Heart Shaped Country Full of Big Hearts For Change
Trip Start
Mar 21, 2006
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49
55
Trip End
Oct 05, 2008
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Battambang,
Cambodia
Thursday, September 11, 2008
The six hour boat rode through Tonle Sap Lake, which is Asia's largest freshwater lake, was truly a day to remember. Not only because it is where Amanda and I ran into each other but, viewing the literally floating villages all along the water was amazing. We would pass through very small corridors and have to duck down on the upper deck as to not get tree branches in our eyes and just as we thought we were in the middle of nowhere (which we sort of were), another village literally floating would appear again. Fishing is clearly the primary livelihood for these villagers and nearly every second along the ride the kids would wave at our boat and smile and say hello and we would do the same back. The children in this country are so adorable, and have a genuine curiosity about us "strange looking tourist."
On Monday afternoon Amanda and I headed to a village called Slarkram 7 km south of Battambang to teach English. I had heard about these after school English classes from a fellow PCV from the Philippines (Ian), who passed through here last month and discovered the opportunity. One dedicated and active community member, Narath in June 2007, started these daily after school English classes for local village children. He began by teaching 30 students himself over one year and after that selected the best amongst them to be volunteer teachers at the school. Nearly all of these volunteer teachers (ranging in age from 18- 25) are still in school themselves, but have a passion for teaching and helping their fellow students. Currently there are nearly 340 students that attend these evening classes and many of them ride for nearly 5 km on their bicycles to get there each evening. The families that can afford pay a small fee and those that can't are still able to attend the school, many thanks to the tourist that pass through and stay for a while or even an afternoon (as we did) and make a small donation. The highlight of spending the afternoon/early evening with the students was entering the elementary aged classroom and being blown away with the strong greeting we received. Nearly 30 (who could not have been older then seven years old) students yelled "WELCOME TO CAMBODIA" with their big smiles right a we entered the classroom and then instantly started laughing when Amanda and I introduced ourselves. I of course could not resist the opportunity to lead an icebreaker with a room full of children. So before we went to the next classroom we lead a round of head, shoulders, knees and toes, which was a huge success! I think the kids spent more time laughing then learning the song, but you could tell by the massive smiles on their face, and the exuberant farewell waves we received as leaving, that they so enjoyed interacting with two Americans.
When we initially arrived to the village we sat in front of Narath's home (that serves as a local eatery) and he shared with us some of his very close to home gruesome stories of what village life was like during the Khmer Rouge. Both of his grandfathers were considered "dangerous" in the eye of the Khmer Rouge because one was a doctor and the other a policeman. As some of you may now during the despotic regime of Pol Pot anyone with intellectual knowledge (i.e.: doctors, teachers, those with formal education) we brutally murdered. As we sat literally meters away from where one of his grandfathers was murdered, he described to us how it happened. Catty-corner to their home was a Khmer Rogue post and one evening they called his grandfather over saying that one of the soldiers needed medical assistance. When he entered the home he was instantly blindfolded and his hands we pulled far back behind is body. He managed to struggle for an escape but as he hopped out the window and ran for cover in his house (right where I sat) a child soldier shot at him from a distance and he died instantly.
With tears welling in both Narath's eyes and our he also told us of how is father was holding him in his arms as a child, while hiding behind their house from a Khmer Rouge invasion. His father was shot in the head and luckily survived but the bullet had been logged in his head until 2003 when it fell out. His father is blessed to still be alive but continues to suffer from epileptic seizures to this day and has reduced speech. Even amongst all this sadness and history of brutal senseless war (I don't think there has ever been a sensible war) Narath is an inspiration to his village and country working with almost nothing to educate the future of Cambodia. Which is a country attempting to re-build after the world's largest ignored genocide! Narath and many of the other Cambodian's I met and various NGO's in Battambang are the future of their country and are taking this responsibility to heart and working amongst huge odds of continued government corruption and local nay-Sayers to re-build their country, it is truly inspiring!
Hope you are well and all my love,
Sherry
PS: As you will see in my pictures I also visited two NGOs in the Battambang Area here I a brief detail of the work they are doing and their web-sites
1) Phare Ponleu Selpak-, which means "the brightness of art", began in 1986 at a refugee camp (Soi 2) on the Thai border. It started as simple drawing classes to help refugee youth attempt to overcome the trauma of the war they had been living, through creative expression. They now school over 1,200 students in the arts ranging from visual, traditional Khmer Music studies, drama, circus and a very impressive animation studio. The students there are making film fro various NGO's working in the country about access to safe water and anti-human trafficking educational movies.
www.phareps.org
2) Ptea Teuk Dong- is a center for Street Families in the Battambang area. It is a local Cambodian NGO and was founded in 1994. They provide homes for street families, social workers are on site to deal with the varied issues of the youth at the center (ranging from sexual abuse to neglect) as well as train the families in livelihoods with the eventual goal of re-integration back to the city but with a trade they can live on. The organization is in a bit of a transition phase as they change international donors, (struggling with sustainability of project beyond funds) but many of the street children are still making their beautiful woven products and furniture.
www.PTDCambodia.org
