TravelAid - End of Week One

It is now the end of our first week volunteering and I have been extremely busy. Splitting my time between teaching ever eager English students and sifting through applications for future scholars, there has been little time to reflect. The others in our group have been testing wells - some problems have been found such as low levels of arsenic (although I have been informed this is ok!!!) and e-coli – a result of the well functioning improperly.

Early in the week we went on a tour of a nearby village to see the work that JWOC has already carried out in the area. The village is essentially a squatter settlement with families living in houses they have built themselves on land set aside by the government for the construction of roads. On this trip we came across Pwet, a young boy who had a deep cut on his knee which could potentially have been very serious. The accident had happened a week before but the cut was still bleeding and there were signs infection. His mother had taken him to the hospital only to be deterred by an excessively long wait. However, Pwet was soon on Robin’s shoulders and on the way back to JWOC headquarters before being whisked off to hospital for some much needed stitches!!! A couple of the group saw him the day after and said a smile was back on his face!!

However, it has not by any means been all work! Thursday night saw our group (with the aid of John and Angkor Beer) win a local pub quiz. We now know what Taphophobia is the fear of being buried alive!! For our endeavors we earned ourselves four free meals and boosted our egos!!

TravelAid 2007

By Michael Brodie – My First Day: 7/8/07

After a day of introductory discussion, where we got to grips with the way that JWOC works, today we began our four weeks of volunteering. My name is Michael Brodie and I am part of a group of seven Oxford University students, representing the charity TravelAid, who are working in conjunction with JWOC. After the first day, we decided to separate into small groups in order to give our full commitment to each of JWOC’s projects. I am concentrating on integrating the new scholars, who are to be selected this month, into JWOC’s programme and on creating brochure for the organization. I am also going to be teaching English at the language school at Wat Thmei.

The morning was spent beginning preliminary work on the brochure. We began to think about the layout and what we wanted to include – we think interviews with villagers in receipt of loans will be an interesting starting point. The afternoon was more eventful. I taught my first lessons at Wat Thmei – a Buddhist temple which doubles as a memorial site for the victims of the Khmer Rouge. The number of skulls on display is a harrowing reminder of Cambodia’s tragic past. But the future appears much brighter, if my teaching experience is anything to go by! Despite being thrown in at the deep end in my first class (when I asked what I should teach, the monk who usually teaches the class simply replied ‘English’), the fact that the students were so dedicated and willing to learn made the class both enjoyable and rewarding (I hope on both sides!). I was struck by the smile of one student which beamed from ear to ear throughout the whole lesson and afterwards as he came up to thank me repeatedly for teaching him.

Of course there are problems to overcome. Try teaching a computer skills class when there is a power cut!! Also, Wat Thmei, because it is a tourist attraction, attracts a few street children, one of whom came up to me crying in hunger pains. This experience brought me back down to earth after the ‘high’ of teaching and made me realize the many problems Cambodia still faces.

However, despite sobering moments like the one above, I now have a great thirst to become more involved and I can foresee the next four weeks being a great experience.

West Point Volunteers - Katie

For me, the most rewarding part of my experiences in Cambodia so far has been teaching at the schools of Wat Chock and Wat Thmei. Every day has been an adventure at Wat Chock. It is located about 15 minutes outside the village of Siem Reap, surrounded by farms and fields. The tuk-tuk ride there is a bouncing, bumpy, hang-on-for-dear life experience down one of Cambodia’s infamously bad dirt roads. Zach and I get a lot of smiles and laughs as we try to brave the road, bouncing around in the tuk-tuk as Cambodians sail smoothly by on their motorbikes, missing the potholes.

The school is located at the back of Wat Chock, in a building with only a roof, which serves a variety of other purposes beyond being just a school. The orange robes of the monks are hanging everywhere around the classroom drying after being washed, chickens walk by with chicks following them, people take showers by dumping a bucket of water over their heads less than 15 feet from my classroom. Occasionally some shirtless older men wander by and might join in the lesson, repeating after the teacher in English.

The best part of Wat Chock are the students, all of them are extremely dedicated to learning, very respectful and have great senses of humor. Bo-phi is a little girl who rides her bike to the school every day and is unfailingly the first one done with every lesson and assignment. Another student is studying to become an English teacher in one of the surrounding schools, many others are hoping to get jobs in the hotel or tourism industry, such as working as guides at the near-by Angkor Wat temples.
We are looking forward to another week of teaching, along with helping with the building of a new school at Wat Chock. The new school will have two sunny, well-lit, open rooms with computers and new desks, allowing for the expansion of the school. It would be very rewarding to come back to Cambodia in a few years and see the new school and what the students are accomplishing.

