april showers brings new projects

Over the last 8 months at site, I had a hard time discerning where else I could help out in my community since it's fairly large. I made some excuses for myself as I put off getting back in touch with initial contacts as it wasn't a good time to get started prior to the unknown schedule of April. My teaching schedule at the PTTC changed approximately every 2 months since the 1st and 2nd year students alternate when they do practicum and observing of primary school classrooms, so I never know when I could give time to other organizations and schedule other English classes. Peace Corps puts a lot of emphasis on secondary projects, which means any class, work or project outside of our "primary assignment" which is teaching English at a high school, training teachers at either a Primary Teacher Training Center (PTTC) or Regional Teacher Training Center (RTTC) or supporting and educating at the Health Center. This is because we are here to support the larger community, not just those who benefit from our work at our primary assignment, and also because in Cambodia, the work at our primary assignment only takes about half of our viable work time in a week (if everything is operating according to schedule). Here, in Cambodia, many volunteers find the majority of their success and enjoyment through these secondary projects because they can choose organizations they are interested in working with, have more flexibility when working outside of a government operation and can plan and implement with more independence. I've realized that I thrive working within a pre-established framework and structure, and I enjoy making change from within. I also believe that the more sustainable development we can enact as volunteers is done within the framework because Cambodian culture does not support and allow for much innovation. However, if I was to find any professional success working here, I had to reach beyond my primary assignment and get started because the timing would never be just right. Another volunteer pointed out that in American culture we value consistency to help others learn and make change, but in Cambodia, it's more about exposure and teachable moments rather than repetition.

So here are some new things I've gotten started in the last few weeks or have planned for the next couple months:

*Team Houses at Veteran's International (http://www.ic-vic.org/Clinics_PreyVeng.html): Through my tutor, I became aware of Veteran's International which supports physically disabled individuals from Prey Veng and Svay Rieng with many things, including prosthetics, equal treatment, education and more (check out the link below). I took over some English classes an Australian volunteer was teaching at the Team Houses, which house young men and women in high school or college who come from poor backgrounds and need support to complete their education. I teach the young men and young women separately as the live in different locations and am teaching basic grammar to start. These men and women are very enthusiastic and work hard to learn English, and I generally find them quite inspiring as they have gone through much adversity to become educated in a country where they are not supported.

*Mekhala House Orphanage and Learning Center (http://fdcc.org.au/): I bike by an all female (plus one of the girl's brother) orphanage down the street everyday and have often wanted to jump in to play soccer as it was so exciting to find a group of girls playing a sport in a country where boys dominate all fields and courts. After dropping by a few months ago, we were able to set up some ways I could help already existing programs or ones that needed support to continue. I began teaching nightly English classes which are split by level of about 8-10 girls every weekday evening. At my first class, I was blow away by the exuberance, confidence and level of English from the oldest high school girls. In addition to the nightly classes, I will be teaching 3 separate arts and crafts classes, one for primary and lower secondary girls (and boy) and two for the high school girls. From my first class, I can already ascertain that creativity will be a challenge to pull out of the girls since they only desired to copy pictures from books (which they were REALLY good at) as will teaching art solely in Khmer. Additionally, I plan on teaching baking to the girls which one of the Australian board members got started up during her annual visit as they have a well-equipped kitchen. They also need some help with career counseling and supporting a staff member to find speakers to help the girls. If they compete in a soccer championship in the future, I want to jump in on that.

*Prey Veng Camp G.L.O.W.: This is a project I'm doing with the other 4 volunteers in my province, but is a widely popular project in many Peace Corps countries and almost every province was able to organize and implement one this year. This will be the first to occur in my province and I want to thank family and friends who donated to support the funding of this camp. It will take place the first weekend of June and will update on any developments and of course on the camp itself. The description for the camp is as follows:
              The 2013 Prey Veng Camp G.L.O.W. (Girls Leading Our World) is a two-day girls’ empowerment camp. In June, fourty-five female secondary students and teacher trainees from five villages will participate in the camp in Prey Veng. Over the course of the camp, experienced and dynamic Cambodian educators will lead interactive sessions on women's health, rights and opportunities, with a focus on developing self-esteem and leadership skills. In the typical classroom, female students are less likely to participate and tend to defer to male students due to lack of self-esteem. Cambodian women are disadvantaged solely because of their gender and without adequate education, they are not likely to find opportunities to rise to leadership positions.This camp will give these students the space, tools and role models to build their positive identity and set goals for their personal future aspirations and those they have for their communities. The community will work together to make this happen by providing a space for the camp, local speakers for workshops regarding domestic abuse and volunteerism, and workshop facilitators from local NGOs to educate on personal safety and women's health.


I hope that this new found busy-ness stays strong, but I'm not holding my breath as flexibility is key to happiness and success here. I also just returned from exploring some down south locations in honor of the 3-day holiday for the current King's birthday and you can enjoy some pics here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sam_wise/sets/72157632472618289/