Lessons from Cambodia

Fri, Jun 11, 2010
By Yuslina Aziz
AsiaOne

I remember hugging my parents before walking through the immigration gates at Changi Airport, thinking to myself, "How am I going to survive the next fourteen days in Cambodia?"

In retrospect, I felt silly for lacking the confidence and belief that I could serve and volunteer in Cambodia wholeheartedly - for it was me who ended up unwilling to leave the country at the end of my fourteen-day volunteering stint.

Together with twenty-three other team-mates of mine from Nanyang Technological University's (NTU) Hall of Residence 12, I embarked on this inspiring journey, not knowing what to expect but coming out of it with an experience of a lifetime.

We spent a good proportion of our voluntary expedition tutoring Cambodian youths in the English language at the Boys' Brigade Learning Centre (BBLC) in Proyouth Village, Puok District. It was uplifting to discover that over a 6-day period of tutoring; the children absorbed our lessons and even put in the extra effort to practise the phrases and basic terms we taught them through simple games and question-and-answer sessions.

Interacting with these youths also changed my perspective on the value of education and I truly admire them for trying so hard to excel academically and to better themselves in a bid to carve out a brighter future for their families and themselves.

Besides tutoring, we also tried our hand at road-building and it certainly was no easy feat!

Day after day, we toiled under the hot sun, shovelling sand and stones to build the road within Proyouth Village.

It just amazed me that under such circumstances, none of us muttered a single complaint or voiced any forms of discomfort despite our laborious tasks. I only heard words of concern for each other, and the camaraderie we forged over road-building in the village was a highly invigorating affair.

Personally, the highlight of this expedition was our participation in the Rice-Soup Service Programme at Khana Thmey where we played with village children and served bowls of porridge to them.

As English is only taught in schools at the secondary level, most, if not all, the children we interacted with at Khana Thmey spoke no English.

The language barrier proved not to be a problem as all these children wanted was a companion and for someone to hug them and play with them, not worrying if they have food to eat for the day.

All they needed was to feel safe, something we take for granted back at home.

The fourteen days spent in Cambodia was inspiring and uplifting, at best, and not for a moment did I regret my decision to go on this expedition. In fact, you may even see me back in Cambodia next year leading a new batch of undergraduates on another trip.

Learning Cambodian Culture, and Its Restrictions

A Cambodian, left and Erica Herrmann is among the first group of 29 US volunteer to join the Peace Corps mission to Cambodia, right. (Photo: Courtesy of Erica Herrmann)

Im Sothearith, VOA Khmer
Washington Thursday, 22 April 2010

She lived in a foreign country, with foreign food and a foreign lifestyle, but Peace Corps volunteer Erica Herrmann said it was the best way to learn about Cambodia.

Herrman was among the first group of 29 US volunteers to join the Peace Corps mission to Cambodia. From 2007 to 2009, she lived in a remote village and learned about Cambodian culture, including some of its restrictions.

“They called me daughter and sister right away,” Herrmann told VOA Khmer in a recent interview in Washington. “It was really nice. But quickly I began to realize that that meant I was under their watch all the time.”

When she wanted to travel, she needed to inform the family. And it took several months for the family to recognize her independence.

“Being an American woman, I was used to going out and just doing whatever, not having to check in all the time,” Herrmann said. “That’s probably the most frustrating of the challenges, and of course trying to communicate that all in Khmer just complicated things.”

Ouy Seng Chan, Herrmann’s hostess, told VOA Khmer by phone she considered the American as family.

“I told her not to go out too late because I was worried about her,” Ouy Seng Chan said. “I looked after her and loved her as my real daughter. So I gave her some advice, asked her where she was going. But she never went out too late. She always came home at dusk.”

“We played and joked around together happily,” Ouy Seng Chan said. “She was never angry with me. When she left, I missed her badly, because she used to play with me everyday. At first she did not speak Khmer well. Later she could speak Khmer a lot.”

Ouy Seng Chan would call Herrmann to eat, and the American would answer, “Yes, Mom.”

“Her voice was as sweet as a bird’s singing,” Ouy Seng Chan said.

The two women exchanged cooking, Khmer and American, which Ouy Seng Chan said tasted good.

