Carly and Steve Blog

Our month volunteering at The Spitler School started with much rain, so our first cycling journey there was a challenging one! We followed Nick through his "short cut" which would have been very efficient, were it not for the puddles and mud from the regular downpours. Despite dodging water, that first journey to school was memorable in a much more positive way because of the amount of children who shouted "Hello Nick!" as we cycled through the village. We could tell straight away that we were going to be volunteering in a school at the centre of a friendly community and might even get to know a few local faces.

The school itself took us both by surprise in a very pleasant way. For some reason we both anticipated a smaller, quieter place with less going on. By contrast, the lively buzz of The Spitler School was instantly noticeable; I later learned from Loll that Spitler has almost as many students on roll as my secondary school back in England! There were enthusiastic lessons going on with songs and smiles and we felt instantly welcomed by both teaching and non-teaching staff. We were lucky enough to be there during one of Danny and Pam Spitler's visits; an occasion in which the community spirit of the place was beautifully depicted through staff speeches and student dances, witnessed by the full range of people associated with the school. I was really interested in the presence of many parents at this gathering and their participation in a Q&A session with Danny Spitler and Sarin; seeing local parents so involved with and interested in the education of their children was a great testament to the difference the school makes to the families in this area.

We were soon making our own way to and from school, which luckily coincided with the weather drying up. We now only had to dodge pot-holes and other cyclists - which were usually the children attending The Spitler School, quickly cycling past us with their typical eagerness to get to lessons! Indeed, something which stood out every time we were at school is just how much the children enjoy the lessons. They play happily together in their break-times but as soon as the lesson bell chimes they cannot wait to get into the classroom - running towards their teachers with an enthusiasm I have rarely seen in English schools.We noticed this fervour for learning in our session of English language games and reading activities in the library with a [much larger than expected!] group of students. Steve tried his hand at teaching, surprising me with being brilliant and himself with really enjoying it! After that session many students recognised us on our journey into school, greeting us positively by shouting "hello teacher!" just as they do to frequent, long term volunteers such as Nick and Loll. By our second week at school the rain and puddles were no longer an issue and the heat was eased by water from the friendly stall at the school. An even better way of dealing with the heat was stopping for a deliciously sweet sugar cane drink to revive us on our way home, which we felt was thoroughly deserved at the end of the day!

We both busied ourselves with our separate voluntary work and found our hours at the school flying by! Steve had his eye on any electrical work and maintenance he could do from the start and was soon commenting on what was already in place with "well, it works...but..."! Once he received specific instructions from Sarin a trip to an electrical wholesaler in the centre of Siem Reap was in order; what a contrast from the usual tourist areas that was as we tried to get the tools and parts necessary for the best price possible, bargaining next to the local electricians! I thought I'd feel guilty having fun with company in the classroom whilst Steve did sweaty manual work, but he was rarely alone when rewiring fans and lights. Over our last couple of weeks at the school children crowded round him during their breaks, trying to hold wires or pass him tools as they said hello and asked him his name. I'm sure this all really helped Steve focus on the electrical work in hand!

Of course, this inquisitive friendliness was not just due to the novelty of an English guy up a ladder in and around their classrooms! I lost count of the amount of children who asked me - individually, as well as in a whole class chorus - my name, how I was and how old I was during their English lessons. My daily work with Sineth - a new and typically enthusiastic teacher - allowed me to be with the same classes each week and it was lovely getting to know the children and seeing the development of their English skills as we worked our way through sections of the valued 'Way Ahead' TEFL textbook. A typical lesson includes songs with lively actions and plenty of speaking and listening opportunities, so it far exceeded my expectations of textbook based work! Sineth started teaching longer English lessons at the same time as I started volunteering so together we worked on how to make the most of this extended opportunity for learning. These lessons were for 'off hours' students so technically optional, but each day between 30 and 45 students showed up for extra English! Sineth was out of his comfort zone with 90 minute lessons and I was out of my comfort zone with younger EAL students, but together we experimented with more developed tasks, increased writing time and activities that got the students working in pairs or in small groups. I showed Sineth some of the phonetic and visual strategies that I use with younger or less able students in England and encouraged Sineth to have a go at student-led activities and games.

