Hallelujah. Progress!

Where did the time disapear to … ?  February was filled with a constellation of events and activities.

Singing the National Anthem

In early February we had The Annual Congress Conference where all directors from the 5 districts together with Education NGO’s gathered to share their findings for the year.   The three common denominators:  provide more money for schools, improve road conditions and encourage regular attendance both from teachers and students.   That is everyone seemed to agree that more money was needed in the rural schools to improve the quality of education in resources and in training.  Build better roads for easier access to schools -to reach the teachers and children.  Added to this, everyone felt that it was necessary for the ministry of education (from top down) to take serious measures with attendance.  In other words to continue to encourage both teachers and students attend school regularly – especially those teachers who teach in schools that are in isolated areas and are hard to reach. 

The Minister of Education addressing the directors

Ironically, a week after the Annual Congress Conference took place, the Minister of Education (from Phnom Penh) came to visit one of the ‘model’ schools in the village.  He also came to talk to directors about the new ‘5 -year strategic education plan’ to improve the quality of teaching throughout Cambodia.  He promised that more money would be spent on Education and that teacher’s salaries will be raised over a period of 5 years.  Another key issue that the minister of education raised was the relevancy for the Multilingual Education programme that is presently being implemented in Mondolkiri and Ratanakiri Provinces.  He wanted to ensure that there was a continued focus on ‘minority inclusion’ in the two main northern eastern domains.

Other news, The Chinese New Year was a big event throughout Cambodia.  Here in MDK everyone was busy with their comings and goings in preparing for the big day.  The two Korean girls who occasionally share the office with us (6 colleagues and I) prepared a big dinner for us all – the education staff.  The main meal consisted of ‘Kimchi’  a traditional fermented Korean main dish made with vegetables and a variety of seasonings described as spicy and sour.  We also had Chinese rice wine to greet the New Year in.

A new teacher who teaches with her baby

Kevin and Tralore went south, to Sihanoukville, to enjoy the warmer weather. (Tralore had a week off holiday with her school and Kevin joined her for the week).   As for me, we conducted more workshops, this time with directors, at the main education complex.  We also had follow-ups and observations in the school villages.  We were pleasantly surprised to find that teachers from a new set of village schools, who were trained a few weeks ago, were present and prepared, even when we came unannounced!  Teachers welcomed the feedback that we gave them.  They appreciated the comments as well as the guidance and even asked for more.  They said that the feedback was extremely useful for their own professional development and with their teaching  ...   Hallelujah. Progress!    

Others however, were absent.  One school was closed.  I was disappointed. 

More to come at a later date ….

A morning with Sophek

Sophek preparing a meal for her family

This morning I paid a visit to Sopheak’s house.  Sopheak was my Khmer 101 language teacher when we first arrived here in Mondolkiri and, who came highly recommended by other VSO volunteers. However, I stopped taking lessons from her because I increasingly became busy with my work and, I felt, at that time, that I wasn’t progressing much with my Khmer 101 lessons.    More to the point, I wasn’t putting it into practice!  

Since I last saw her, last March 2014, Sopheak had called me several times for a visit, for dinner and to think about taking Khmer lessons with her again.  Guilt began to creep in, I hadn’t seen her for almost a year and so I thought it was time for a visit.  

Of course, as per usual we were overjoyed to see each other and, Sopheak as always, greeted me with a cup of tea.  Her smiley 4-year-old son Leidai had grown considerably.  While Sopheak and I talked, Leidai was testing his new bow and arrow that his father had recently made for him.   He ran around the garden and in the two chicken compounds shooting his blunt arrow at banana trees and at anything that moved, until his mother suggested to practice his archery skills elsewhere.   Leidai soon gave the idea up and joined us in our conversation.

Ph'nong children walking to the market to sell their produce

Tea in hand, and Leidai leaning against his mother, Sopheak told me that she was busy everyday with the avocado season, and, weekends were no exception.  She began her day at daybreak, at 5 in the morning to buy avocados from the Pn’óng farmers who traveled every morning on foot, approximately 25 kilometers to the Ph’nong market .    At the end of each week, Sophek loaded her avocados in large crates for shipment to Phnom Penh and to Vietnam, evidently selling them for a higher fee than she had originally bought them for. Though, aware of high competition with other vendors, Sophek emphasized the importance of supporting the Ph’nong people and, if they were times the buying was poor it didn’t matter to her, as long as the Ph’nong people were paid a small commission for their hard day’s work.

Onward and upward with her day, typically by the time Sopheak arrived home from the market, her husband Sophal, her 15 year old daughter Lyn and her son Leidai awoke to her call for breakfast.   When Sophal left for work and Lynn for school, Sopheak spent her morning home schooling Leidai.  

