Free education for 300 children in rural Cambodia

HELPING HANDS CAMBODIA

Juggling school & family responsibilities

The last three months have been full of joy and challenges here at HHC. It is traditionally an auspicious time as the rains depart and harvesting season begins, celebrated with Bon Om Tok and the Water Festival.

It has been a particularly stressful time for some of the students, as they have had to balance their state school exams and family responsibilities towards the end of the school year. At HHC we continue to offer extra learning in a fun and caring environment, and have put together some special additional projects to help keep everyone going. The farm has been rejuvenated and a new water filtration tank has been installed. The teachers have received new resources and training, while some students performed in a play, and participated in a writing workshop.

Education

In Cambodia, the academic year ended in November for most state schools. While Helping Hands remains independent, it makes sense to follow a similar calendar because the students also attend their local state schools. This means that our teachers aim to complete the material in their coursebooks and lead the students through a review and test in each of the subjects they are currently working on. They will then assess the levels of the students and adjust the placement and courses for the upcoming new school year.

It is also a good time to make adjustments to the course topics and update teaching resources. The English teachers meet regularly to discuss the progress of their students, and they are very interested in trying to bring new activities and technology into their classrooms.

Food & Farming

As the rainy season comes to an end, the land becomes more fertile, and ready for new crops to be planted. At Helping Hands, the students all work on maintaining the land around their school. They are assigned certain class times to work outside in groups, and the last Friday of every month there are no classes and everyone joins in to help with the farm.

The main caretaker of the farm is Phlong Nan, who is also one of the cooks and prepares breakfast for the students every day. We have also had a few volunteers that have come to help over the last few months. Now the farm is growing well again and with constant care it will provide herbs and vegetables that can be used in the meals. It needs a lot of attention, as any gardener will know, so we will be work hard to keep it going throughout the dry season.

Community & Social work

While we are very happy with all that has been accomplished recently, we are still aware that for many of the families we aim to support, life is a daily struggle. Our Social Worker, Voeun Kong, has been very busy meeting with parents and students for whom education can seem like a luxury that they can not afford. We try our best to encourage and motivate the students, and we can see that they remain keen to learn.

It helps to know that there is a supportive group of teachers ready to help them, as does the prospect of having new experiences that they might not find at a regular state school. For example, one of our long-term supporters recently led a series of art classes which were very popular. They made Christmas cards and rediscovered their hidden artistic ability. We were also able to once again collaborate with Writing Through, an NGO that offers creative writing workshops here in Cambodia. The students that participated shared poems, and wrote short stories about experiences in their lives that required them to take risks. One of the highlights of this year though, was surely the performance of Alice in Wonderland!