“At first she did not like Khmer food, but after about a year or so she could eat such food as sour soup, curry, Khmer traditional soup,” Ouy Seng Chan said.

Herrmann was welcomed by villagers and by those she worked with at Samdech Hun Sen Peam Chi Kang High School, in Kampong Cham province’s Kang Meas district.

Eng Sangha, Herrmann’s English teaching partner, said she had a strong work ethic and a friendly personality.

“She is hardworking and very punctual,” Eng Sangha said. “She always comes to work and is never late.”

And her presence helped students, like Leang Hy, now a third-year student at the Institute of Technology of Cambodia.

“Before she came, most students didn’t go to study English,” Leang Hy said. “But when she came, every student came to study. She opened an evening study club for female students. She paid attention to students. She liked sharing what she had.”

For her part, Herrmann, a graduate student of public policy at American University, said she valued her time spent in the remote area.

“Just daily interaction with my students, my host family,” Herrmann said. “Learning about the culture, because I love studying different cultures and different people, and I’ve come to realize a lot of things about, not Asia in general, but Cambodia in particular, the stuff that you can’t pick up from reading and books.”

The Peace Corps was established by US President John F. Kennedy in 1961 to promote international friendship through US volunteers overseas. The Peace Corps has three main goals: to provide trained volunteers who contribute to the development of interested countries, to promote understanding of US citizens, and to promote understanding of people around the world.

Since its inception, the Peace Corps has sent nearly 200,000 volunteers to work in 139 countries throughout the world.

The Peace Corps has had an agreement with the Cambodian government since 1994, but security concerns prevented volunteers from going until 2006. So far, about 100 volunteers have entered the country.

Jon Darrah, Cambodia’s Peace Corps director, told VOA Khmer by phone the volunteers were welcomed by government leaders and local officials.

“The prime minister himself spoke very kindly of the work that we do,” Darrah said. “I think we have had a very, very good start, and we’ve enjoyed a wide range of support.”

Cambodia Trip To Make A Difference

14 March 2008
This is Scunthorpe (UK)

Land mine, polio and cerebral palsy victims in Cambodia look set to be given help and support from a North Lincolnshire duo who have pledged to make a difference to their lives.

Spanish couple Elena Gutierrez and Sergio Gallego, who made Scunthorpe their home seven years ago, will be taking three months' unpaid leave from their jobs to help in a busy centre run by the Cambodia Trust for young disabled people out there.Elena works as an occupational therapist, treating adults with neurological conditions.

When she and Sergio fly out to Cambodia in July, she will be offering patients occupational therapy services at the Kratie Centre where they will be based.

Elena (34) will accompany them back to their villages where she will help them settle back into normal daily routines.

She will also help the permanent members of staff at the centre with their work.

"I have wanted to do something like this for such a long time," said Elena.

Elena's partner Sergio (36) works for Corus as a chemical engineer, but in Cambodia he will be running English classes for the staff at the centre.

And this, he said, would be in addition to helping them write reports, emails and documents in English.

Sergio explained he will be involved in the patients' rehabilitation process by organising sports and activities for them.

"This is a specialist voluntary organisation based in Somerset which sends committed volunteers to Cambodia to carry out a range of humanitarian and teaching projects," said Sergio.

"We realise our time in Cambodia will be challenging and difficult, but we hope to make a difference to the lives of the people we will be working with."

In the meantime, and before their departure, the couple need to raise £5,400 to cover the full cost of carrying out and completing their projects.

This, said Sergio, is also to cover the cost of insurance, board, language training and accommodation.

Anyone who would like to help Elena and Sergio with their sponsorship is invited to contact them on (01724) 271023.

Alternatively, they can contact them by email by sending a message to
elena.sergio.cambodia@gmail.com

Giving back to society

Dr. Robert E. Kalb, a University at Buffalo dermatology professor, volunteered to spend some time in Cambodia treating patients at the country’s only hospital that provides free care.

Sunday Profile /Dr. Robert E. Kalb

02/03/08
By Louise Continelli
NEWS STAFF REPORTER
The Buffalo News (New York, USA)

He calls it a “life-changing experience” where poverty is rampant.

