My placement here in Cambodia...

I am working in an orphanage, but not in the orphanage itself. There is a school on an adjacent property and it is there that I work. I teach 6 one hour English classes a day, monday to friday. I teach 2 classes of CCOLT kids ( CCOLT stands for Cambodian Children Ophanage Learning and Training), 2 classes of University students, 2 classes for the CCOLT staff - one regular class and one conversation class.

One of the 4 classrooms - Class A, B, C and D


I must admit I am struggling with the teaching. It has been a long time since I was last in school (almost 30 yrs) and to try to teach without any training, talk about being outside of your comfort zone. It is getting better and thank God for small mercies as some of my classes are or were very small.

I start teaching at 9:00am and then take a 2 hour break for lunch from 11:00 to 1:00. I ride a bicycle that was provided by my host family and it is only a 10 minute bike ride from home to school. I ride home for lunch, have a bit of a rest, have lunch and then ride back to school.

                                                               Outside of the classrooms at the school


The kids go to public school either in the morning or in the afternoon. For the month of February they went to public school in the morning, so I was teaching them in the I afternoon. This month they go to public school in the afternoon, so I teach them in the morning. I find this to be easier, and I am not sure if it is that I am not so tired or if I am getting more comfortable and familiar with the material that I am teaching.

I was given 4 log books to see what was last taught to which class and also 5 or 6 workbooks that I was to teach from and then told to start at the beginning of each book with each class. The kids in the class were okay with that for a day or two and then they said, "No teacher, we are on this chapter". Oh the world of "tenses, verb patterns, present perfect and past simple, time clauses, first conditional, second conditional, present perfect simple vs. continuous", I don't even recognize some of these terms from when I was in school. Talk about a really rocky boat. WOW!!

But, to be honest, I am enjoying what I am doing more and more. I find the university students to be very delightful. They are there because they truly want to learn the English language. I started with one student in my University Class A - her name is Sok Leak. Then there was two, and now there are about 10. They asked if they can sit in on my University Class B lesson as well. I said that that was okay with me. Yesterday I had 17 students in the University Class B. After the lesson the class asked if they can come from 1:00 to 3:00 and have a two hour lesson instead of  a one hour lesson. I told them that was fine with me, but that I would be teaching 2 separate lessons as they are at different levels. They were okay with that so we will see how it goes tomorrow.

                                Some of my university students in class on tuesday.

Today there are no classes at all, as a team of Dentists have come to look at the CCOLT kids' teeth and give them a cleaning. I am going to help with that, as is the other volunteer who is teaching English at CCOLT as well.

Both Stephanie (she is the other volunteer teacher) and I didn't know that there wouldn't be any classes today until after our last class left for the day. The Director of CCOLT forgot to mention it to us, so unfortunately all our University students will come for nothing. Oh well, sometimes those things happen.

The Director of the school wanted me to teach English on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings from 5:30pm to 7:30pm as well. On these days I would need to walk back to school after lunch and then catch a tuk tuk or a moto home as it gets dark here about 6:00. It would be too dark and/or dangerous to ride the bike home in the dark, I am not sure which one. I told him that I thought that would be too  much as I am usually exhausted by the end of my teaching day. We are hoping that more volunteers to Cambodia wanting to teach English. Maybe next week.

Well I am off to work today and am excited about the Dentist that is coming. I will keep you posted.

Pray for the children here in Cambodia. That God protect them and keep them from harm. That He start to work in the Cambodian men that they have a desire to faithful to their wives and families. That the accepted custom of visiting brothels becomes less acceptable through education.

Pray for all the children that will be seen by the dental team on this mission trip. That their smiles be enriched and that the lives of the dentists themselves be touched by all that they see and do for the children.