Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Gracehouse: The School
It seems I have been amiss in not writing anything about the school where Jenny is working. So this is a short piece with some photographs. You will also have read the bit I inserted called propaganda about Gracehouse and Globalteer.
The school is out of town and serves a samm community of people who live on the edge of the river. On the day we visited the river was in flood, most homes were flooded and we only made it through the flooded streets when our Tuktuk driver ignored the problems. The school has two sessions a day and children attend for one. This is the norm in Cambodia. When we arrived we saw the end of morning school. Children were being taught by volunteers. The school tries to help them with English which they learn in ordinary school. However, the local style is to learn a word with no context so the style is word, repeat, word, repeat which means nothing or very little. The role of the volunteers is to try and instil a better more successful approach. However, this is hard.
Many children come from very poor backgrounds. Whilst we were there a little girl arrived with a deep cut in her foot. She had stood on a shell. The school then had her sent to a nearby facility with a volunteer who is a nurse. They also paid for the treatment. The girl was treated and stitched and told to keep her foot dry. Her house is flooded.
One of theideas the school is developing is the training of 4 young men to improve their understanding of electrical installations. This will take a year and will give some skills that will save lives to some people.
The school wants to develop a kitchen. At present some local mums cook for the staff and they pay for lunch. However, the children are not fed and they wish to change this next year. The hope to use the installation to provide food for adults as well.
The photographs of the school illustrate what is going on, I hope.
- comments