The children loved questioning each other, playing guessing games with new English phrases and had a good go at working for longer periods without a teacher leading them - this was a time when I really saw how supportive they are of each other as peers regularly helped each other with words or phrases they were unsure of. Sineth began to really enjoy the longer lessons and we both noticed the excellent opportunity they provide for consolidating the learning of new English language.

I really hope to keep in touch with The Spitler School through this blog (and Facebook!) as just a month volunteering there has had quite an impact on both Steve and I. What a fantastic place of enthusiastic teachers, friendly families, dedicated volunteers and students who love to learn English!

A month of volunteers.

One of the joys of being long term volunteers here is the relationships we have with other volunteers coming out. Recently we had the arrival of Olympians keen to share the message of keeping fit with children in both schools. Though they weren’t around for long we managed to catch up with them in town and share some ideas. At the same time we were lucky enough to have Carly arrive, fresh from her travels around China and Vietnam. Nick and I were able to meet up with Carly, and her partner, Steve, near Birmingham a few months before. They had been in touch with Michael Horton at ConCERT Cambodia and he had pointed them in our direction. We are always keen to welcome native English teachers of high quality, and having trained at Worcester University, as I had, we knew she would be a safe pair of hands! She and Steve worked some sessions in the library, reading, speaking and getting the children to listen. Soon Carly found her niche working with Sineth on a regular basis and exploring different methods of teaching.

 Sineth found the opportunity of team teaching with an experienced teacher and teacher trainer really helpful but challenging.  Cycling each day to school proved equally challenging for Carly and Steve, especially as the floods hadn't entirely disappeared for the first week or so. However they gamely persevered - and we reminded ourselves that these youngsters were facing nothing compared to our trips through flooded fields of a year ago.  So no sympathy there, then!

Steve an experienced electrician meanwhile had been given a list of jobs to do around the Spitler school campus and we caught occasional glimpses of him balancing on top of chairs – or even step-ladders – with wire cables in his mouth and metres of new, sturdier wire looping behind him.  Things are certainly beginning to look neater around parts of the campus, and many of the joins in the wiring have now been replaced with continuous, safer and more efficient lengths.   

This weekend we will wish them bon voyage as they set off for Thailand, Laos and India. As they have six more months travelling they hope to get to know much more of South East and South Asia. They are already exploring dates and ways of returning to Siem Reap  and our schools sometime in the future. 

As it happens a previous volunteer, Kim, is returning this weekend from Vietnam. He has settled into a journalism job in Hanoi after volunteering in Hue. As his parents are good friends of ours back in Saltburn it will be great to catch up with him and report back that he is indeed eating well and looking fine.

Edith Cowen University Trainee Nurses

Another project that has taken quite a lot of organising is the arrival of ten trainee nurses for two weeks. In collaboration with Billy Gorter at This Life Cambodia, Jim and Loll have helped build a schedule that takes each student into both our schools morning and afternoons to encourage good hygiene practices. They are also attending local clinics where conditions can be very basic for the poorest of the poor in our area. We have been heartened to see how well our hygiene aides have been doing in their jobs since their appointments last December. Regular classroom checks are made, hands – and sometimes even clothes - washed, and advice given. They also grapple with the perennial problem of head lice (not unknown in the West, either!), and have developed some effective methods which involve pounding special leaves and then soaking the powder in water before applying to the head.  Sounds pretty effective.

Zoe, Georgia and Kelly work with the Spitler staff.

The nurses have spent some of their time working with the admin staff and the Hygiene Aides, showing them how to wash their hands effectively, clean wounds and deal with broken limbs or snake bites.  They then did sessions with some of the children dealing with similar matters and stressing the importance of good habits – for instance in regular teeth cleaning.  It was most encouraging to see the response of the children to the question of ‘Who cleans their teeth with a toothbrush?’ (100%), but we became a little more suspicious when they all chanted – in unison – that they cleaned their teeth three times a day, usually spending 5 to 9 minutes in the process each time. A cursory glance at the children’s teeth – and the amount of sweets that they consume – would suggest that their responses were, at best, disingenuous!

A grade 4 pupil demonstrates how to manage a broken arm.

 Over at Kurata another group of trainee nurses worked with staff and children on a similar programme.  Here are some shots of Ross, Liberty and Kellie at work. First demonstrating teeth-cleaning techniques:

 And here a song to entertain our visitors:

They later went into a Grade 2 classroom where Soeu Savang (the hygiene aide) and other teachers helped to deliver the teeth-cleaning message and a toothbrush each.

