Doing my part

Ok, so lets rewind a little bit. After arriving in Siem Reap and exploring for a little while I worked at a countryside school about 35km outside the city for a week. It was one of the few volunteer projects I could find that allows for free short term volunteers. I just didn't feel comfortable paying to volunteer and not really knowing where my money was going. This project was funded by a tour company originally called the Sage Foundation but now its owners are going seperate ways so the name is going to be different.

The program was set up for volunteers to be assistant English teachers or help with repainting the school walls. The students are extremely well behaved. They stand up whenever you enter the room and wait for you to let them sit down. I felt like a drill sergeant. The class sits in the front of the room instead of fighting for the back like I did when I was in school. A lot of times when the other classes let out early there would be dozens of faces crowded in the windows to see what we were doing. All in all it was a great experience and getting to know the kids was extremely humbling.

If you consider the Khmer Rouge destroyed most of the educational institutions and executed most of the educated, the country has come a long ways. And the government doesn't provide nearly enough financial support. Teachers only make between 30 and 50 dollars a month and when you consider that English speaking tour guides can make that in a week its no wonder there's a shortage of teachers. I've passed many schools that were built by funding from other countries. The textbooks seem very inadequate and thats if you're lucky enough to get them. But still many of the younger kids you run into in the city know decent English and are very smart. There is a lot of optimism and hope in the country and I think with a little support the the Cambodians can go a long way.