Fundraising ahoy!

Our current volunteer Michael is fundraising to build a new classroom after we lost our one in Nokor Krao village. Please donate if you have a spare dollar or two.

www.youcaring.com/buildmeup

A classroom that we currently have - this is what we are looking
to replicate in Nokor Krao village

Parents Afternoon

Once a year we invite all the parents to the school for an end of year update.

Last year 40 parents turned up however this year we saw an amazing 117 parents! Fortunately we had planned for this, we hired a marquee, planned for rain (none came thankfully) and even got the students to show off what they have learned this year. It was a great day, the parents are now updated and know how best to support their children at home!

The seats are ready - 100 in all, we ended up needing more!

The dancers were made up, and made up.

A quick pep talk before the parents arrive

The girls braiding their hair for their performance

Kanha making sure the flower arrangement is spot on.

Not bad for an amateur flower arranger!

The meeting begins with the national anthem

The girls then sing some other songs about rain and winter

Following 90 minutes of speaking, we are treated to the fishing dance

 

Finally, the students sing songs that FKC have written and composed
ourselves. All the songs are about the importance of education

www.khmerchild.org

Meet a class! Kindergarten class

Here at FKC we have four different classes - Kindergarten, Beginners, Intermediate and Advanced.
Since students start school at different ages our classes are set depending on ability.

The Kindergarten class is a very laid back affair to some degree! Learning English is difficult at first, because you need to know a new alphabet, with weird shapes that are called letters, and the sounds made in English are very strange to Cambodians, like 'th' and 'ch' and sometimes 's'!

Sometimes this gets a little too much, so we focus on drawing and colouring instead. This is still good for our hand eye co-ordination and gets our learning colours. The rest of the time we play games, learn a bit of maths, sing English songs - our favourites are Twinkle, Twinkle and Old McDonald!

A day in the life of a volunteer

Our volunteers enjoy every day they come to school, mainly because the children make it such a great place to work but also because they see the effect they are having over the time they are here.

For more information on volunteering click here!

Here is a typical day in the life of one our recent volunteers - Thea from Australia!

Cycling to school - most of our volunteers stay in guesthouses
or hotels in town, and the cheapest way to get to school is
on a bike (75c per day)

When you get to school you'll often see the kids already there
playing games and chatting

The boys often play a Cambodian version of dodge
ballbut they use a Vortex style toy instead... ow!

Once the kids have calmed down, they make a line
and then sing the Cambodian national anthem
before going to class.

Next up we get ready for the day, putting on
our school uniform and staff ID!

Finally we go to class, where we study for
two hours. Thea is doing one on one
conversation in this photo

After class, we head to the playground and line-up before leaving.
Sometimes our volunteers have to say goodbye too.
Here is Thea on her last day!

Meet a teacher - Chan Bunhak

Me on an average working day!

Hello, my name is Bunhak. I am 22 years old and I am from Siem Reap Province. I am currently

I have been working at FKC for 10 months, and initially I started as the IT Teacher. When the administrator moved to China I was asked to fill this post instead, and I have been doing so for almost two months.
living with my father, two sisters and one brother. I am also studying Law at Mekong University.

In my free time I like playing 6-a-side football with my university friends. I also enjoy cooking, eating and playing games on Facebook.

In the future, I would like to work for the government, perhaps as a politician working in policy making and law.  I feel this could help ensure Cambodia has a strong and fair legal system that puts the people of Cambodia first.

Interested in sponsoring one of teachers? Click here

Keen to learn, rain or shine!

So we seem to talk about the rain a lot, but that's because it rains a lot! Here are our students wading into school last week during some heavy floods, and this was after the water had gone down a few inches. Still we are happy to have such eager students!

Roll up your trousers and wade on through - the water in
some parts are knee deep!

Rain? What rain?! The girls heading home with a smile on their face and
shoes in their hands

Rock, paper, scissors? Hammer, paper, scissors, nail!

It's break time and the children love to play all sorts of games - pick up sticks, flip-flop kick, football, tag, hop chase and skipping.

The current craze involves small trading cards (mostly with Psy and Gangnam Style on), however instead of trading one for one, you battle for your opponents cards.

First, you decide how many cards you wish to gamble and who will go first through a quick game of rock, paper, scissors.

Afterwards, you lay the cards on the floor and with a slap with your hand you have to try to turn them over using the force of the wind generated by your hand.

However many you turn over, you keep, and the rest the opponent gets to try to win with the same method.

