You're My Wikipedia, My Dear Volunteer!

During one of our teaching breaks, we visited a local orphanage called the 'People Improvement Organization'. This NGO is run by Cambodians that work towards improving the welfare of women and children in Cambodia through education and training. Young students follow the national curriculum from grades 1 to 9 and older students can choose to enrol in beauty salon training programmes.

Walking up to the school

We grabbed a tuk tuk and drove 15 minutes out to a slum area undergoing the construction of a new building where a rubbish dump was once situated. It was boiling and dusty as we vacated our tuk tuks and made our way up to the school. Litter was strewn here and there and the dry ground seemed almost barren apart from a few shrubs. The school was small and rather open-plan consisting of three open rooms, two of which were separated by a divide. One side had two classes of approximately 4-8 year old children and the other was a class of older children who were learning English. 

We entered the younger children's classrooms and had a look at their workbooks, asking them if they could show us what they were learning. Most of their work was in Khmer but they were happy to chat and soon moved on to asking us our names and telling us theirs. We also had the pleasure of seeing them demonstrate their artistic abilities, presenting us with an array of illustrations that comprised of elephants, love-hearts, dragons, butterflies and snakes. In reward for their generous exhibition we took out our gifts. My magnetic bag of sweets went down very well causing each bright-eyed face to zoom towards me with an open hand. In spite of the sugar frenzy they did not once forget their manners, closing their hands together and lowering their heads before taking their treat. 

On visiting the older children's classroom, where the age ranged from 9-13 years old, I was incredibly impressed with their level of English. We talked about our hometowns, their favourite school subjects and we discussed the questions on the board which included: 'Do you like salty or sweet food? Loud or quiet music? Sweet or sour food?' etc. They asked me if I knew any Khmer to which I responded that I knew how to say what my name is, directions in a tuk tuk, thank you and a few other phrases. When asked if I knew how to count to ten I answered that I only knew 1- 5, after which they resolved to teach me 1-30 in Khmer until I knew it by heart. Delighting in the switch of roles, they corrected me, giggling at my mistakes and congratulating me on every successful recital. 

I was invited to play hand-clapping games with some of the younger girls and, after numerous rounds of 'One Two, One Two Three, One Two, One Two Three' (Khmer translation: 'Moy Bpee, Moy Bpee Bpai, Moy Bpee, Moy Bpee Bpai'), I decided they should learn a new variation of hand-claps to spice things up a bit. I spent the majority of my time at the school playing with the girls and showing them several new hand-clapping routines. As I left them with a new game I, on the other hand, left with considerably red palms!  

Hand-clapping