Back to VDCA in 2014

The girls first time on a tuk tuk

I After the successful fundraiser on the Sunshine Coast, I decided to take the money over to Cambodia, buy new laptops and workshop the next round of students for the Skype Cultural Exchange Program. This time my family came along too, and Zara (9 years) and Isabella (5 years) viewed a world that they had never experienced nor knew existed.

We arrived to Siem Reap with little fuss and we were welcomed with opened arms by the VDCA director Togh Main and the staff at the Angkor Voyage Village Guesthouse. Interestingly, on our way from the airport, through downtown Siem Reap, I found myself savouring the greeting given by the streets, that familiar scent of South East Asia and the unique drum of traffic only found in this part of the world.

In front of the old market in Siem Reap

With Togh on our first visit to the school

The first day was spent acclimatising the kids to this ever so foreign place; Zara and Isabella gripped tight to our arms as we strolled through Siem Reap greeted by street hawkers, amputees and child beggars. The questions would come thick and fast and the look of astonishment was permanently plastered across their little faces. This was a complete educational experience that invaded and permeated every sense of their being.

girls playing in the foregrounds of the school

In the afternoon we made our way to the school. It was the first time for Cindy and the girls, and they found it a wonderfully humbling experience. The girls chimed in beautifully playing with the VDCA students in the school's foregrounds and participating in English classes while I discussed plans with the school's director Togh Main about the buying of new laptops, setting up the laptops so generously donated by Technology Effect, choosing the new students for the Skype Cultural Exchange Program and where we might best direct the remainder of the moneys from the fundraiser.

We spent the mornings of Day 2 and Day 3 showing the girls around the temples from the Angkor Period - Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom - before heading off to the school. We didn't go too hard at the temples, as even the most fascinated history buff can get 'templed out' very easily and become desensitised to the magnificence of these ancient structures by spending too long meandering amongst the ruins at one time. That said however, the girls were blown away and it was brilliant looking at these temples again, but this time through an inquisitive child's eyes!

Discussions with Zara at Angkor Wat

Birthday celebrations

Another two mornings were spent at the Floating Village - Kompong Phluk - and Aunlung Pi VDCA Rural Branch. Both experiences were mind-blowing for the girls and extremely moving for my wife Cindy. I have videoed and/or blogged about Kompong Phluk and Aunlung Pi in the past. The school's director and his family, VDCA teachers, Arina and Reaksa (two of the students from the first round of workshops last year) joined us on our trip to Kompong Phluk. It was a great way to spend the afternoon of my birthday!

Festivities and fun aside, both places are examples of impoverished lifestyles in Cambodia, where Cambodians are today living under similar conditions and state support as the times of Angkorian kings almost 1000 years ago; while the rest of the world progresses - even Burma, Cambodia continues to slumber in poverty and will not wake from this contemporary nightmare without ridding itself of its addiction to the drug of corruption.

The people of Kompong Phluk are locked into generational fishing using still the ancient netting and trapping methods of their ancestors past. It is blazingly obvious that technology and progress has not made its way to this part of Tonle Sap lake where these families exist. As you float through the canals, or stroll through the 'avenues' between primitive dwellings made possible by the lakes' recession in the winter months, you can't help but wish for an improved level of social support and basic governmental provisions. For example, people bath and launder in the lake near where their toilet contents are emptied. Also,  rubbish accumulates everywhere; once a product is consumed its wrappers or remains are discarded all around the community without any regard for hygiene or aesthetics. The only sign that this village is actually existing within the 21st century are the wrappers of modern consumables littered around and the odd motorcycle parked under the wooden stilts of some of the palm leaf walled huts. But still the children play! Games of volleyball were popular amongst teens as they unwound from their morning of fishing on the great lake. Education is surely only to primary level as these villagers do not see the need for a secondary or tertiary education for a life on the lake, a life that their father and his father before him lived with limited schooling. However, education is the key to 'progress' here. Without educated villagers, the knowledge of hygiene, improved fish yields using modern technology, and safer living conditions are lost to these people, let alone the opportunity for a life away from the lake if so desired.

