work, thus enabling him/her to attend school. 1000kg of rice is purchased every month, costing Tammy $500. Hopefully, our donations help to pay for necessities like this.

I don't know the life story of most of these kids, but I can guarantee life isn't easy for any of them. There is one small seven year old boy whose history I was told. This is his story - I'll call him Tom..... Tom was abandoned by his mother, and found on a rubbish dump when he was 3 years old. The woman who found him took him in and looked after him, and he became a student at ABC's & Rice. After he was missing from school for a couple of days, staff did a home visit to find that the woman had died. Her son took Tom to live with his family but six months later he was sold to an 'orphanage' and his life took a turn for the worse.

Tammy, the lovely Canadian lady who started ABC's & Rice, is trying to buy Tom back, but it's proving to be a long and costly process. Tammy has Tom for 17 hours a day but he has to return to the orphanage every night. Tom isn't cared for there, he sleeps outside in the yard and is treated no better than a dog. Once Tammy has full custody of him, (and I have no doubts that she will) she will find him a good foster home, because, as a foreigner, she isn't able to become his full time guardian. Hopefully, Tom will be rescued from his appalling living conditions soon and be given a chance in life. But, what about the thousands of others in similar situations? What chance do they have?

I think that most of us, as Westerner's, have no real understanding of how damn hard life can be for so many others we share the world with. The head master of the school, for instance. He has a decent job, one would expect his living conditions to be decent too. But he lives in one room behind the office, with a door that opens into the school yard, a room which we would use for storage. No bathroom or kitchen facilities, he baths under the hose in the yard. I have no idea where he eats..

Anyway, enough of me on my soapbox. It seems the people in this country are getting to my gut and heart already, and I've been here less than a week.

So, we took a tuk tuk to and from school that first morning, but decided to give cycling a go in the afternoon. Probably, if we had thought about how many people were killed on the roads in Cambodia, we would have had second thoughts. But, we put our helmets on, stashed out backpacks in the baskets, looked at each other and said , 'we can do this', and hit the roads.

It's certainly chaotic out there. They drive on the opposite side to Australia and we're sharing it with hundreds of motor scooters, tuk tuks, bicycles, buses, cars and the occasional hand pulled hawkers cart, just to make it interesting. But, we've been cycling all week now without any problems and will continue to do so. It's a 20 minute ride to/from Globalteer House and ABC's & Rice, and we do it 4 times a day. We have also learnt a few alley shortcuts to Pub Street, so ride there as well. We chain our bikes together, and walk around this area. We keep our wits about us and look out for each other. The traffic crawls along, the road rules are ignored and it's not unusual to find someone driving towards you on the wrong side. But, there's no road rage, every one just accepts that this is the way it is. The worst drivers we've encountered are those in big cars. They have a 'king of the road' mentality and forge ahead, forcing the traffic to open up and let them through.

It's Saturday morning now and we have the weekend free. Last night we attended a trivia night at a small restaurant/bar not far from Globalteer House, which raised $170 for ABC's & Rice. We formed a team with four other volunteers, named ourselves 'Girl Power!' and lost the game with no effort at all! Our trivia knowledge was woeful and we drew a blank in the raffles but had a good night anyway.

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Photos

Departing Volunteers
This couple return to ABC's & Rice every year. They are generous with their time and finances and love the kids. Here the kids are singing them a farewell song.

First Aid
This little boy had split the skin on his heel whilst playing soccer months ago. He was taken to the doctor for proper treatment. Cost - $2.50.

A Brave Little Boy
A close up of our patient from the previous photo. Totally unconcerned..

Roof Rethatching
These workmen are building bamboo frames and covering them with new thatch. They will go on top of the existing thatch on some of the classroom roofs.

Roof Rethatching
Here are the bamboo frames. The lengths of thatch that are tied to them cost .10c each

A Classroom
This is the craft room at ABC's & Rice. Sewing is done here. I'm planning to do some art with the kids here.

Students
Three girls sitting in the Rainforest area.

Cleaning Duties
Once a week the kids clean their classrooms. This girl is washing the cloths used in hers.

Sports Time
This is Sareth playing ball games with the girls in his class.

Lots of Shoes
Shoes have to be removed before entering any buildings at school. These shoes were outside a popular dance class.

Trash in the Streets
We cycle past this and many other similar sights on our way to work each day. Rubbish removal costs money, and most people can't afford it. So the trash stays in the streets.

Our Street!
Yep, this is it, the street where I now live.

Our Street!
Schools kids buying snacks outside the State School. Try cycling past here when 3000 kids come out of school at the same time.

Our Street!
A typical street scene, locals going about their business.

Our Street!
A permanent roadside shop. The locals would shop here.

Our Street!
Another view of prime real estate

Globalteer House
My room is on the 2nd floor (3 floors up) on the right hand side.

Comments

[Roslyn Amiss]

Settling In...
hang in there girls - always a bit of a shock encountering how invaluable life is in other countries - how lucky are we - but I'm sure you will make an impression - can't wait to see the mural. Keep up the blogs - great. Be safe.

[Linny]

Fascinating read
Loving the blogs! Already it is starting to make a lasting impression on you. The organisation sounds as if it is very well run.