Cambodia, a land of promise. Most people know of Cambodia’s horrific past but to think it was so recent and how these beautiful people have moved on and rebuilt is really touching. To try and help them is but only a pleasure.
I’ve been here for 2 months now. I started my volunteering placement at CHRES orphanage and village school, in Siem Reap, where I was teaching a class of anywhere between 10-15 students from the orphanage and local village. To say being thrown into the deep end is an understatement! The plus side with organising your own placement is that you have less structure and can make the placement work for you. The down side is that there is less structure which means it may not work for you if you need the support.
I learnt a lot at this placement…how to use my initiative, how to problem solve, how to teach with limited resources, how to work/communicate with children, how to respect another culture and above all it made me question my own purpose and what I wanted to achieve in the limited time I had to give some of myself.
Unfortunately, this particular NGO lacked a mission and a genuine long term goal for it’s children. So after agonizing over what to do, visiting other orphanages and receiving a little encouragement to leave, I travelled to a town called Takeo which is 8 hours south of Siem Reap. What took me to Takeo was a new friend and the promise of an NGO called New Futures. Wow! The difference between the two organisations is astounding.
New Futures is a registered charity and NGO, run by a wonderful man who decided to save the NFO orphanage from closure many years ago. The children at New Futures are looked after really well and most attend state school thanks to the funding provided by New Futures supporters. A number of children are also sponsored through university. You can really see how these children are developing and how happy they are considering their heart wrenching stories. Not only does New Futures look after over 60 orphans and children from underprivileged backgrounds, they also have a number of community development initiatives such as a number of village schools in rural areas of the Takeo province. A lot of children are unable to go to state school as it is expensive. New Futures enables the children to receive education.
The organisation also supports English language lessons for the local police and local monks. So I’ve been at New Futures for one month now and it has been an amazing experience. I start my day with teaching the local police, then on to teaching at one of the local village schools with a local Cambodian (Khmer) teacher. My day ends perfectly with a couple of hours playing with the children at the orphanage. I’m learning local games and local Khmer songs from the children. I’ve also decided to put together a folder of teaching resources and tips for other volunteers. Being a veteran teacher after a month (!) I’m hoping the resources will help those who will have absolutely no teaching experience or qualifications at all. The “plan” is to stay here for another two months. I hope I can make a real difference in that time.
Sofia Sheikh 