It is the second straight year Dr. Robert E. Kalb, his wife, son and daughter spent much of their holiday season volunteering — this time at a hospital clinic and elementary school in Cambodia.

After his 17 1/2-hour flight to Cambodia, and equipped with books and medical samples, the Amherst dermatologist treated some 50 patients a day — many with severe skin problems and fighting nutritional deficiencies and with no access to medication that would help their conditions.

Some Cambodians journeyed long distances on bikes, waiting days to be treated at the Sihanouk Hospital Center for Hope, the only hospital that provides free care in the country.

Kalb, his wife, Marlisa, and daughter, Elisa, 19, left for Cambodia the day after Christmas, stopping first in Thailand, where son, Ryan, 22, teaches English at Assumption University. They then went to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, where Marlisa, Elisa and Ryan spent weeks teaching English to 45 grade-school kids at the Goldstone School. Both the hospital and school are sponsored by HOPE International, a faith-based organization focused on alleviating poverty. Kalb grew up in a family of nine.

“I was the first to attend college,” said Kalb, a clinical associate professor in the Dermatology Department of the University at Buffalo’s School of Medicine and chairman of the Buffalo Medical Group’s Dermatology Department.

“I’ve always felt fortunate to have been able to attend college, medical school and a dermatology training program,” he said. “An open door to education is what allowed me to achieve my professional success. I’ve always had a desire to volunteer.”

An opportunity through the National Dermatology Organization and Health Volunteers Overseas led him to Cambodia. During the two-week session in Cambodia, he worked with other doctors, medical students and dermatology trainees.

“There are some more unusual problems because of the poverty and climate, such as nutritional deficiencies and leprosy,” he said. “In general, [many] of the skin problems are very severe examples of more common conditions such as psoriasis or eczema. Unfortunately, significant poverty prevents access to most of the treatments that would be available in more developed countries. Simple problems become major.”

His family was “a tremendous support,” Kalb said.

“I specifically volunteered in early January so my college-aged children could accompany us on both occasions. They taught English to the fifthand sixth-graders, and then the following year to the sixth- and seventhgraders.”

Have an idea about a local person whose life would make a good profile or a neighborhood issue worth exploring? Write to: Louise Continelli, The Buffalo News, P.O. Box 100, Buffalo, NY 14240, or e-mail lcontinelli@buffnews.com

Personal Journey: A tourist, and a native, and comfortable

Writer Somanette Seang , at Angkor Wat, survived the Khmer Rouge genocide and arrived in the United States at 7.

Sun, Jan. 20, 2008
By Somanette Seang
For The Philadelpha Inquirer (Pennsylvania, USA)

It had been more than 26 years since I was in Cambodia. I survived the Khmer Rouge genocide of the 1970s and, at age 7, emigrated to the United States with my mother, grandmother, aunt and cousin.

Until last summer, I never felt ready to return to Cambodia because I struggled with feelings of survivor's guilt. Why did I live when an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians died?

My fear was that I would be just another tourist instead of Khmer. In the end, I was a Khmer tourist.

I arranged to volunteer as an English teacher in Siem Reap through the nonprofit organization Journeys Within Our Community (www.journeyswithinourcommunity.org). I would be teaching two English classes at Wat Thmey (New Temple). Wat Thmey is an old temple with a modest memorial dedicated to about 50 people who died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge.

My "classroom" was the open foyer of the temple, and I had a dry-erase board. My students were teenagers and young adults who could not afford to enroll in a high school or university. Poverty is prevalent throughout Cambodia, even as the country builds and develops.

My 17 students did not know what to make of me initially. I looked Cambodian enough, but there was an intangible characteristic that made me not quite truly Khmer. I told them my story of emigration and the loss of the father I never knew. Several of them told me stories of their impoverished lives in the rice paddies, helping their families find aluminum and plastic reusables in the polluted city, or selling beef on a stick and coca (soda) along the dusty and crowded streets of Siem Reap.

The students did not dwell on their struggles; they showed hope and determination. For the week I was there, they rode their bicycles - the luckier ones rode borrowed motos - to class. We studied present-tense verbs and vocabulary for different modes of transportation. But mostly, we talked about Cambodia. They were eager for me to know and love their country.