Zara and Arina with local children at Kompong Phluk

Similarly, the people of Aunlung Pi, Siem Reap Province are simply existing within an impoverished state. It is clear that the Cambodian government has simply forgotten these citizens and they are left to the altruistic work of NGOs such as VDCA to provide their basic needs. Whilst many families of this area are subsistence farmers, they barely grow enough to constitute a nutritious diet. Therefore, the children in this area are representative of the country's majority malnourished youth. For more on this, read my prior blog on Aunlung Pi village. However, like Kompong Phluk, education through to secondary level is almost non-existent here. And education will be the saviour of these people if they are to move out of generational poverty. This is the mission of VDCA and they are doing a wonderful job supporting the people of Aunlung Pi to achieve this through their capacity building projects which are focused around education, not simple handouts.

Education in Cambodia is in a state of decay, consistently undermined by the institutional corruption that filters down from the government and infects all aspects of society, teachers are 'forced' to ask for bribes from their students in order for them to progress. Teachers are trained and paid poorly, and often only teach for a few hours per day because they must hold down another job in order to make ends meet. On top of this, bribery exists in all spheres of Cambodian society to the point that it is an accepted part of life. If you are to receive any form of governmental service, you must pay a bribe! Teachers and school principals are not exempt. Police are not exempt. Doctors are not exempt. Business transactions with government are mostly conducted through corruption and nepotism - if you can pay the greatest bribe, you stand to gain the most from all areas controlled by Cambodian government. Therefore, if Cambodia is to progress to the same level of its South-East Asian neighbours, it will need to clean up the corruption that restricts the aspirations of its citizens while privileging its ruling few.

Acclaimed Pulitzer Prize winning author and academic Joel Brinkley (2011) sums up the present state of Cambodian education in chapter eleven of his book 'Cambodia's Curse' where he writes, 'if education is the answer for Cambodian society, as so many experts assert, then the nation is lost. In a nationawide survey only 2.6 percent of Cambodia' schoolteachers said they were providing students "a high-quality education."' The book is described by Monash University Professor David Chandler as, 'saddening, sure-footed analysis of the way that power and corruption operate in Cambodian society today.' Throughout chapter eleven Brinkley gives poignabt anecdotal evidence on the corruption within Cambodia's egregious education system and offers further data on the institutionalisation of this corruption as a causal factor for Cambodia's poor education standards and the ongoing detrimental societal effects, 

Every day,  just before Chhith Sam Ath's two young sons headed out the door for elementary school, their mother gave each of them a wad of cash. As soon as they entered the classroom, they handed the teacher their money. So did all the other students, one by one. Children who didn't make the daily payments were likely to get bad grades. In some schools they were sent home or forced to stand in the corner until it was time to leave. 

Tens of thousands of poor families do not send their children to school because they simply cannot afford it to pay the bribes ... The International Labor Organization estimated that 38 percent of Cambodia's children between ages seven and fifteen worked at least part-time. "We can see them in restaurants, children selling things on the street. Pulling carts. Working in Brick factories. Picking trash at dumps," said Rong Chhum, president of the national teachers' union..."

The problem isn't just children who don't go to school. For those who do choose education, "you go to school and learn how to bribe people," said Chhith Sam Ath, a nonprofit association leader, shaking his head. Teachers, in turn, had to give some of their bribe money to their principals. "We are required to pay 2,500 riel, 5,000 riel," between 50 cents and $1.20, "to the principal at the end of the month," Rong Chhum said. Principals, in turn, had to pass some of that money up to the local Education Ministry office. An NGO study called that a "facilitation fee," required before the ministry would release salaries and other state funds for the schools... 

