Students play in front of the new school building, constructed on land that had been cleared by MAG. (Photo: Nicolas Axelrod / MAG)20 Apr 2010
Source: MAG (Mines Advisory Group)
Until March 2008, Veal village school in Pursat province had no proper building - because nobody dared to build one. There had been accidents involving landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) in the village, and community members suspected there must be more in the ground.
The school director, Meak Hun, got on with his job as best he could, but says: "Teaching was extremely difficult. I had to teach students under villagers' houses."
Eleven-year-old Buor Seiha recalls what those lessons were like: "Each time it rained, we almost got soaked. We didn't have chairs and tables. I had to put my chalkboard on the mat and crouch over it as I wrote."
One of MAG Cambodia's all-female teams came to the village in July 2007. It took more than six weeks to clear the land needed for the school. During the process, six items of UXO were found and destroyed.
Once the land was safe, a school was built with the support of two international non-governmental organisations, Sustainable Cambodia and Save the Children Norway.
Today, about 300 students attend classes there, a notable change from the way things were.
"The number of students [before the school was built] was only around 30 to 40, as the learning environment was not good," says Meak Hun. "Students faced a lot of hardship. Many students went fishing, cutting wood or picking bamboo shoots instead of coming to classes."
The local authorities and parents now cooperate to make sure that all children are now sent to school.
Another student, Phan Hoeurm, is happy to have the opportunity to study in a proper classroom. She says, simply: "Now we have a good school."
For more information on MAG's Cambodia programme please go to www.maginternational.org/cambodia.
View MAG photo galleries.
MAG thanks the following donor for funding the work mentioned in this article: Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, US Department of State.
The school director, Meak Hun, got on with his job as best he could, but says: "Teaching was extremely difficult. I had to teach students under villagers' houses."
Eleven-year-old Buor Seiha recalls what those lessons were like: "Each time it rained, we almost got soaked. We didn't have chairs and tables. I had to put my chalkboard on the mat and crouch over it as I wrote."
One of MAG Cambodia's all-female teams came to the village in July 2007. It took more than six weeks to clear the land needed for the school. During the process, six items of UXO were found and destroyed.
Once the land was safe, a school was built with the support of two international non-governmental organisations, Sustainable Cambodia and Save the Children Norway.
Today, about 300 students attend classes there, a notable change from the way things were.
"The number of students [before the school was built] was only around 30 to 40, as the learning environment was not good," says Meak Hun. "Students faced a lot of hardship. Many students went fishing, cutting wood or picking bamboo shoots instead of coming to classes."
The local authorities and parents now cooperate to make sure that all children are now sent to school.
Another student, Phan Hoeurm, is happy to have the opportunity to study in a proper classroom. She says, simply: "Now we have a good school."
For more information on MAG's Cambodia programme please go to www.maginternational.org/cambodia.
View MAG photo galleries.
MAG thanks the following donor for funding the work mentioned in this article: Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, US Department of State.
7 comments:
yes, life does go on. time waits for no one. nothing good or bad can last forever, everything changes with time. time is the god of all things on earth. time is patient, time is the cycle of life, the cycle of civilization. time is not something for worship, yet it has power than anything on earth. i think time is god, the unexplained; when something is unexplainable, it is god's way.
Dear 10:43PM,
Very drama............ It doesnot work here. ...
Better to focus on how to find concrete means to help these people to get education.
Please help...
you know, if cambodia revamps the tax collection system to the level of the USA, some of that money can go towards public schools, etc... how about having a lotto system like in the USA where lotto money goes toward public school. plus, if somebody wins the lottory, it is good for the local economy as well as people have more money to spend. consumerism drives the economy too, you know.
i think to help cambodia rid of begging mentality, they should start better manage the country's financial system so it can pay for itself by collection from businesses and society, in selling and buying like paying taxes, that is, so money can go toward helping build or improve schools and education in the country. i mean, if so lack of idea like this, study from american system of tax collection, it's the best in the world, i think!
The rich get richer and the poor, well they stay the same. They need oust the current government, wipe the slate clean and start over. The country is just one big running joke. It is getting better, development wise, but its still so backwards. They do need taxes or some form of income to provide for infrastructure. Until then, its pretty bleak.
why don't you do something instead of whining to no end! and you think you're something? give me a break, please!
A law on family name will be submitted to PM for approval soon, every child and place will be named our PM's name as family name, example, Kong Ratana will change to Sen Ratana, and name of place also name Sen like Battambang will be Sen Battambang, Sen Cambodia.
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