Aziza Schoolhouse
The biggest news is the school we have started, or re-started. It's a free English school in the slum, just down the alley from the Center, and we have fixed it up so it is very cute and provides a good learning environment. Attendance has been great, and all 6 daily classes, 9 hours of training, are well attended by our 120 students…
The only criteria to attend is that you live in the ‘hood, and all students are provided books and notebooks. The 3 teachers we’ve hired are top-notch Khmer’s, and take their jobs seriously (but make class fun). The rent is $30 per month, electric is $30, the teachers about $350, cleaning $10, and there are various other small expenses for things like books and supplies (in total about $440 per month). The classroom will likely also be used as a community center to help the residents organize and represent themselves well in preparation for the looming mass-eviction of the neighborhood (my guess is around December).
I’ve had the good fortune to find the best teacher in Cambodia, Sokchea. He is also the manager, and is very effective in managing students to keep the class on track, as well as coaching the other teachers on this important topic. His trademark is that he is LOUD, and his voice booms out of the classroom commanding attention from all of the children who love and admire him. Unfortunately he does regularly lose his voice. He does everything and anything to make it all work and doesn't charge for all the extra time he puts in. He stresses punctuality in a land where nothing could be more foreign. In addition to 5 teaching hours at our school, he has another job teaching 2 hours. Phana (female) and Chay (male) are new but already have shown admirable traits in addition to being great teachers and speaking great English. The teachers all make $1.50 per hour.
Incidentally, Sokchea and his friend were recently robbed at gunpoint in front of his friend's house, just for their cell phones. It was 10:30 am when 2 motorbikes pulled up on each side of them, the passengers holding guns.
The school feels like the best achievement of my life to date. When I arrive at the classroom, and there are 20 students completely focused, reciting words and phrases in unison, developing their minds, I feel great pride. Whatever will happen from here is beyond guessing. There is already at least 1 villain, a boy who stops by during class, high on drugs, causing commotion and concern for Sokchea. There’s also a character, Pear, that sleeps in the back, along with his brother, without my permission, but they seem to be benign, and hopefully watch out for the school.
I have only visited the night classes a few times, since I don’t spend much time in the slum after dark. Sokchea said the students really wanted to meet me, so I went down and spoke to the class. They made me feel like I really mattered to them. They are all so grateful, and their words of appreciation moved me deeply. They did a standing thank you, and I told them they were welcome, but it was you, my friends, who were providing all this.
Learning English here is different than for people from many other countries, since the Khmer language is really limited with respect to things like the Internet/computers, medication labels, and being able to evolve into a modern economy.
I would like to write pages about all the positive aspects of the school and what it seems to be providing the community; maybe later, but here’s one for now.
A 16 year old boy, Vibol, has been attending all of the classes, every day. I don’t spend much time at the school, but Sokchea went out of his way to tell me about Vibol, that he is clever, and really wants to learn. He told me that his father is always drunk, and he lives right across the alley from the school. His house is barely adequate for a chicken coup by our standards, and a family of 6 live there, including his blind uncle who plays a violin-like instrument quite beautifully. His family is so poor that he had to drop out of school recently at grade 6, since the schools are corrupt and students have to pay.
I remembered how being a teenager sucks in many ways, and felt his pain. He’s coming to school to get away from home, in part, I imagine. He’s shy and not particularly tough for that neighborhood. I sought out ideas from my community here, and just signed him up for a half-day English program at a private school ($8 per month), and loaned him a bike ($22) to get to school. I will try to find other options for him, such as a job-training program.
The only criteria to attend is that you live in the ‘hood, and all students are provided books and notebooks. The 3 teachers we’ve hired are top-notch Khmer’s, and take their jobs seriously (but make class fun). The rent is $30 per month, electric is $30, the teachers about $350, cleaning $10, and there are various other small expenses for things like books and supplies (in total about $440 per month). The classroom will likely also be used as a community center to help the residents organize and represent themselves well in preparation for the looming mass-eviction of the neighborhood (my guess is around December).
I’ve had the good fortune to find the best teacher in Cambodia, Sokchea. He is also the manager, and is very effective in managing students to keep the class on track, as well as coaching the other teachers on this important topic. His trademark is that he is LOUD, and his voice booms out of the classroom commanding attention from all of the children who love and admire him. Unfortunately he does regularly lose his voice. He does everything and anything to make it all work and doesn't charge for all the extra time he puts in. He stresses punctuality in a land where nothing could be more foreign. In addition to 5 teaching hours at our school, he has another job teaching 2 hours. Phana (female) and Chay (male) are new but already have shown admirable traits in addition to being great teachers and speaking great English. The teachers all make $1.50 per hour.
Incidentally, Sokchea and his friend were recently robbed at gunpoint in front of his friend's house, just for their cell phones. It was 10:30 am when 2 motorbikes pulled up on each side of them, the passengers holding guns.
The school feels like the best achievement of my life to date. When I arrive at the classroom, and there are 20 students completely focused, reciting words and phrases in unison, developing their minds, I feel great pride. Whatever will happen from here is beyond guessing. There is already at least 1 villain, a boy who stops by during class, high on drugs, causing commotion and concern for Sokchea. There’s also a character, Pear, that sleeps in the back, along with his brother, without my permission, but they seem to be benign, and hopefully watch out for the school.
I have only visited the night classes a few times, since I don’t spend much time in the slum after dark. Sokchea said the students really wanted to meet me, so I went down and spoke to the class. They made me feel like I really mattered to them. They are all so grateful, and their words of appreciation moved me deeply. They did a standing thank you, and I told them they were welcome, but it was you, my friends, who were providing all this.
Learning English here is different than for people from many other countries, since the Khmer language is really limited with respect to things like the Internet/computers, medication labels, and being able to evolve into a modern economy.
I would like to write pages about all the positive aspects of the school and what it seems to be providing the community; maybe later, but here’s one for now.
A 16 year old boy, Vibol, has been attending all of the classes, every day. I don’t spend much time at the school, but Sokchea went out of his way to tell me about Vibol, that he is clever, and really wants to learn. He told me that his father is always drunk, and he lives right across the alley from the school. His house is barely adequate for a chicken coup by our standards, and a family of 6 live there, including his blind uncle who plays a violin-like instrument quite beautifully. His family is so poor that he had to drop out of school recently at grade 6, since the schools are corrupt and students have to pay.
I remembered how being a teenager sucks in many ways, and felt his pain. He’s coming to school to get away from home, in part, I imagine. He’s shy and not particularly tough for that neighborhood. I sought out ideas from my community here, and just signed him up for a half-day English program at a private school ($8 per month), and loaned him a bike ($22) to get to school. I will try to find other options for him, such as a job-training program.
posted by drewmcdo at
8:17 AM
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