Because of the bribes, poverty, and other factors, 15 to 20 percent of the nation's five and six year olds never entered school... For those that did go to school, "the average class sizes are 75-80 student," the education minister said... "After the first year, already 10 percent of them drop out," said Teruo Jinnai, head of the UNESCO office in Phnom Penh. "And then 10 percent after that. And by the time they finish the 6th Grade, half of them are gone." Just under 13 percent go onto high school, and fewer still graduate. About 3 percent go onto college... In Dang Rung village in Pursat Province, village chief Kok Chuum said, "Fifty children entered first grade this year. Only two are in high school, and they will probably drop out after grade 9," when public education is no longer 'free'.

This is by no means an exhaustive assessment of the problems associated with the Cambodian education system. For more from the author visit his 2009 Foreign Affairs article - Cambodia's  Curse - Struggling to Shed the Khmer Rouge's Legacy. However, this does give the reader a glimpse of the challenges that young Cambodian students face. Additionally, it shows us that we have quite an extensive list of systemic challenges that will play a role in delivering the Skype Exchange Program successfully to Cambodian students. Therefore, we cannot measure results in terms of Australian educational outcomes, but in Cambodian; where any progress is positive change! With this in mind I ask all participants in the program to exercise patience and temper their expectations in light of these challenges. Now, back to the program...

We could only spare the best part of a week in Cambodia this time, so the evening workshops for the next round of Skype Cultural Exchange students had to be brief. I focussed mostly on basic computer literacy skills and then went into detail on email (Gmail), Skype and Google Slides/Docs (equivalent to learning Microsoft Powerpoint and Word, in which the students will have further tutorials with Mr Malivann - the teacher at VDCA overseeing computer classes now that they have laptops. The students began a presentation about their family on Google Slides in one of the sessions which they will continue for the following weeks until finished and share with their Skype partners for correction and discussion. This will aid in enhancing all four macro skills - Reading; Writing; Listening; and Speaking. Furthermore, I will be relying on Arina, one of the students from the first round of workshops last year, along with Mr Malivann, to give tutorials to the new students and help them through their learning. Arina has now graduated high school and is looking to get a scholarship to study psychology at university. She has also scored the highest in the school for English, which demonstrates how much the program has aided her. Additionally, her computer literacy and skills have grown dramatically over the year that she has been part of the program, which will benefit her greatly if she is successful in securing a university scholarship.

The new students are beautiful and wonderfully committed to learning new things. Despite the limited time, their personal challenges within the Cambodian context, they all grasped the basics and will be able to practise continually in the weeks ahead. At this point we already have three new Skype exchange partners from Australia that have made contact with the new students. Thanks for generously donating your time! From all accounts the initial interactions were laughter filled and a lot of fun! Here are the students after the final session, on our final evening at VDCA:

It was extremely gratifying to go to ANZ Royal Bank in Siem Reap with VDCA Director Togh Main to deposit the remaining funds from the fundraiser on the final day. Although one disappointment was the loss of money in transaction fees and exchange from Australian dollars to US Dollars - we lost 20c in every dollar! That said however, every dollar (US or Australian) goes much further in Cambodia than in their original place of minting, and over $10,000 Australian dollars is providing a much needed injection of funds into VDCA's numerous projects. And I'm sure that this money so graciously donated back in Australia will continue to aid this magnificent non-governmental organisation for months to come and provide opportunities for Cambodian people to move out of poverty in the future.

The remaining funds raised will be used in different areas at the direction of VDCA Director Togh Main. After buying new laptops and earphones for the Skype program, some of the funding will cover ongoing Internet costs for the VDCA Siem Reap school. Funding has also been used to provide two secured classrooms at VDCA Siem Reap. 

Additionally, funding will contribute to projects running at VDCA Aunlung Pi Branch where Togh and his wonderful staff are moving people out of poverty with their housing project amongst others projects - for more information on these projects go to my earlier blogs from 2013. VDCA has bought land at Aunlung Pi village to which it hopes to move the present village school in two years time. On top of this the land will contain further agrarian projects to feed the kindergarten children (one of the earlier projects), produce a source of income for VDCA from the sale of surplus produce and provide jobs and a steady source of income for some villagers working the fields. The land needs to be secured with fencing, so some of the funding may contribute to this also. 

