What a difference a board makes...

When I first arrived at the school in Little Po and was given my class to take away and teach I was most surprised when the children lead me to their classroom which is in fact a shaded area on the grounds of the pagoda, when we got to this spot the children proceeded to be seated on the floor in silence with their expectant faces and me stood before them. Immediate thoughts were 'oh pants, this is it, take the floor its time to teach!'.

I had absolutely no teaching materials, no board, no handouts, no pens, board to write on nothing, this was indeed the same for all of the classes. It was very clear immediately that in order for teaching at this 'school' to improve we needed classroom equipment pdq!

First few purchases were as follows:
White board and markers, these have already made such difference as they give the classroom a real class feel, teaching can be interactive making it a more enjoyable experience for all, the volunteers were so pleased when they arrived and their big comments, the whiteboards are a god send, they make such a difference. The children are fantastic and help wheel out the board across the village and then back again at the end of the class.

Charts, visuals, text books, stationary

Usually the children if lucky are equipped with either an individual chalkboard and piece of chalk or a plain exercise book with a biro, this does not make for good learning, as you can see they were so pleased with their very basic stationary and visuals. The world map was brilliant especially with them always asking where we [volunteers] were from.

Although they are nowhere close to being a fully equipped school they are that little step closer and most importantly these new items will help improve their learning.

A colour printer and scanner

At first I appreciate that this might sound like a bit of an indulgent purchase, but what if I told you that most of these children had never had photographs of themselves and were most excited at seeing pictures of themselves on the cameras of volunteers and that the volunteers will be using the printer to print off the photographs taken of the children at school and worksheets etc, would you still think it was an indulgent purchase?

A couple of ducks and a goat...

Yes that's right we bought two ducks and a goat for the farm at the orphanage. The ducks will be good for by way of egg suppliers and the goat for milk which the children seldom get to drink.

Spoilt for choice!

In addition to the above the children received fruit, milk, biscuits, individual stationary, flip flops and not forgetting the trip to GFC.



Amazing how much a tuk tuk can carry...

Treats given out at Little PO

Treats given out at NFO

All of the above has been possible thanks to all of your very kind and generous donations. I assure you have made such a difference to these children albeit in what may seem like a small way but we must not forget Rome was not built in a day.

x

Manic Monday

Monday 13th February

My first port of call today was the market to buy flavoured milk drinks and fruit for all of the children, circa 250, or so I thought...

The chosen fruit today was satsumas because it's not something the children would get to eat often because it is expensive and seen as an exotic fruit here. The reason I got flavoured milk was because they do not drink very much milk, if at all.

My fellow volunteers Jacky, Leo and I gave out the satsuma and milk to what we had thought was going to be approximately 50 children at Ban Mau, but in fact it turned out that there were about 90 children! The reason for this is because when the other children from the village who are not able to go to school due to having to go to work could see that the school children were being given these things one by one the school soon started to fill up, but asking ask them to leave or refusing to give them anything was not an option.

Thankfully I had the satsumas and milk for the orphanage with me and so we managed to ensure that each child received a milk carton and satsuma each with the exception of two boys.  When I realised that we were short of two cartons of milk I was horrified.  If this had happened in the UK then somebody would have quickly gone to the closest shop and picked up what they were short of. This was not at all possible because the schools are based in a village where the local village shops sell only a few items and the flavoured milk or plain milk even is not readily available and is something that as surprising as it may sound is something very few children if any will have had before. To say that I felt awful that two of the children did not get any milk doesn't quite describe it. How would you feel if you had two little sad faces looking up at you because you gave all the other children a carton of milk but had none for them?? All I could do was apologise and try and make it up to them, I gave them each an extra satsuma and promised that they would get their milk tomorrow. It doesn't sound like much by way of compensation but it was all I could do at the time.

After school at Ban Mau had finished for he day the other volunteers and I went to the school at  Little Po to give the children their milk and satsuma, thankfully at this school their are four classes so given the mishap tat Ban Mau we gave out the milk and satsumas to one class at a time.

My next stop was the market to buy more milk for the children at the orphanage and then on to the orphanage to hand out the milk and satsumas.

I have never seen so many happy grateful faces upon receiving a satsuma and carton of flavoured milk, a truly humbling experience.


When I got back to the volunteer house this evening I was and in all honesty still am as I write somewhat angry and cross with myself because of the shortage at Ban Mau and how without rhyme nor reason very little these children and their families have.

When I think back to the appreciative looks and hugs I received from the children today to thank me for the milk and satsuma it really hit home once again how fortunate we are in every way.



A lot of the children here use plastic carrier bags by way of a school bag, which really isn't that unusual or uncommon, in fact as a child I have done the very same thing. However, the difference here is that a plastic bag is a precious item and is something the children really do look after as it's not so readily available and so it made perfect sense when I saw that two of the girls in class had thin plastic carrier bags with the handles tied together and had then attached a long piece of straw to the handles so that they could wear it across their body. I must admit it took a moment to realise why they had tied straw to the plastic bag but the moment I did a part of me felt so sad and the other so angry.