Quite often you see one child with a large stack kept proudly in their shirt pocket, you'd think the others would know not to play him or her, but the stack grows by the day!

Rain, rain, rain it falls down

September and October is the rainiest part of the year for Cambodia, and it seems this year will be no different. We still get our fair share of sun but in the afternoons we often witness a downpour that lasts a couple of hours.

The noise is deafening and teachers have to shout for their class to hear them - one of the downsides of having a classroom outdoors. After the rain the air is a bit less humid but the temperature returns to its usual heat. The first rule of Cambodia must be "always carry a raincoat"!

Unfortunately some roads and fields don't handle the heavy rain so well, so you have to wade through with the rain up to your knees and in some cases your waist.

Heavy flooding of fields after 24 hours of rain

Road or river? You can't tell!

Support our Textiles and Sewing Class

As well as our English, Maths, Music and Dance classes we run vocational training for older students. This helps them learn and develop a skill that they can use to find a job with once they have completed their education.

Textiles students measuring and sewing fabric

Currently they're learning to make shirts, trousers and skirts for our school uniform. This will then be given to the children that cannot afford to buy a school uniform at the beginning of the next academic year - in January.

We are looking for sponsors to help us buy all the material and equipment needed, any donation would be welcome so have a look below and see if there is something you would like to purchase for us. Alternatively you might have some second hand equipment you can send to us / bring out on your trip to Cambodia!


How to donate: http://khmerchild.org/donations/
What we need: http://khmerchild.org/donations/fund-our-sewing-class/

A glimpse of Cambodia

Cambodia has a rich history that has shaped the country into what it is today.

In this post, a talented student Mao Sokim writes about different aspects of Cambodia.

"In Cambodia there are a lot of celebrations such as the water festival, Khmer New Year, Chinese New Year, Bon Pchum Ben and Katten festival. Before Khmer New Year people prepare food, clean their houses, buy new clothes and so on. However the people in the countryside make traditional cakes called Nam Ousom and Nam Pum. The first day of Khmer New Year is called Mohasang Kran. The second day is named Vilak Vanabouth and the third day is called Virak Loeung Sek. The people always go to the pagoda to meet each other and playing traditional games.

Khmer food includes things such as korko, amok, Khmer cheese, curry and Cambodian noodle.

Most women in Cambodia are farmers who work very hard all day in the fields.

The climate in Cambodia is always changing. Sometimes it’s sunny, sometimes it’s raining. Sometimes it’s windy, misty and cloudy.

My favourite thing in Cambodia is Khmer New Year and Bon Pchum Ben. I like the food Korko but I dislike curry. I like the kind Cambodian people. My favourite place in Cambodia to go for a walk is Angkor Wat because there are a lot of people and I like to visit Angkor Wat."

For more information about us visit www.khmerchild.org 

Ambitions

At FKC we have many ambitious students. We always encourage them to think about their future and how they can shape it. Quite often they will have to save after completing their secondary education in order to pay for their university education, which is why quite often students have more than one idea for their future careers. We are starting a number of vocational training courses to try and give our students a step up, and provide them with real experience that can help them in their job search.

Here is what one of our students says about their ambitions:

Pha Sany - Female - 13

In the future I will be a tour guide because my father tells me that a tour guide is a good job. You can find money to help my family. When I am a student I should learn English and learn how to be a tour guide so I can speak with tourists very well. A tour guide is a good job for me. I would take tourists to the restaurant so that they could eat traditional Khmer food. I would take them to Angkor Wat Temple because it is a good place and the tourists want to see Angkor Wat Temple too.

In the future I will be a nurse because my grandmother tells me when she’s hurt she has me. I can earn money to help my family and I can help people in Cambodia. This is a good job for me. When I am a student I should student all subjects such as Khmer, Maths, English, Korean and Tour guide so in the future I can be a nurse. I can help people in Cambodia.

FKC, meet Blogger.

Welcome to the first post of FKC, Siem Reap, Cambodia!

We've set up this blog to share our news, our students' work and any other inspirational ideas we come across on the World Wide Web.

We are a grass roots NGO based in Siem Reap Province, Cambodia. We run education and community projects and hope to further expand over the coming years to provide future generations of Cambodians basic things previous generations may have missed out on - education, training and access to healthcare.

Visit our main website for more information www.khmerchild.org and stay tuned for more posts. If you have any questions please direct them via the website contact details.

FKC Children singing and dancing in a Physical Education lesson