In July 2017 I am travelling to Cambodia to teach English in a rural school.
Cambodia is often forgotten as a deprived country however, many people living in rural areas have low levels of health and education. During the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975-1979, education was dealt a severe setback. Schools were closed, and educated people and teachers were subjected to, at the least, suspicion and harsh treatment and, at the worst, execution. At the beginning of the 1970s, more than 20,000 teachers lived in Cambodia; only about 5,000 of the teachers remained 10 years later. Soviet sources report that 90 percent of all teachers were killed under the Khmer Rouge regime. Today 28% of girls and 33% of boys are in secondary school due to lack of school places. Charity schemes like the one I will be participating in give rural children a better chance of obtaining secondary school placements because they have English language skills to put them at an advantage to other students.
During the weeks I will be teaching and running community projects. The resources available to the school are scarce to nothing. The main focus of the education system, at all levels, is on basic literacy. State schools are under-equipped, and very often classes are run without textbooks or pens and pads for the students. The "chalk and talk" style of teaching predominates. The project does also create care packages for families that are struggling as many of the children do not receive regular meals.
I am raising money to buy teaching stationary such as pens, pencils and notebooks. I am also aiming to take sports equipment with me and other supplies such as decent footwear, sanitary products and medication (eg, ibuprofen) to distribute to the most needy. I would also like to take money with me to buy food for the local families I meet and contribute to the local economy.