GFC

Last Thursday I went to GFC where they serve 'Good Fried Chicken'. If I'm honest personally speaking I couldn't quite work out what the attraction of the place was when I first came across it.When we told the children at the orphanage that we were taking them to GFC they were very excited indeed as were the staff.

GFC is the local equivalent to KFC so you might appreciate why the children were excited. If however, I told you that about 90% of the children had never been there before and the other 10% were 'lucky' enough to have been taken there once a couple of years ago I hope it will put into perspective exactly how much of treat this was for them. Given how fortunate we are, with everything that we have I can fully appreciate that it might be difficult struggle to imagine such excitement for something that most of us wouldn't give a second thought to and so I will do my best to try and relay it to you...

When we told the children that they were being taken to GFC one of the boys who goes by the name of Oliver came over to me and quietly asked 'Mina, can I have pizza?' my response was 'yes of course you can, you can have whatever you want to Oliver' to which he replied 'but pizza is so expensive, but I've never had it before, I would really like to try it'. From Oliver's body language it was very clear that he felt uncomfortable asking me this and I can't even begin to describe how it made me feel that a young boy was so conscientious and embarrassed even to ask for something that children in our society wouldn't give any thought to, let alone thinking about the cost of it.  If anything you might expect these children to make the most of this menu and pretty much ask for as much as they could get away with, however, for the children at the orphanage this could not be further from the truth and in fact the children behaved in the most opposite way.

In an attempt to be organised we asked the children to pre-order their meals and all of them with the excepton of Oliver ordered a chicken leg and chicken wing, when asked if they would like anything else they said that it would be enough for them because it was 'so expensive'. When I was told about this I made it clear that the children must have whatever they wanted and regardless of their order they were each to be given fries and a drink followed by a dessert to ensure they ate a proper meal. I would say that referring to them as 'considerate children' would be an understatement.

You will be pleased to know that the children had a fun evening and thoroughly enjoyed their Good Fried Chicken, fries, drink and a local milky rice pudding. Unfortunately Oliver did not enjoy the pizza and couldn't understand why it was so popular and so we got him some fried seafood rice! We also ordered pizza for the other children so they could taste it ...I can confirm that the chicken was the  favourite.

To give or not to give?

When I arrived at the volunteer house I got talking to some volunteers that are working at the rural schools in Takeo and have spent some time at NFO.


When I was asking about what the places were like and trying to get some ideas as to what we (that's all you kind people that have generously donated and I) could spend the money on to ensure it was spent on things that were needed and and the children would appreciate the feedback I received left me a little bothered and here is why...

I was told that the children at the orphanage were not materially short of things and they were well looked after well in comparison to the rural schools that very little. This left me with the impression that the money should be spent at the schools as opposed to the orphanage.

The orphanage is a happy home for the children and well equipped to look after, entertain and teach them all.
When I went to the school in Little Po it was clear from the moment I saw the children that they come from underprivileged backgrounds, whilst they were all clothed with footwear they were arguably in need of some feeding and a dentist, however, the children all appear to be happy and healthy.

On the one hand therefore there is one set of children who don't have the love and affection from their family but do have access to some material items but by no means are spoilt - far from it. On the other hand however, is a set of children who don't have any material items but are living with their families in a typical family environment but are doing more than that should be expected of a child. Is it fair to say one of these groups of children is better off than the other? I would argue not.

I can't even begin to imagine what life would be like without the love and support from my family, but I equally question if I had to help out on a farm and household chores would I be where I am today i.e. with the luxury of having an education to enable me to look after myself.

I don't think any of us are in a position to say that either of these groups are better off than the other; if buying a few things (NOT to the detriment of the children at the schools) will put a smile on the faces and bring some happiness to the children at the orphanage is it the wrong way to spend the donations? I decided that it wouldn't and so for starters it was flip flops all round for the children at the orphanage and let me tell you I have never seen a group of children look so happy to receive a pair of basic flip flops.

Tomorrow shopping for the orphanage and the schools continue!

Me a Teacher???

Today my day went something like this:
Got up, had breakfast, went off to the market bought 60 kilo's of of manikaro zapota aka chikoo fruit, 45 pairs of flip flops in various sizes and a dvd player, headed back for the volunteer house and then on to Little Po to assist the teachers at the school....or so I thought...

When I got to the school with the other volunteers we realised that due to one of the teachers being sick and a couple having moved on the school was short of teachers and before I knew it the dreaded words were being said out loud; 'you are just going to have to go in at the deep end' to say I was scared and nervous is an understatement, why? because if you hadn't guessed it already it meant I was going to be teaching a class all by myself!