One of the new secured classrooms

On a final note, I would like to say thank you to all those that have supported me, Togh Main and all the children at the Volunteer Development Children's Association. If you are interested in volunteering any of your time by Skyping with these wonderful Cambodian kids or donating towards keeping the program and other VDCA projects alive, please comment below or email me directly at rjoeslavo@gmail.com. 

Sad goodbyes, or should I say 'au revoirs' as Zara and Isabella made some beautiful friends among the students at VDCA. Who knows, maybe they will become the Skype Exchange students in future years!

One Year on - Trivia Fundraiser

The VDCA Skype Cultural Exchange is moving along quite well. Reports from the director of VDCA Togh Main inform us that the students' in the program are returning much improved English results from their regular interactions with Australians via Skype. Good news! However, the technology at the school in Siem Reap is faltering, and therefore needs to be replaced in order for the program to continue. As a result, I planned a trivia fundraiser to raise funds to buy at least 5 new laptops for the school. The target was anything over $2000 and the venue was chosen.

The event kicked off at 12:30 with the 40 invited guests arriving at the Drift Bar in Caloundra ready for trivia:

The groups were decided and the trivia began with great fun after a brief history of the Volunteer Development Children's Association and an explanation about the wonderful work that Togh is doing in Siem Reap and An Lung Pi. Raffles accompanied the trivia and all attending were very gracious in their support and donations throughout the day.

The trivia wrapped up around 4:30pm in the afternoon; the raffles were finalised and the activities - wine categories guessing competition and auction - were run with fantastic support. All those at the Drift Bar were heavily supportive and generously donated and bought tickets in the numerous raffles donated by various people from Brisbane and Caloundra. Even the bar staff were scratching their heads at times trying to work out the solutions to the trivia questions from ten differing categories.

Thank you to all those who attended and those who could not, but found it in their heart to contribute, you made the day the success it was. A special thank you to Daryn from Treasury Wines - your contribution was immensely appreciated; Ben for his help throughout the day and leading up to it; Lance from Goodlife for his membership donation; Deb for her goodies from Loriel; Dan for the wonderful products donated for raffling; and to all those who generously donated raffle prizes in support of the day, too many to name! Thank you. But lastly, a huge thank you to Guy for his wonderful donation and contribution to the day - you truly blew most people away with your generosity and the kids at VDCA will be much better off for your help!

As a result of your wonderful contributions we far exceeded our target and will be able to buy many more laptops than the five originally planned. We hope top use remaining funds for lease payments or other continuous expenses at VDCA Siem Reap. I will go back to Cambodia in December and buy the computers (plus take 5 other laptops with me) and set them up at the school under the guidance of Togh. I also hope to workshop some new students through the program and further set up more VDCA students for contact with Australians on my return in order to continue to foster cross-cultural communication and present Cambodian youth with a skill that may provide the opportunity to break their cycle of poverty.

Until next time,
R

Five months on...

Five months on and I find myself reflecting on the remarkable experience in Cambodia and the wonderful people who are now part of my life and the life of my family and many of my students at school.

On return to Australia I set about organising a program that would allow people here to take an active part of the education and development of some of Cambodia's less priveleged and disadvantaged children. 

The program now boasts ten Cambodia students ranging from 13 to 18 years and close to twenty Australian participants. Weekly those involved converse via Skype on all manner of subjects that are both improving the Cambodians' command of the English language and stretching the minds of all involved culturally and socially. The reports from some of the Australian participants is overwhelmingly positive; one student often includes her mother in the conversations as her mother was profoundly touched by the Cambodian student's story: one of hardship, isolation and maturity established through independence at such a young age. Reaksa is only 14 and lives without parents - her mother lives in another city and her father is away with the military. Furthermore, Reaksa cares for her younger sister who suffers with leukaemia. Therefore, Reaksa's days are spent organising her sister's regular hospital visits and getting herself off to school for as many hours as she can. She also attends the free school at night and participates in this program to give herself a brighter future. She is a remarkable young girl who rarely is seen without a smile on her face despite her adversity; something I think Australian students gain a lot of insight from in their conversations with her.

