Sunday 22/03/09
Well, I can safely say that there is no shortage of events for me to write about this week! Last week Savoeurn brought down one copy of the new Starter and Elementary Cutting Edge text books so we could have a look at them before the final decision to buy them for the school. We were all very pleased with them so we went on a mission to Kampot on Sunday to get enough for all of our students. Unfortunately the trip was unsuccessful because the shop wanted to charge much more than it would cost for them in Phnom Penh so Savoeurn said he would buy them during the week. This meant that we only had one text book to teach each class with which wasn't ideal but we really needed to start teaching this week because we only have about 3 more weeks of teaching left and need to make sure the Cambodian teachers will be able to carry on teaching Cutting Edge when we leave.
Returning to CLC on Monday we found the basketball court builders hard at work laying bricks to mark the boundaries of the court. It was very exciting to finally see it coming together!
Tuesday afternoon was accompanied by a massive rainstorm and subsequently an absence of Cambodian teachers and half of our students. Unfortunately this meant that an unattended class of kindergarten students plagued our classes in which the students were being particularly rowdy. I can tell you that two hours of trying to get heard above a class of 25 noisy students, a windy rainstorm and constantly slamming wooden windows and doors was not easy on the vocal chords. Let alone that, but the school was expecting a visit from the Prince that afternoon as he, as the King's advisor, was spending a few days in the village to see if it was suitable for a visit from the King. Fortunately he spent the afternoon at the CVTC instead.
The next morning Sarim, who would have been helping me with my class, didn't show up again as her father was sick. However, I decided to go ahead with starting to use the Cutting Edge books anyway. Fortunately the students were really focused and unusually well-behaved which worked out pretty well because the Prince decided to drop by that morning with his video recorder. Apparently he enjoys making videos and was making a 2 hour presentation on the village for the King to see. I was wondering if he was "the Prince" or if there were many princes so I asked Sara who said that he was perhaps a brother of the King but that there were a lot of princes.
That morning we looked across the pond to see not only Paa but a procession of enforcements proceed down the gravelly path towards the Red House. She had been asked the night before to cook lunch for the Prince and 10 Community Based Organization members from the village. So the Prince came to tea at the Red House and we had delicious battered prawns and juicy juicy mangoes. Over lunch he spent an hour or two asking the CBO members what they did and how the village had changed since BAB had arrived and also suggesting new ideas for the development of the village.
On Wednesday I started teaching Beginners Cutting Edge to the CVTC producers with Savorn (an ex-Youth Team member who is being sponsored by BAB to go to university - part of the deal is that he helps the project by teaching English and helping to run CLC) at 12:30 and with Theary at 4pm. And back at CLC Tom started teaching the Starter level Cutting Edge with a new class of Youth Team members and CLC teachers at 1pm. Tom's class seems to have very good attendance although I'm not sure how the attendance levels will be at the CVTC. On Thursday they said they couldn't study because they had a big order which was overdue and were too busy. I guess we'll have to see how it works out and make changes if necessary. It was of course a little tricky teaching with just one book and we were hoping to have enough copies by next week. However, on Friday when we met Savoeurn here in Phnom Penh (we're here to help out with the second and third round of the 5-year UWCSEA scholarships), he said he hadn't had time to buy them yet. Fortunately we knew a shop down the road from the BAB office and the lady said she would have enough brought in by Sunday afternoon when we're going to return to Chamcar Bei.
Yesterday we spent a long, hot day at the Cambodian Dump Children's Centre invigilating the second English and Maths exam for 20 potential scholars. We also oversaw and marked an interactive group activity where the students had to work in 4 groups of 5 to build the tallest tower possible out of newspaper. We met up with Kevin Morley (who had come down to do the interviews) again in the evening for dinner, after which we met up with 5 students from UWCSEA who had arrived that morning for their Project Week which they'll be spending in Chamcar Bei with us building a house and teaching English.
Anyway, must go now as the 7 top scorers in yesterdays activities will be arriving soon with their families to receive more information about UWCSEA and for further interviews - who will be the lucky two???
Returning to CLC on Monday we found the basketball court builders hard at work laying bricks to mark the boundaries of the court. It was very exciting to finally see it coming together!
Tuesday afternoon was accompanied by a massive rainstorm and subsequently an absence of Cambodian teachers and half of our students. Unfortunately this meant that an unattended class of kindergarten students plagued our classes in which the students were being particularly rowdy. I can tell you that two hours of trying to get heard above a class of 25 noisy students, a windy rainstorm and constantly slamming wooden windows and doors was not easy on the vocal chords. Let alone that, but the school was expecting a visit from the Prince that afternoon as he, as the King's advisor, was spending a few days in the village to see if it was suitable for a visit from the King. Fortunately he spent the afternoon at the CVTC instead.
The next morning Sarim, who would have been helping me with my class, didn't show up again as her father was sick. However, I decided to go ahead with starting to use the Cutting Edge books anyway. Fortunately the students were really focused and unusually well-behaved which worked out pretty well because the Prince decided to drop by that morning with his video recorder. Apparently he enjoys making videos and was making a 2 hour presentation on the village for the King to see. I was wondering if he was "the Prince" or if there were many princes so I asked Sara who said that he was perhaps a brother of the King but that there were a lot of princes.
That morning we looked across the pond to see not only Paa but a procession of enforcements proceed down the gravelly path towards the Red House. She had been asked the night before to cook lunch for the Prince and 10 Community Based Organization members from the village. So the Prince came to tea at the Red House and we had delicious battered prawns and juicy juicy mangoes. Over lunch he spent an hour or two asking the CBO members what they did and how the village had changed since BAB had arrived and also suggesting new ideas for the development of the village.
On Wednesday I started teaching Beginners Cutting Edge to the CVTC producers with Savorn (an ex-Youth Team member who is being sponsored by BAB to go to university - part of the deal is that he helps the project by teaching English and helping to run CLC) at 12:30 and with Theary at 4pm. And back at CLC Tom started teaching the Starter level Cutting Edge with a new class of Youth Team members and CLC teachers at 1pm. Tom's class seems to have very good attendance although I'm not sure how the attendance levels will be at the CVTC. On Thursday they said they couldn't study because they had a big order which was overdue and were too busy. I guess we'll have to see how it works out and make changes if necessary. It was of course a little tricky teaching with just one book and we were hoping to have enough copies by next week. However, on Friday when we met Savoeurn here in Phnom Penh (we're here to help out with the second and third round of the 5-year UWCSEA scholarships), he said he hadn't had time to buy them yet. Fortunately we knew a shop down the road from the BAB office and the lady said she would have enough brought in by Sunday afternoon when we're going to return to Chamcar Bei.
Yesterday we spent a long, hot day at the Cambodian Dump Children's Centre invigilating the second English and Maths exam for 20 potential scholars. We also oversaw and marked an interactive group activity where the students had to work in 4 groups of 5 to build the tallest tower possible out of newspaper. We met up with Kevin Morley (who had come down to do the interviews) again in the evening for dinner, after which we met up with 5 students from UWCSEA who had arrived that morning for their Project Week which they'll be spending in Chamcar Bei with us building a house and teaching English.
Anyway, must go now as the 7 top scorers in yesterdays activities will be arriving soon with their families to receive more information about UWCSEA and for further interviews - who will be the lucky two???
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