One of the highlights of the visit was to work alongside the interpreter, Kan. He has worked really hard at listening to what the nurses have tried to convey and then delivering it with a big smile to the listening Khmers. Not only does he translate the grunts and groans uttered to indicate stomach- or toothe-ache from Oz to Khmer (including appropriate facial expressions), he also told the children to be sure to clean their teeth with fish-paste. This got a hilarious reaction from the kids, and Kan insisted on using the same gag with the next group. Not all things translate, however - and we still have no idea what the leaves were that Savang uses to treat head lice or what 'chalk' is also used for a similar purpose.

Soeu Savang

Soeu Savang, the Hygiene Aide at Kurata school, has been working in this role for nearly a year now.  Loll first met her when she attended her morning sewing group (preparing material for the English teachers) and was immediately struck by her speed in picking up new ideas, her winning smile - and her delightful baby.  So when it came to selecting a person to take on the newly-created role of school 'nurse' - Hygiene Aide - she was an obvious choice. 

Savang is 28 years old, married with three children, two of whom go to Kurata school.  She was born in Ang Chagn village and went to Srey Thom school until 6th Grade when her father died and she had to leave to help out at home.  She was married in a lavish ceremony when she was 18 and has continued to live in the village.

Her duties include keeping the toilets and surrounding area clean, cutting children's nails, checking hair and clothing for cleanliness and also performing first aid on minor cuts and bruises.  She was a very keen participant in the trainee nurse training session and also showed the Australians a few local cures for illnesses and head lice. It has certainly made a big difference having Savang working a few hours at Kurata and with Kangna performing a similar role at Spitler school.  Hygiene - we have to constantly remember - is a life-saver in this country.  And simple hand-washing techniques help to avoid the spread of dangerous and sometimes fatal diseases.  Judging by the furious scrubbing that goes on in the wash room, even when children haven't just come from a training session, the message seems to be getting through.

 

Danny and Pam Arrive

Even before the arrival of Danny and Pam Spitler, for their first visit since 2011 to the school they helped found with Chea Sarin, the school was filling up with parents and villagers as well as children from the afternoon session.  Many of the children - some in their bright football kit after a successful match - were lining the approach road to the school while those children not outside the gates were sitting patiently (well, fairly ...) at their desks in the compound.

Curious villagers also crowded round the entrance to watch the spectacle of the arrival of the couple, preceded by a beaming and very proud Sarin.

Once everyone was inside the school compound and and the Commune Chief had arrived the speeches began, most of them being translated for us by Sarin and our English teachers.  Can't say we got every word - but we certainly caught the gist.  The highlight of the ceremony was however - and inevitably - the performances from the school Dance Troupe who demonstrated the beauty, poise and grace of traditional Khmer Dance.  This was certainly true of the girls who performed first and maintained the expressionless faces required by this style of dance with impeccable discipline.  The boys, when they joined in, certainly attempted the same level of sophisticated poise as the girls, but their broad grins showed that they felt much like young boys the world over when dancing in public with girls.  Anyway - everyone thoroughly enjoyed the routines, and the girls failed delightfully to maintain their non-smiling faces when faced with the determined attempts of the boys to remember all their steps.

A bit of relief here as the boys leave the performance area.



The school children always thoroughly enjoy watching the dancing - as you can see from these photos.

A special mention must also go to the sound system, sitting on the trailer of a local 'tractor'.  At about half the size of the system you might find at a local wedding, this one was still powerful enough to entertain most of the village of Ang Chagn for the morning.

 After the formal ceremonies and dancing came a question and answer session between the parents of children in Spitler and Kurata school and Sarin and Danny.  As Jim later pointed out, apart from the setting and climate, this could have been a Q & A session from any parent teacher evening in the US or UK.  The same concerns were there: safety of children getting to school on uneven tracks; the desire for more time to be spent teaching English; worries over children being sent home if a teacher was absent and so on.  But also plenty of praise from very vocal and articulate parents who are pleased with the schools and proud of their children's' achievements.

Some final images from the afternoon

And just to remind us where we are - here's a final photograph taken, not in the school, but on the main road home in Siem Reap: three guys on a moto carrying a large sheet of glass: We held our breath!