Despite the positive progress made in just five months, the program has one continuing demand that needs to periodically be addressed: the technology. The program relies on functioning technology and this will always require funding. When I was in Cambodia in December 2013, I used a great deal of the fundraising conducted prior to the visit to repair existing computers and buy other things such as microphones and headphones. Furthermore, I directed the remaining funds into the school's internet connection and ongoing costs related to this. Now, information is coming in that the computers that only three of the five computers that were able to be repaired after the monsoonal flood damage are still functioning. This has created congestion in the computer laboratory as the number of Cambodian students participating in the program increases.

Therefore, I am beginning a new fundraising initiative to raise enough funds to supply the school with five new laptop computers that can connect wirelessly. I also hope to increase the capability of their wireless internet connectivity in order to make the program more sustainable and allow for future growth as new students come on board. As part of the fundraising, I am republishing the details of the account set up specifically for Cambodian fundraising. So if you find it in your heart to donate, please transfer the funds to the account details below and I will personally deliver the funds and make the computer purchases when I take my family over to Cambodia in 2015. Thank you in advance and on behalf of the children of VDCA school Siem Reap, Cambodia. 

Bank account details:

Bank: WESTPAC BANK

Account name: RYAN JOSEPH SLAVIN

BSB no.: 034017

Account no.: 130843

Thanks again,

Ryan

Final sessions and 'Au Revior'

Well the final day has come. As I sit enjoying a coffee in a corner cafe on this final afternoon, I find myself reflecting. The traffic of internationalists continue to ebb and flow through the main arteries of Siem Reap, converging at its heart - the 'Pub Street' precinct. At the corner of the street's western intersection, The hum of Tuk Tuks provides the back beat to the afternoon's soundtrack, the melody peaking at times with the call of, 'Hey, Tuk Tuk?' from the drivers attempting to solicit passengers, at times with gusto and at other times half-hearted, their voices portraying disinterest as if a mechanised button had been pushed which, at the sight of a tourist, plays the monotonous recorded message, 'You want Tuk Tuk?'. The backbeat synthesises seamlessly with the differing dialects of passers by, contributing to the thrum as afternoon gives way to evening.

I cast my mind back through the events of the past weeks here, the teaching, the projects, and the trips to the rural and impoverished Siem Reap surrounds. My mind then arrives at the commitments made and the ideas for future work. 

I look forward to working with Togh Main and VDCA on future endeavours on return to Australia. Firstly, I plan to give VDCA an Australian fundraising contact. Australians interested in supporting VDCA are able to avoid administration costs and bank fees eating into their generous donations by using me as an intermediary; I will direct the financial contributions directly to Togh and the specific projects that people wish to support.

Secondly, working with Dy Malivann on the cultural exchange program, I look forward to fundraising from here for technical equipment needed to maintain the program, promoting amongst Australians and scheduling Australian volunteers to take part in the exchange via Skype.

And finally, I am really looking forward to exploring the opportunity to coordinate a Cambodian immersion program at SJFC that will allow students to actively engage with some if VDCA's projects. This, I believe, will balance students by giving them another perspective on happiness and an appreciating view of their own life by being exposed to a comparatively different degree of social development. Discussions have begun with administration, but there is still much to flesh out in the detail before the College will commit, I think. That said, an immersion program to Cambodia with contact with VDCA would add further depth to present cultural exchange and foster more meaningful communication and relationships between students across geographical and socio-cultural divides.