Because they wanted me to see the true beauty of Siem Reap, two of my students, Saphour and Vanna, picked me up on Saphour's moto (it is amazing how many people ride at once on a moto) and took me to Angkor Wat. I had read and seen pictures and movies about the 12th-century stone temple built with three levels and four galleries. The galleries' walls are covered with hand-carved, detailed scenes of battles, gods, heaven and hell. When I walked onto the gateway of Angkor Wat, I felt completely proud to be Cambodian.

My students thanked me for being their teacher. But truly, I was the most thankful. I may have taught them grammar, as my father might have done when he was a teacher, but they taught me about hope and self-acceptance. It was fine to be a Khmer tourist.

Haverford teenager is volunteer teacher

"It was a lot of fun," Croom Beatty says of teaching English in one of Ponheary Ly's schools. He has spent part of the last two summers at the task.

Sun, Jan. 20, 2008
Chris Gray
The Philadelphia Enquirer (Pennsylvania, USA)

Lyle Beatty worried about many things when her 16-year-old son, Croom, went to Cambodia to teach English in 2006.

She didn't think about cobras.

Sure enough, her son came close to one while touring a temple in the countryside near Siem Reap.

Snake scares aside, Croom Beatty - now 17 and a senior at the Haverford School - has spent part of the last two summers teaching English in schools sponsored by the Ponheary Ly Foundation.

The Beatty family, of Haverford, met Ponheary Ly while touring Angkor Wat in 2005. Lyle and her husband had prepared their four children for the trip by watching The Killing Fields and learning about Cambodian history. But nothing compared to hearing Ly's personal stories, Lyle Beatty said.

"It was life-altering," she said.

Upon returning, Croom e-mailed Ly to ask what he could do to help. He envisioned raising money or giving a presentation at his school. Instead, Ly suggested that he return to Cambodia to teach. So Croom flew to Asia to teach for two weeks before meeting up with his family.

"The first day I walked into the school, I was very nervous," Croom said. "She dropped me off and had me do my own thing. When I walked in, everyone started giggling. It was challenging."

Eventually, Croom became more comfortable. Last summer, he returned with a friend for three weeks. They lived in the Ly guesthouse and rode their bikes to and from the school, witnessing Cambodian life firsthand.

"It was a lot of fun," he said. "Her family treated me like one of their own. The second year was a lot more relaxed. I got to know the kids better.

"It's amazing to see the potential of some of the students. . . . I was expecting to maybe give them enough English to work in a hotel. Some of them are exceptionally smart. They want to be doctors and teachers."

Lyle Beatty says her son has "learned so much. It went from being a vague do-gooder type thing to realizing what is there and the difference that one person or a lot of people can make."

Redundancy led to Cambodia dream for Philippa

Philippa, front left, enjoys a well-earned break with some of her co-volunteers.

14 January 2008
Burnley Express (UK)

WHEN 23-year-old Philippa Kettlewell took voluntary redundancy from work she could never have imagined she was about to embark upon the experience of a lifetime.

Philippa has returned from a six-week trip to Cambodia where she had been helping teach English to underprivileged schoolchildren.

She was working for British charity Schools for Children of Cambodia which works with local communities to improve access and quality of basic education.

"The reason I chose Cambodia is because a lot of my friends have been to places like America and Australia and I wanted to do something different," said Philippa, of Ightenhill Park Lane, Burnley. "It was a fantastic experience and I am so glad I went."

Philippa said: "I was amazed at how many people wanted to learn English. I was literally teaching people on the streets some days. A lot of the young people there want to go on to become tour guides and so learning English is a very important part of what they want to do."

Philippa managed to see many sights of a country that has undergone huge reconstruction since the brutality of the 1970s and 1980s.

"It really is a beautiful place," she said. "It's definitely something that I want to do again. I would like to go to South Africa and I'm looking at maybe going to Peru and doing some voluntary work out there.

"I would love to go back to Cambodia one day but there are a number of other places I want to experience first."

Anybody who would like to find out more about the charity can log on to the following:
www.schools4cambodia.org