The weekend was upon us, the sun was
shining after the recent rains - so what to do? Well, let’s go in to school for
a meeting with Sarin, the admin staff and the English teachers! Our English
programme has always been run during the normal curriculum time for each day,
but in order to include English lessons into the Khmer curriculum, we have to ‘steal’
some teaching time. This is not really
satisfactory, of course, and the government has recently announced that the
final three grades in primary school should start learning English for two
sessions per week. Obviously, we at
Spitler/Kurata school are way ahead of the game (yes – and, as it happens,
using the Way Ahead course book), but
we realized that we would need to blend in with the government requirements as
far as we could, so made the decision to teach two lessons of English during
the Khmer curriculum, but to increase the English tuition during ‘of-hours’
time. This means that children who normally
attend school in the morning would return for a longer session of English on
another afternoon. This they will
probably do willingly. There is no
shortage of demand for schooling in Cambodia! (For instance Carly, our new
volunteer, was working with Sineth and a Grade 3 class on Thursday afternoon. They were asked if they would like to come in
on Monday morning at 8.30 to do some extra English with Carly. Forty-five hands shot
up - the entire class. Carly – with the noble support of
Steve – is working with those children at this very moment!)
The
Dedication of the Teachers: A little case study.
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| Sunday Morning planning with Ratha. |
Saturday evening Ratha rings. Can he come
round to discuss his new schedule (timetable)? We (well – Loll) are ready for
bed. Come Sunday morning we say. Ratha rings up at seven thirty. We manage to
delay his arrival til nine. So amid glasses of water, papaya slices all
enhanced by fresh lime, we set to to organise and bring the Kurata curriculum
in line with Spitler school. Ratha has the advantage of his timetable never
switching at the end of each month so things can be set in stone for the next
year. Already we were looking at gaps and seeing where extra classes can be
fitted in. Ratha is keen that everyone should learn English and wants to add
additional classes wherever he has space on his timetable. We try to rein him in a little!
Later as we chat we find out more about his
life. Everyone in Cambodia has an interesting story to tell that tugs at the
heart strings and brings us up short when trying to imagine the hardships that
people have and still do suffer years after the rule of Pol Pot.
Ratha told us he was born in the province
of Banteay Meanchey in Sophy village.
He went to primary school there and really enjoyed it, being especially fond of
his Khmer teacher whom he still tries to visit when returning home. His father
had died when he was only aged seven from a mosquito borne disease which we assume to
have been malaria, and his mother had struggled to bring up his sister and
himself through much poverty. She became a policewoman in order to keep her
family. Ratha continued to study and
only began English lessons at the age of eighteen at a small private school.
Lessons were expensive for him but he persevered and eventually gained a place
for General Management at Build Bright University (BBU) in Siem Reap. He stayed
with an uncle here and recently he, his sister and mother have begun at last to
build their own house. This should be finished in November. It has proved a
very expensive project but is much wanted.
 |
| Rather younger Ratha and Hoy |
Ratha, along with Ann Hoy, were the first
English teachers at Spitler school starting the embryonic programme back in
2010, which is when we first met them both on our first visit to the school
with Danny Spitler. Without a doubt Ratha has always been keen to learn and
happy to impart his continuing love of education to all the children he
teaches. He now teaches morning and afternoon sessions at Kurata school and is
a popular and hardworking staff member - who also manages to keep us on our toes!
 |
| Danny and Sarin talking to our little friend, Malin in 2010. |
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| The building of the English block - 2010. |
Around and About
Life around Siem Reap continues quietly but
becoming busier as the tourist seasons kicks in. As the rains diminish and
temperatures are not yet too high visitors begin to flock to this area to see
the temples, visit the Tonle Sap lake and enjoy the life of a fast growing
town. Those people that have not yet visited this area need to know what
treasures we have around us. The faces of the locals, quite stern to start with
will break into a smile after their initial shyness. 
Sunday late morning we sit near the old
market having a drink before meeting up with Jim for lunch. We watch as
families clamber up on their motos, local people squeeze unceremoniously into
tuk tuks, children come selling bracelets on the road side and another girl spends
ten minutes trying to convince a large American to part with a few dollars for
a book. A man walks by, carrying a box. He has no hands or lower arms,
blown off by a landmine when he was a boy. He tries to sell books also. Another
child appears attached by a rope to his blind father who asks for money. Almost
everywhere there are the smiles amongst the heartbreak of a town going about
its daily business.
AND FINALLY – Danny and Pam Spitler arrive today for a week long visit. We are looking forward to meeting up with them again later – and to some planning meetings later in the week. So more on that later.
PS: A beautiful shot of Ratha in action in a classroom. Exhausting stuff!!
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