Introduction to Cambodia
The Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia. Cambodia has an area of approximately 181,035 square kilometers and a population of over 15 million. Phnom Penh is the kingdom's capital and largest city, and is the principal center for economics, industry, commerce and culture. Siem Reap, a city located near the famed ruins of Angkor Wat and gateway to the Angkor region, is Cambodia's main destination for tourism.
The effect of civil war and the horrific reign of the Khmer Rouge Regime led by Pol-Pot in the seventies almost wiped out an entire population of adult Cambodians and the intellectual elite, i.e. the
educated and the skilled. It was estimated that around 1.5 to 3 million Cambodians died from execution, forced hardships, starvation, and diseases.
Cambodia is now rapidly rebuilding its economy through tourism, garment industries, agriculture, and
construction. Yet majority of the people still live in poverty. Many Children do not have the privilege to go to school.
Over 80% of the people are Buddhists. This is a country with tremendous needs and opportunities. Thus, AGS is involved in many rebuilding projects in Cambodia. This easter in April, a group of teachers from Christian Alliance P.C.Lau Memorial International School (CAIS) will be going to Pailin, Cambodia to participate in a short-term ministry with providing training to the teachers in
Ba Huy AGS primary school.
Pailin is a remote village in Cambodia that is near the Thai Border. Because of its distance from major cities, outsiders seldom visit this area. Residences in Pailin are usually farmers with meagre income. Literacy rate is low and majority of the children do not have proper primary education.
My Dear Great Ones,
I was part of that team of teachers from CAIS that went to Cambodia on a short term mission. It was an incredible experience, and while I contributed somewhat to the mission with my efforts, I felt I got much more in return.
The team: Vinci, Elaine, Linda, Jojo (team leader) and yours truly.
Here are some impressions and observations of an incredible time:
Cambodia (The land)
Cambodia is hot all year round. And I mean sauna hot. The average temperature is over 30 every day of the year. It apparently cools off a bit in December to 28. When we were there it was above 35. The land for the most part is flat, and rather barren, much of the jungle that once covered it has been hacked down over the years for farm land and firewood. Recently the government banned this and slowly it is recovering. While parts of Cambodia is beautiful, there is lots of garbage and some rather skinny cows wandering around much of it.
Phnom Penh
We (the team and I) flew into Phnom Penh the capital and main city of Cambodia. We spent a night there before driving eight hours in a van to Pailin the main town near the school, which is located in a much smaller settlement called Bahuy. Phnom Penh now known as PP in this blog is from what I can tell an up and coming major Asian city. There are modern glass towers mixed in with fine stately buildings intermixed with slum dwellings. The traffic: mopeds, motor bikes, and Toyota Camrys (millions of them, could not believe it, from every year since the 80's) plus trucks, and rickshaw like vehicles, was crazy. They at least stopped for red lights, but once it turned green it was mayhem.
Garbage everwhere.
People made their homes on the sidewalks of PP.
Getting a ride home after a tough day of shopping.
A Cambodian mini van.
Cambodia: The Camry's last stop before the scrap heap.
A family going for a cruise.
The School
The Ba Huy AGS Primary School is from a facility standpoint not remarkable. There are three classrooms, a few rooms where three teachers and their families live, an outhouse out back, no running water, no electricity, no tvs, computers, or gasp: internet. The classrooms are sparse with ragged wooden desks and chairs that probably saw better days in the 1950's. The school yard is rough and uneven covered with weeds, rocks, and much to my amazement a skull of a dog. Not sure how long it had been there, but I made a point to remove it. Yet despite this the Ba Huy AGs Primary School is remarkable in terms of the impact it is having on the children of a very impoverished community. The four men and one woman who teach and maintain the school serve with a grace and determination that is amazing. It is obvious that the kids who go there adore them. Besides teaching them the basics, reading, writing, and arithmetic, the teachers, because of their faith in Jesus Christ, give the kids something even more important than that. Namely hope and a place where they are accepted and treated with kindness and dignity.