Now, to end. It has been a thoroughly thought provoking and rewarding experience personally and I believe that many others have benefited from this initiative; from Cambodian students receiving lessons in English and Information Communication Technology (ICT) within the cultural exchange project, teachers participating in ESL teacher training workshops, through to the awareness spread to you - the reader - of the wonderful work being done by VDCA in Siem Reap and at Anlung Pi. To VDCA's director Togh Main and his inspirational team, keep up the fantastic work you are doing in brightening the future of so many lives. To those who have been lovely enough to read my posts and contribute to this initiative in any way, I say a big thank you; I hope you can continue to support me in my support of VDCA into the future in any way you see fit. To my wonderful family for all their support and positivity at all times throughout this initiative, thank you and I love you! Au revoir Cambodia, until next time...

R

Program initiatives at the schools

I have been making some good progress running workshops with two schools here in Siem Reap for Cambodian teachers of ESL and exploring the opportunity for cultural exchange between St John Fisher College (my school back home) and Volunteer Development Cambodia Association (VDCA).  

Both schools I've been supporting are non government organisations working to provide predominantly English classes to children from disadvantaged backgrounds - but art, dance and computer studies are also offered. The schools' (VDCA and New Hope) work is two-fold:

1. They are attempting to 'take up the slack' in an education system that is very elitist by providing opportunities to children unable to access public education, and

2. They are offering additional skills to all local students for future employability here in Siem Reap, a city that relies heavily on the tourist industry.

I have been working at VDCA for the past few weeks with prospective teachers; they are past students who show aptitude and desire to teach now at the school. In the absence of formal training, in terms of lesson structure and teaching strategies, many of the teachers simply rely on what they have been exposed to by past teachers and the transient volunteer/traveller staff that aid in the classrooms. Therefore, we have been going through lesson structuring with particular foci for particular times within the lesson. I've also given them a list of teaching strategies and activities for each section of the lesson, which we have been work-shopping each day. This week will be the culmination of the past 2 weeks of work. I'm hoping to have them collaboratively plan and teach in the last couple of sessions this week using the structure and strategies examined so far. If they can use just one strategy to improve the delivery of their lessons by the time I leave, it will all be worthwhile, I guess.

Practicing the 3X Focussed Reading 

I ran a similar workshop at the rural village school 'New Hope' (approximately 25 minutes drive from Siem Reap) all morning last Sunday. The workshop went well. The school has only been running since 2009 and the teachers are not as proficient as those at VCDA. Therefore, I had to make alterations to the workshop and focus more on simple teaching strategies for younger students. For example, we practiced a Chinese whispers game for spelling and vocabulary building, which was received quite enthusiastically by the teachers.

Practicing the 'Chinese Whispers'activity

The teachers at New Hope

I then modelled it in a couple of the classes (I have been teaching in the mornings at this school until lunchtime and VDCA in the afternoons/evenings) over the past couple of days to show how it plays out in the context of a whole lesson. The kids loved it, albeit a little over excited at times, and fed off the competitive nature of the game whilst unbeknowingly practicing their spelling or a particular grammar structure. Another strategy that went across well was the focused reading exercises we practiced together. The teachers saw a lot of use in the 3X approach to reading that allowed for a particular focus each time before attempting to address global comprehension questions. If nothing else the workshop gave the teachers an idea on segmenting a lesson with some practical ideas to practice the language across all four macro skills - listening, speaking, writing and reading. 

New Hope donation needs

New Hope donation needs cont.

I will finish up my time with New Hope and VDCA Thursday. That said however, I really want to support both schools on return to Australia with sustained fundraising. After discussions with the director of New Hope, it seems they are in constant need of funds for various ongoing costs, but the primary concern is the land on which the school is built. Currently the school rents the land for approximately US$50 per month, but is hoping to purchase the land and become more secure if they can raise US$10,000. The various other costs can be seen here in the images left and right. One initiative the Director and I are looking to pursue is the selling of Cambodian bracelets to Australians. For $50 of material, the school can produce at least 100 bracelets. If I am able to sell them for $1 or $2 in Australia, it can at least double the investment. This might not sound like much in the Australian context, however if you look at the cost sheets above, $100 or $200 goes a long way for this school. Plus, the bracelet initiative gives the students a role in the fundraising process. If you by chance would like to support New Hope in any way, let me know and I will direct your funds straight to the source - free of administration costs associated with large charity organisations.

