Lakeside School: 1 Year Anniversary!

We opened Lakeside School in June 2008, in another slum of Phnom Penh, Beoung Kok. The school was started when 3 of the Aziza staff, Sokchea, Sokim, and Sreang approached me and said they wanted to start a new school. I said I didn’t think it was a good idea, since we were so busy and I felt scattered with so many of our students needs unfulfilled. As you can see, they won me over, but only by doing all the work to find the community, the house to rent, and the hundreds of logistics to start a school. It was a great sign of local involvement and passion, and I am grateful for their efforts.

I became involved as well, and had to help persuade the commune leader to let us come and help the youth in their community. I also needed to kick start some of the initiatives to keep things alive as the community transitioned and we lost students due to the forced eviction of part of the area. In time our own house, immediately on the edge of the lake, was evicted. We were notified around the 10th of March that we needed to be out by the end of the month. It became a nail-biter as the end of the month drew closer and we didn’t yet have a suitable house, but then we received some great news and were able to move into a bigger house just behind the previous house. The new location and improved space has made us stronger and more popular in the community. The students and staff worked hard through a very hot weekend to paint it and give it charm, and it looks great. Our art teacher, Nawath, continues to work with our students to create art throughout the school and make it an expression of our student body.

It would take pages to even highlight the accomplishments and interesting stories over our first year, so I’ll just recap a few:

When the water level of the lake rose after the rainy season in October, our floor became 4 inches (10cm) of water and lake life. We temporarily moved to a pagoda, but the head monk decided we hadn’t gone through the right channels and he didn’t like our female students being around the monks, so we were kicked out and weren’t even allowed to finish the first evening’s classes (while I appreciate Buddhism and have had many positive interactions, I’ve now met 2 monks with power who seem to be less than enlightened, but that’s just my opinion). It turned out that the students preferred staying in the flooded school anyway. This way they didn’t need to walk past drunk men to get to the pagoda, and didn’t seem to mind the humidity, which seemed unbearable to me. An above-water walkway was set up in the aisle with bricks and planks, and students kept their feet above the water on the desk’s supports. After a week the water went down and things went back to normal.

In December, it seemed like the right time to start a computer lab in the school. The time had not been right until then because we didn’t have control, hadn’t organized our students, and didn’t have students involved in the operation of the school yet. We didn’t want to buy computers until we knew that they would be cared for. The culture of the school is more important than anything in my opinion, though the culture won’t be right unless everything else is in place. The laws of cause and effect are as present in poor communities as anywhere, though perhaps somewhat more forgiving.

After Sokchea taught his level 1 and 2 leadership class, he started a Team Leader student group, and they were fired up and ready to take control of their school. And it is a beautiful thing, to see them meeting, finding solutions to our problems, making requests that we do more to give them education and opportunity for their future. How can I say no? So, with the Team Leaders ready for action, we needed to start a computer lab to give them responsibility. Sam and Anne at Chibodia provided funding, and Chris Merritt lent his technical expertise. In time it turned out to be one of the more successful endeavors we have been a part of. When the lab opened, only a few students had even touched a computer. Now many are quite competent and are advancing quickly, volunteering as teachers, and will soon be sending emails as they are now learning Internet and email.

The majority of our advanced students are female, and they are incredible. While the Aziza School students are like family to me (I know them and accept them for their strengths and weaknesses), the Lakeside kids have captured my heart and I almost don’t know what to do. It made me realized that I need to use my skills to help them; raise money, get new ideas, push the staff, and get results.

Lakeside School is a bustling success, and has all the weekly activities as Aziza School; a medical clinic, dental, yoga, art, aerobics/dancing, a kids Apsara dance group (Cambodian classical dance), youth group, 35 hours of English, and sporadic leadership trainings, guest speakers, and field trips. Having a 2nd school is very efficient, and doubles our effectiveness with only about a 30% increase to our budget. As for the future of the school and the kids will depend in part on our ability to raise money and invest in their futures. Please consider us for a donation or become a fundraiser!