The remarkable staff.
Our Mission
Our mission was to spend three days at the school. The first on Sunday, was to get to know the teachers, the other two, Monday and Tuesday was for us to teach the kids math, art, and PE games. Our style of teaching: allowing group work, hands on learning, letting kids talk, having PE games, went against the more formal style of the Cambodian teachers, but they appreciated what we did and they said they learned a lot from us. I learned that we teachers in the rich countries can become a rather ungrateful lot complaining about petty stuff, like lack of staples or glue, whereas the teachers at the Ba Huy school are grateful when the kids can come to be taught by them. Many of the kids get conscripted to help out on the meagre subsistence farms of their parents and miss a lot of time from education. Yet for most kids, school is a welcome break from the drudgery of farming and poverty. And teaching supplies at Ba Huy? Scant, sparse, minimal, are just a few words to describe the situation there. So every time that a team from Hong Kong comes to the school they bring huge bags of supplies which are gratefully received.
The kids lining up for introduction to the day and us.
Note the plastic slippers at the door. It was standard for teachers and students to be in bare feet while in the school. In the interest of sparing the students from cruel and unusual punishment and creating an international incident I kept my stinky size 13 shoes on.
Kids in the classroom. Note feet.
Shape monsters.
Sorting out math shapes.
Playing with scarves. Was great fun to watch the kids' joy.
The Kids
Cambodian kids are beautiful. The kids at the school were well behaved and polite. They thanked us for every little thing and would put their hands together like they were praying and saying agoon (thanks) when they got something from us like paper or pencils or scarves or anything. The kids there had great attention spans as well. They stayed on task for unbelievably long stretches of time sorting, cutting, or playing. Not having internet and computer games and tv certainly helped in that regard I am sure. Overall though kids are the same all over the world. They love to play, love to learn and love to laugh.
Homes
After school on Monday we took a walk through Ba Huy delivering solar powered lights to families. It was tough to see the poverty. Yet the people there carried themselves with dignity and received the lights with gratitude.
S- 21
After our amazing time in Ba Huy we headed back to PP and visited the S-21 museum. It was a very disturbing and shocking experience, but one I do not regret. Mankind is capable of such incredible evil. I think it is important to remember what happened in Cambodia so that we will be on guard to prevent it from ever happening again: there, or anywhere. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.
Final Thoughts
The above is a picture of the school and the neighbouring farm. It is symbolic of why I think the Ba Huy school is so great. Ba Huy and the surrounding area was the last stronghold of Pol Pots Khmer Rouge Regime. Many of the kids that go to the school have grandparents and relatives that at one time were conscripted into the Khmer Rouge. As evidenced by the picture, Cambodia is still, after all these years, reeling from that era's destruction and chaos. The school represents hope for a new beginning, a new way of doing things that puts God and His Way first. It is a place where every child is welcome and the gate to the school grounds is never closed, the way the Church should be like. During a recess time on Monday a little girl wandered through the open gate. I did not find out her name but lets call her Susie. Susie is obviously a little retarded, she did not speak a word, she was a little dirty, only wore pants turned inside out and her cheap plastic slippers did not match. No one chased Susie away. Instead a few kids came up to her and then brought her to me to a get a balloon. Susie took the balloon and tried to blow it up. Semi successful. It was actually funny to watch. Then some of the kids came up and helped Susie blow it up. She then spent the rest of the recess sitting with kids and played with her balloon. That my friends is what makes life great. I believe Cambodia will eventually emerge as a great country, not just because the economy will improve, but because little ministries like the one at Ba Huy brings out the best in people by teaching them about God's love for them. The mercy and grace that we extend to the least in our world is what makes us human. Strength is for service not status. God bless you and thank you for your prayers.
Ps. If you feel inclined to support the Ba Huy school with some financial help contact me and I will hook you up.