VDCA computer lab set up

In another project for VDCA I have been working closely with Dy Malivann, the art teacher that will take computer classes from next week. We have been going through the processes for creating a program that he will continue after I leave. In earlier discussions with the director of VDCA, Togh Main, we decided to begin an intercultural exchange program utilising the existing computers at the school. Using a very small portion of the fundraising that I brought over, we have repaired the existing five computers and purchased headphones and webcams. My only hope now is that the computers have enough processing power to support the program. 

The idea is to build on the existing Microsoft Office instruction conducted by Dy Malivann to include studies in Skype and Google (Gmail email, Web 2.0 tools - YouTube, Drive: Docs, Sheets, Presentation, etc.). We rolled the program out today with a brief meeting with the five top senior students and a 1 hour session creating Googlle accounts and introducing the students to and navigating them around email (Gmail). 

Tomorrow we plan to workshop Google Drive and Docs; discussing the capability to collaborate and communicate with students abroad on a single document. Then on Thursday we hope to create Skype accounts and run through the basics of making and receiving video calls for the purpose of intercultural communication. If time, I plan to discuss the possibilities of working within these platforms simultaneously for educational outcomes. Once versed in these, the hope is that students within the intercultural program will be able to communicate with Australian and other English speaking foreign students, which will be beneficial linguistically for the Cambodian students and socio-culturally for the foreign students. Following the sessions this week, the 5 students and Dy Malivann can continue after I leave until all senior students at the school are able to take part in the program if they choose. On return to Australia I plan to organise students and other volunteers that would like to take part in the program to schedule time weekly or fortnightly for an inter-cultural exchange with a Cambodian student from VDCA. If this sounds like something that you would like to be part of, please let me know and I will organise the contact email and Skype address between parties and a time mutually convenient. 

Until next time...
R

When opportunity knocks...

Few students in Cambodia receive sponsorship and even fewer are lucky enough to be directly sponsored. It is really comforting to know that those that have direct sponsors - not relying on the remaining funds after an aid organization's administration has taken their cut - like Sunitai (below) are using their opportunity to the fullest.

Sunitai is a remarkable 12 year old girl that I am teaching in the evenings. However, she attends three different schools everyday. Her first, in the morning, is the public state school, which we would expect to be free. But, as I have mentioned in past posts, state schooling comes at a cost through corruption at the teacher level; no student will progress without paying teachers off! Teachers are so poorly paid that they feel obliged to charge fees to pass students and, consequently, are undermining the integrity of the profession here and diminishing the effect that education has on the lives of young Cambodians. The second school is a free English language school she attends in the afternoon. Then, in the evening from 6pm to 7pm Sunitai comes to VDCA to better her English and study any other classes (art, computer instruction) she can access. 

Luckily for Sunitai, she is directly sponsored by a Canadian woman that she  endearingly calls 'aunty'. Sunitai informs me that she has been studying English since she was three years old at her father's request. Her father, a local Tuk Tuk driver in Siem Reap, would be lucky to earn US$100 a month and would probably not be able to support Sunitai's education without her Canadian aunty's gracious sponsorship. That said however, in conjunction with her sponsorship funding, it is through 12 year old Sunitai's perseverance, application and mature approach to her studies that she is creating a future for herself here amidst an environment that presents challenges to her learning daily. I find myself wondering though, would Sunitai too be apathetic to education as many Australian students are - students that on the whole never really go without or understand disadvantage - if she was not surrounded by adversity and enjoying an opportunity that few Cambodian children not born into wealth enjoy?

Until next time...

R

VDCA's Anlung Pi School and Community Project

The Volunteer Development Cambodia Association (VDCA) school, farm and community project at Anlung Pi is truly inspirational. In just under a year the VDCA Anlung Pi school project, just out of Siem Reap, has grown to include an organic and fully environmentally sustainable fish and rice farm, plus a nursery with six family dwellings for impoverished families. All projects are completely funded on donations and give families a brighter future in the absence of any government social support.