Before I knew it I was being lead by about 20children ranging from the ages of 4 to 11 years old to 'my classroom'. I had never seen so many excitable children in a long time and yet on the opposite end of the spectrum there was I who was dreading getting to the classroom, I can honestly say if I could have dragged my feet I quite possibly might have I was that terrified.

When we got o 'my classroom' a part of me was put at ease as I was in a very informal idyllic surroundings but most importantly with children who were so eager to learn and talk to me. My classroom was on the grounds of a Buddhist temple surrounded by tree's in the middle of the village.

The children in my class were at beginner level and so I thought where better than to start with the ABC song and then on to "A" is for apple, "B" is for ball etc, the children were very good and am sure were thinking 'come on Mina fast forward, we already know this stuff' or something to that effect and so I quickly moved on to do a bit of a sing song and I have to say the kids were brilliant, they knew all the rhymes and songs I was taught and had almost forgotten at school and eve taught me one or two! The lesson ended with a  bit of test on double digits something that they had not learnt and something for me to build upon next time.

Never having taken a lesson before I can completely relate to how rewarding it is to teach children. My achievement today was teaching the children that word or he following parts of our hands; thumbs, fingers, toes and nails. When I write this I can understand how small an achievement this may come across but allow me to put it into context. These children are only able to go to school in the afternoon after they have got up helped with the household chores such as cooking, cleaning, feeding siblings and then on the farm feeding the animals and so when the children are late for school and say that they were late because they were feeding the cows that is what they have been doing, when a young girl was fighting to stay awake in my class which was not a quiet one, I knew that she was pretty exhausted carrying out the work of an adult and then getting to school to get an education.  Despite all of this the children are determined and happy to be at school and most importantly are getting an education despite the lack of any real materials or resources because all we were working with today were the children's individual chalk boards - detention for me because i didn't even have one of those...I hope I have given you some insight as to how little there is at this school, yet the children are all  able to speak some pretty decent English.

At the end of the school day we handed out the chikoo's which the children were most grateful and happy to receive.

A fun happy place...

Is how I would describe the New Fortunes Orphanage ("NFO"). From the moment I arrived the kids surrounded the tuk tuk that I had arrived in and  the greetings came flooding in with all the children saying hello shaking my hand and introducing themselves as well as wanting to know my name, where I was from, my age and much more. They are all so very welcoming and accepting which is a beautiful quality particularly given some of the things they have been through.

My first day was all about just getting a feel for the place and for me to get to know the kids just as much as it was for them to get to know me. Myself and a lady called Ami had also be forwarned about not being to alarmed if the children referred to us as 'mummy', when I was told this my heart just sank and brought home the realisation of what these chilren don't have.
When we use the word orphanage for may it has negative and sad connotations but NFO couldn't be anything further from a sad place, it is a fantastic home for the children which they all love and enjoy living in, which is very apparent from just speaking to the children for minutes.

The staff are also happy and genuinely look and seem happy to be there, they interact with the chilren as you would expect of people in a caring /paternal role. It is clear from watching them with the children that they really are one big happy family.

I am very much looking forward to the next two weeks with them and heading out to the schools and put my teaching skills to the test.

x

Ps pictures to follow t'internet is not quite up to speed ...

Nearly time to go...

As I write I have two more sleeps until I go on holiday, but it’s no ordinary trip. I am going to Takeo in Cambodia. I fly out on Saturday 4 February and after several flights and an overnight stay in Singapore I will arrive in Phnom Pehn, Cambodia on Monday morning. From the moment I land I will be hitting the ground running because this is when the holiday really begins. I will go straight to New Futures which is an orphanage in Takeo, where I will spend two weeks trying to be useful doing a few things like...


• Running the odd extra-curricular lesson like dance, music, story reading, crafts etc (suggestions welcome);
• Help out on the on site farm, this should help overcome my fear of all animals…hopefully;
• Run activities and games for the children;
• Assist or at least try to assist the children with their homework (please, please keep your fingers crossed it’s not maths) and spend time with the children on other learning activities (again all suggestion most welcome);
• Help with the general cleaning in and around the teaching areas;
• Assist with lessons; and
• Just get involved!


The orphanage currently cares for around 50 children, from the age of 8. Many of these children come from very difficult backgrounds. Often, their parents have either passed away, or are unable to care for their children due either to poverty or to their own ill health.
The orphanage provides an alternative for children in Takeo, where they can grow up in a safe, supportive and happy environment. The staff at the orphanage work to ensure that the children remain healthy and well fed, and that they have the access to education that other children in the area receive. They are cared for by a full-time orphanage manager and two support staff who between them cook, clean and look after the health and wellbeing of the children and for my time there I will be doing all I can to help.


So without further ado all that remains for me is to say, thank you so very much for your kind donations and watch this space to see what it is being spent on!


Oh one last thing, wish me luck as I am feeling just a little apprehensive and nervous.

X