We just finished two weeks of volunteering in Cambodia and I think it will be one of the most memorable parts of the whole trip. It was such an educational experience for us all and also such a privilege to be welcomed into a local Cambodian school community so warmly.

The volunteering idea started as we were planning our itinerary and we knew we wanted at least some part to involve giving back to a country we were visiting. It’s not easy however to find volunteering opportunities for full families abroad and it was pretty nerve-wracking to figure out how to evaluate what was out there. I was lucky to stumble upon an organization called International Volunteer HQ (IVHQ) which matches you with volunteer project opportunities all over the world. IVHQ handles all of the organization and admin, and they partner with local non-profits for the volunteer work itself. Working with IVHQ took away all of the anxiety of planning an experience like this for the kids, which I sooo appreciated. (And no, I’m not being paid for this endorsement!!)

We were matched with the local-Cambodian non-profit/NGO organization, Cambodia Volunteer Foundation (CVF) who selected two volunteer assignments for us in Battambang, a small, non-touristy city in the north-west of Cambodia. We had a day of training with CVF and started right into our assignment the next day.

Our main volunteer project was teaching English to children ages 3-13 at the Ptek Teuk Dong International School (“Coconut House” school). The school is run by a non-profit organization and about half of the kids are underprivileged and attend the school for free. For most kids, it’s a half-day English program that compliments their schooling at a government-run Khmer school for the other half day. Very focused on social justice, uniforms are provided for example, so all kids feel like they belong. Knowledge of English is considered an incredibly important factor for career opportunities in Cambodia and kids unfortunately learn so little English in the government school system. The wealthy send their kids to private schools, so this school provides a great opportunity for kids whose families could not otherwise afford English education. The school has very few resources, but the teachers make up for it with their hard work and creativity – they are truly amazing in the effort and passion that they show towards the students. It’s incredible.

Steve and I would each join a separate class to assist a teacher and were asked to teach lessons on our own right from day one. Our kids always joined in on the teaching and were incredibly helpful – I always used them to first demonstrate what I was asking because the students had limited understanding of my English, but could follow demonstrated activities really easily. Steve generally took on the teaching of the older kids, teaching more advanced concepts in English, while I generally stayed with the younger kids, teaching lots of songs, game and even a dance, in addition to simple English language reading and writing.

The students at the school were wonderful. They were friendly, warm, welcoming and so engaged in learning. We were always greeted with a “hello teacher” or “hello brother” (in the case of our kids) and students would never pass by us without a smile or a hello. It felt like joining a big family, I got hugs all day long. The students were SO interested in learning English and on many occasions even stayed with us through recess to do extra English practice or have more books read to them. It was especially fun for Lucas who was the same age as many students and they welcomed him as a friend from day one. When we were with the level 1 class, Lucas participated right alongside the students and his favourite part was playing pick up soccer with the boys at recess! On the last day today we were showered with cut-out hearts covered in sweet messages from the students, and they performed a dance we had taught them – so heartwarming 🙂 .

It’s hard to make an impact in two weeks, but I do hope we imparted some English knowledge to the students, or at least a bit of an ear for English from native speakers. I do however see how a steady stream of English speaking volunteers, assisting in the classrooms, could make a big difference. There aren’t enough volunteers however, so please do spread the word, and let me know if you are interested!!

Thank you Ptek Teuk Dong school for sharing your school with us! So many photos to share…. click for larger versions.

At the end of each afternoon at the day school, we went back to our guesthouse to teach one more hour of English. The family who own the guesthouse are very focused on building up their community. They host English classes for the local community kids for free, each day after their full day at school. About 50 kids attend, divided into three levels. The classes are taught by university students who are sponsored by this family to learn English at a local institution and in return, they are asked to teach these free English classes. Quite an impactful initiative.

Steve and I each worked with a large group of teenagers who were so enthusiastic and fun to teach. We assisted the existing teachers, but in many cases, we took the lessons over completely. We covered much more complex English concepts than we did with the younger kids in the day school and it reminded me of how hard English is to learn and teach. Take these example sentence variations and think about how you’d explain the grammatical logic:

• “I will phone you tomorrow”
• “I will phone you in one day”
• “I will phone you at 7pm tomorrow”
• “I will phone you on Saturday (i.e. tomorrow)”
• “I will phone you in the evening”
• “I will phone you at night”

Eek, not easy. For this case, I explained rules in English, and then the other teacher translated the lesson into Khmer, but still it was hard for them to remember how it all worked. I think the solution is lots of exposure to native English speakers to start being able to hear more of what sounds right and what doesn’t, but that’s rare in Cambodia unfortunately.

Nicholas and Lucas joined me in teaching my class. Nicholas enjoyed spending time with kids his age, and Lucas loved the attention he garnered from the older kids. Lucas excitedly played a game of hide and seek with the students at the beginning of each class. Zachary helped Steve with his class and enjoyed being the expert in front of the whiteboard with kids his age. The teachers and students were so kind, and I think enjoyed the variety and new-ness that our presence brought to the class, along with our native English expertise. On our last day today the teacher brought in some food so we could have a little party, and each of the students wrote us a nice thank you note. SO nice.

Volunteering in Cambodia was so rewarding for us and I hope we helped out a little bit too – we feel very lucky to have had the time and means to do this. If you want to hear more, reach out, as I’ve got lots of recommendations to share.

We’ve also had a chance to see lots of the sights in the area, and next week is Angkor Wat and surrounding temples. I’ll chat about it all in my next blog post.