The school, free of charge and totally funded by donations organised by the Director Togh Main and his team, offer an education in English and Japanese language among other things. The classes supplement a corrupt education system where teachers, so poorly paid, are forced to charge fees to families to have their children take tests or classes from home. Many children boycott public school as they can't possibly afford to send their children and pay extra for the 'real' learning. Those that do go to public school for three hours each day are hardly receiving the adequate education sufficient for future success. 

The students that go to the VCDA school are children from the area, many of who have parents working at the local dump scavenging anything they can find to sell, such as old vegetable scraps to sell as pig food. On visiting the dump the conditions were appalling. The trucks come 15 times a day to drop their 'payload' while the dump dwellers await eagerly with their picks in hand ready to pounce in the garbage in hope of finding something profitable. The dump dwellers range in age from five years to ages too difficult to gauge when considering the years of hardship endured in this existence.

The dwellings that line the outskirts of the dump are of meagre construction. Most shanties are simply sticks holding up dry grass roofs. The structures look so feeble that they would surely need replacing most years after the monsoons have passed in November. Adding salt to the wound, luscious patties of rice belonging to wealthy landowners surround the dump and the scattering of shanties, adding further frustration to the dump dwellers existence by reminding them daily of the plentiful life beyond the confines of their world - the dump. They must bare the pain of watching harvests come and go while they scavenge through rubbish to put food in the stomachs of their families when they can. To raise a family under these conditions seem incomprehensible and give testament to the strength of the human spirit. Below I have filmed the filth in which these poor souls currently live, work and somehow maintain hope for a better future.

Fish farm Project - pond

Fish Farm Project

However, VDCA is providing an opportunity for a better life for some dump dwellers through their agrarian and community building projects. The first is the rice and fish farm. The land has been donated lease free for trial and the fish have been bought using VDCA donations, and now number more than 10,000. These farms are set up organically to allow fish to swim within the paddies feeding and fertilising the rice at the same time. To avoid having to pay $15 a bag for fish food (a cost minimal and very affordable in most western countries), a free sustainable and environmentally friendly approach to the farming has been adopted. Village chickens are strategically housed in a structure that stands above a section of the fish pond allowing for their droppings to feed the fish and in turn fertilise the rice. Bugs are attracted with traps over the water's surface to further add the fish's food source. Donations are continuously being sought, not simply for the materials used in this project but also for the university education in sustainable agricultural studies for the Cambodians that are working this farm. These workers have the aspirations to teach others in the community in order to build capacity in the human capital of this village and offer an opportunity to break the generational cycle of poverty perpetuated in a life at the dump.

Dwelling for the Fish Farmer

Nursery and constructed dwellings to the left

Nursery

Another VDCA project at Anlung Pi designed to give assistance to the dump dwellers is the community building project. The project consists of a nursery and six potential dwellings for families to transition out of their dump shanties.

The six sponsored families are given free use of the dwellings for a contracted period of three years. In that time they are offered assistance to find more secure work or may receive a micro-loan to start a small business and begin a self-supported and safe life free of the dump. During this time, accommodation, the children's basic education and food are subsidized by VDCA.

Time to brush the children's teeth at the well

Construction on the other three dwellings

The construction of these dwellings are not yet complete and the nursery has only just opened, however there are already 60 children to fill the nursery rooms (during the hours that their parents scavenge at the dump) and a waiting list of families for the three year contract with the dwellings. The whole project - land and materials - has basically been financed by a wonderful couple from the United Kingdom who donated $40,000 to set the project up.

Within eight months the future of a handful of Cambodian families has been irreversibly altered. From dump dwellers and rubbish scavengers VDCA are giving Cambodians the opportunity and human right to strive for a better future, and offering that which most Australians and citizens of other modern democracies take for grated daily: their human dignity!

Until next time...

R