During my visit with her, bright and early that crispy Saturday morning, Sopheak proudly showed me around her 'organic' vegetable garden, her passion fruit vines hanging abundantly on her trellis, her strawberry patch, her chickens who shared their space with turkeys and, her pigeons on the hill, some protecting their young.   She also pointed to the eggs that were sat on day and night for 21 days by mother hen and, to her chicks that were pecking the ground searching for bugs, Leida remarked .  

Pumping water from the well

Next, she excitedly pointed to her new house standing high on the hill, in the sunlight that was under construction.  Her present house metres away from her new one was being demolished for the wood, for the building materials that Sophal planned to use for his new (two-storey high) house.   Sophek announced that she couldn’t wait to move in, mostly for the view.  However, it maybe awhile before it’s completed, because her husband only had weekends to work on the house.   

While we continued touring the garden, Sopheak and Leidai watered the plants while sampling 'unripe' strawberries along the way.   They also, fed the chickens with ‘home made ‘rice meal mixed with water.  Sophek made a point of telling me that her chickens were free range and well fed.  However, they were unusually smaller than the chickens at the market because her chickens were not injected with hormones.

Fresh eggs

As I was about to leave, escorting me to the (light weight) bamboo gate, Sopheak gave me a bag of fresh eggs and declared that her eggs were rich in texture: the yolks were a deep orange, they were tastier and meatier than the eggs from the market.  We hugged, and I promised that I’d visit her and her family a little more often;  clearly to chat, to pick up more Khmer from her and to taste her delicious cooking. Oh yes, we had already made plans to attend a mutual friend's wedding together the following weekend.

Since I last saw Sopheak, her avocado, her vegetable-fruit garden and poultry business had expanded.  Aside from her ongoing avocado enterprise, more people were buying from her, especially her eggs and passion fruit.    

Sophal, with his perfect English was now manager of an NGO.  In fact, the whole family spoke ‘impeccable’ English.   Lyn was doing much better at school as a result of receiving private lessons.   Leida was enjoying home schooling and undivided time with his mother.  Though this is only a small window of the life of Sophek, all in all she seemed happy to do as she pleased in a now ‘free’ nation, where people were left alone for the first time, in more than a decade.

More Later …

More of here and there

- and everywhere

Milk-apple tree

The dry season is now in full swing.  The wind, the dust is here to stay.  Though today seems to be a little different, the wind has (temporarily) shifted to the east.  Hence, the sky is unusually crystal clear with sun rays pouring through.  There isn’t a trace of smoke anywhere.  Birds are chirping - bouncing from branch to branch – some are bouncing from one electrical line to another showing off their yellow, white, grey -bluish coats.  There’s a black crested bird peering at our verandah to tell us that he’s returned to his usual spot, to tell us that he’s pleased to be back, now that the construction at the 'petite' clinic is done - at least for now!   Down below, in front of us, cows walk along the road in a straight line although some go astray heading for the field.    Children run in between them attempting to push them aside to climb the milk-apple tree and to sample the fruit that are now in season. 

Multilingual Education - Two Bunong children

Our gaze is soon interrupted when the landlord and landlady tell us that they will be away on an overnight trip to Kho Niek to visit their son.   They have asked us to keep an eye on their house: their petite clinic and spa.  Of course, we smile, nod, shake hands and secretly wonder in delight, ‘if, during their absence, there’s a possibility of ‘risking’ a good night sleep without the disturbance   of loud noises (from the spa) travelling through the cracks of our bedroom floorboards?’

Both December and January came and went with a flash.  This always happens.   

Co-teaching at one of the village schools

In early December we had an Annual Volunteer Conference in Phnom Penh where all VSO volunteers in Cambodia met to share their experiences in their field.  Two of my close colleagues and I did a presentation on ‘Where we work – what we do” and more.   We talked about some ‘hot’ issues around education, the successes, the milestones and of course the never ending topic: the 'challenges' that always seems to be on everyone’s mind.

Training in one of the village schools

During the month of December and January, we (my translator and I) had training sessions with teachers, both at various education sites in the villages and, at Technical Thursday Meetings that are usually held the last Thursday of every month.  We also visited several schools in the villages to observe lessons, co-teach, design programmes with teachers and more.   Teachers on average are eager to learn, welcome new ideas and are able to implement what they’ve learned in the classroom.   It’s a treat to witness both teachers and children pick up the concept easily and to see that they are genuinely having fun in the process.   It's equally delightful to watch children giggle shyly and clap when someone has given an answer – particularly the right answer at that. 

Bunong children enjoying their lesson

January has been a month where our daughter came to see us, and as a result juggling work with having fun was a bit hard for me as I’m easily destructed by the fun part.   However, Léah did come to the villages with me to meet teachers, students and to see some of the things I do.  Oh yes, she also learned to ride my motorbike and was a natural …  Anie this is for you.  I’m afraid that I haven’t yet mastered the motorbike nor am I the queen of Mondolkiri - not yet.  Just maybe – Just maybe one day it will happen. I will definitely keep you posted. 

More later ...