July 31

Looking back, I can’t believe how fast the last month has gone while we have been in Cambodia. It is really going to seem like no time has gone by when we board our flight for Bangkok. I think what I will remember most about being here is the time I spent teaching English at Wat Choch and Wat Thmei. Getting to know the students and finding out about their lives was what made it memorable, especially having the same students for the entire time.

Saying goodbye yesterday to the students was difficult, especially a few I got to know very well. I would love to come back in five years and check back on the students that I had in class. On the last day we talked about what we wanted to do in the future; Zach and I talked about our plans after we finished college. Most of the dream jobs for the students centered around the growing tourist industry in Siem Reap and education, two areas that provide decent jobs. Many wanted to be tour guides for sites like Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples, some wanted to achieve management positions at hotels, a good majority were working towards becoming teachers. Going to university was a dream for a lot of students, but a difficult one to achieve without outside financial help or a scholarship, due to their poor backgrounds.

I was really touched by a girl in Wat Thmei class who took the time and money to go out and buy Zach and me departing gifts, to thank us for teaching us. She works very long hours at a nearby hotel and has to be away from her family in order to work, I know it must have cut into whatever free time she has to get us gifts. The scarves and bracelets she gave me are beautiful and will be a great reminder of my time teaching here. Another student who was difficult to say goodbye to was a girl named Bo Pea in my Wat Choch class. She is extremely bright; she finishes before everyone in the class on every single assignment, and despite starting to study English only a few months ago she has the best pronunciation and understanding in the class. She would love to go to university but cannot afford to do so; she will be finished with high school in two years and most likely go to work at a hotel in Siem Reap to support her family.

After three years of college, I have to say that I have learned more this month than I have in any of my classes, and definitely have gained a new perspective. I hope I can come back to Siem Reap in a few years and see the changes that have taken place as Cambodia continues to grow.

Desk Clean Up - Photos!

West Point Volunteers - Kevin

Well, we just arrived in Cambodia and I could tell immediately after leaving Siem Reap International airport that we were in a developing nation. The six of our group piled into a taxi van with all of our luggage and the feel of the air conditioning blasting from the vents was such a relief coming from the hot and muggy weather outside. The cab drive spoke broken English, and we all found it very interesting trying to communicate with him across somewhat of a language barrier and ask him all about Cambodia and himself. Though the conversation was intriguing and we were all bursting with excitement after finally arriving from our two days of non-stop travel, our attention turned to outside the van.

The streets were very busy; motorbikes speeding by and an occasional car or van weaving through both lanes of traffic. Small little markets lined the streets of intersections with woman selling fruit and gasoline from makeshift storefronts. Little children road their bikes along side the busy streets; some carrying their school books in their hands and dressed in their school uniform. Other children had two plastic bags attached to the rear of the bikes and searched the sides of the road for recyclables. Cows walked along side the road; packs of dogs barked at passing motorbikes – it was an interesting scene to say the least.

Mesmerized by the passing scenery, it took me a second to realize we had just turned onto an unpaved side street. As we dodged potholes on the road, we began to see small groups of houses. These houses were small and raised above the ground on stilt-like structures, obviously to avoid the water levels of the country’s long rainy season. It looked like the entire family was outside – the children were playing right outside the house and the mother was washing clothes at a nearby well. We passed various other kinds of buildings, one that looked like a newly open resort/spa and another that appeared to be completely abandoned. Finally, we saw a sign for Journeys Within, which would be our home in Cambodia for the next three weeks.

Crossing the tiny little wooden bridge, we were greeted by an almost out-of-place villa surrounded by a Cambodian countryside. Once we opened the door, the rain started pouring down and several of the employees ran out with umbrellas and began unloading our luggage. We next met John, our host for our time here.

July 31

The past three weeks have just whizzed by. I have had such a great time and have learned so much on this trip. From teaching the students at Wat Tamei, to visiting the temples at Angkor Wat, to traveling down to Phnom Penh for a weekend, I am truly grateful for the many experiences and memories that I will take back with me to the states and that I will remember for a long time to come.

Leaving Wat Tamei on the last day that we would be teaching was a great deal harder then I had expected it to be. Somehow the students all knew that we would be leaving the next day and that we may never see each other again. They really did not want us to go and kept asking us when the next time would be that we would come back to visit and to teach. Many of the students had email accounts, and we all exchanged email address so that we could continue to keep in touch with each other.

Though I am leaving, I am really looking forward to sponsoring one of the bright young students that I had in one of my classes. He is currently in grade 10, at age 14 no less, and really wants to continue his studies at a local university. He is a diligent worker and strives to succeed at everything he does. When he completes high school, I plan to work with John and JWOC to sponsor him for at least one year of university. I also hope to involve my family in sponsoring him for the remainder of his education at university.