Life, the Universe and some Dedicated Teachers

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.

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.

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.

Tuk tuk drivers practise their English and are happy to try their luck asking if we want to go out to Angkor Wat at every turn. People operating at the many massage places will ask time and again if we want a massage, and the Doctor Fish operators still are friendly and chat despite not having our toes tickled by their mini piranhas! We hear how hard recent times have been for some and the hopes for making some money in the high season. We are greeted by old friends in restaurants, guest houses and shops who genuinely remember us from many months ago.

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!!

Floods, Clinics and Teachers

Every morning we wake up, often after a night of torrential rain, to wonder if school is operating as usual now the term has really begun.  The Pchum Ben festival finished on Sunday and school re-opened on Monday (having managed one day's tuition in the previous week!) Of course, we shouldn't have worried.  Apart from Sineth, whose house was flooded out and his moto under water by the river, all teachers managed to get into school, even if they had to wade from their houses to their transport.  The school is reasonably accessible, although the 'river' that runs through it, and over which many of the houses are built, is very high and providing some excellent, though possibly dangerous, swimming opportunities to the children.

The school is up and running and full of lively children.  The high water levels throughout Siem Reap and around the school allow for the expression of one of the deepest passions of Cambodians: fishing.  All along the river banks you will find young and old with rudimentary fishing rods hovering hopefully over the water, and - with more ambition - groups of men, waste deep pulling large nets through the water.  Even at the gates to the school we find one young man trying his luck!

The English programme is back in full swing, although the imminent introduction of a government programme to teach English to grades 4,5 and 6 will no doubt have an impact on what we do.  We have prided ourselves on the breadth of the Spitler programme, especially as we have also started to work with the youngest children - those who are in the kindergarten, a grade not found in government primary schools.  Occasionally we - and the teachers - worry about how effective our teaching of these tiny children is, especially as class sizes in kindergarten can be huge,  I don't think we need to worry.  Here's a group of Grade 1 children (last year's kindy) who gathered around me yesterday and insisted on showing me their expertise in English.  Not bad eh - and congratulations to the English teachers for persevering!

New Volunteers

Carly and Steve, our new volunteers from England, have just arrived after some serious travelling through parts of South East Asia and Cambodia.  Carly is a very experienced and highly qualified English teacher and Steve is a fully qualified electrician. There will be plenty of work for both of them to do!  We  paid a brief visit to Kurata school to meet up with Vebol, ask after his son, and see how things were running here.  Ratha is still, of course, enthusiastically running the English programme , and making sure that all classes are getting extra tuition. 

 

 

The grounds of the school, though a little submerged at present, are looking good - and we were particularly impressed with the floral decorations around the toilet area!

 

 

We were also delighted to see that the library is now fully functional here, as Sophat and Vebol (the  Principal and administrator) now have their own office. The children here do not need any encouragement to come into the library and settle down with a book - so long as there are plenty of pictures.

Teacher Profile

Khorn Sineth is our newest English teacher, and he has been working at Spitler School for about a year now.  Although he had little experience as a teacher before coming to Spitler, he has developed really well and the children clearly enjoy his lessons, as well as making good progress in their English.  Sineth is still a student at Build Bright University in Siem Reap and is in his third year training to be a a Teacher of English as a Foreign Language.  He was born in a little village about 35 km from Siem Reap, called Prey Chrouck Village and while in Siem Reap he lives with his brother, who is also a teacher. 

Clinic Soa Num 2 October

 

Loll, Jim and Sarin have been meeting with the local clinic director in order to help coordinate the arrival of some nursing students from Australia who will be spending some time in Siem Reap learning about medical practices in a part of the world where health care is extremely basic.  They will also be spending some time with us at the schools, providing - we hope - some basic health care training. 

The clinic, which is quite near Angkor Wat, is also pretty basic, with a rather severe birthing bed and a recovery suite with double beds for the mothers and their new-born babies to lie on.

The clinic caters for six remote and very poor villages with a total population of 8158. Most people are in the lowest poverty groups of 1 and 2 and they receive free care. Others will be charged on a scale that is clear.  The most common problems are breathing difficulties, diarrhoea, cholera, TB, Malaria, Dengue Fever, stomach problems, skin infections, insect bites, parasites and itching. Women also give birth and are looked after afterwards at the clinic.