Flashback!

Bit of a blast from the past today when I saw a student at Tiny Toones wearing a Canadian International School shirt! I went to CIS from grades 3 - 8 and seeing the uniform was kind of surprising. It's nice to know that the donations people/schools make actually get used and really comforting to see the end result. It's just a shirt but it was a "full circle" kind of feeling -  I began at that school (every so often we donated items) and now at the end of my education I've followed with the shirt and other donations to Cambodia - where it has been put to good use! :)

A Day At Rudi Boa

Last thursday I went with Victor to the furthest school, Rudi Boa. I had a really great time there filming, taking pictures, watching the football, making pin cushions and talking to the students and teachers!

There is a great community feel at Rudi Boa, all the kids speak great english and engage in conversation but what I love the most is seeing them play together in the breaks - something which I don't quite get to see at Boeng Kok Youth School as they leave after class.

Elsewhere Bar

Alex, Ida, Me, Erica!

I had a great time on Friday night, the group and Alex went to went to a bar/restaurant called Elsewhere for cocktails. Despite a long and tiresome week of teaching and office work we all are eager to go out on Friday nights for a deserved break :)

The Girls (Juliet, Me, Ida, Erica)

The Gang!

Boeng Kok Youth School Pictures

Every week during a school break the women of the village are taught skills (such as mushroom planting) so that they can start making more money for themselves.

Better Camera! (Pictures from Tiny Toones)

It's The Weekend!

Ida

Swimming, swimming..(Erica, Ida, Me, Victor, Will, Nick, Max)

Max, Erica and Ida :)

On friday we went to a restaurant called Corner 33 at riverfront for some nice cocktails at happy hour. On saturday we went to a hotel called Eureka Villas where we swam in the pool for free (as it had just opened). It was really fun and playing marco polo gave us a good workout...(as well as the time spent at the gym the guys had earlier on). On saturday night we all helped cook a Japanese beef stew :)

Juliet and Nick :)

Tiny Toones

:)

Peaceee

Teaching the younger kiddies

Day 2 of teaching! One of the great things about teaching at Tiny Toones is how friendly the kids there are.  A few kids wanted to take pictures after class (they didn't know the english words but signaled clicking a camera) So we happily obliged :)

Nick with the kids

Sorry about the bad quality of these photos - they were taken with my small camera.

We have decided to teach the teachers at Tiny Toones for four hours a week instead of doing evening classes at Youth School. I think this will benefit the classes cause we can then spend more time preparing lesson plans.

Teaching has been really fun but I definitely have more respect for teachers as after the first few classes not only am I ready for a long nap but my throat hurts from teaching too. It's all worth it though!

First Cooking Class

Fresh vegetables

Ida Char Grnnng-ing

Help from an expert

Here are some photos taken a few days ago of our first cooking class (ingredients all bought from the Russian Market). The dish's name is pronounced Char Grnnng and contains lemongrass, ground cashew nuts, chicken, and assorted vegetables.

Exhausted

Teaching has begun! Nick and I had our first two classes today at Tiny Toones. We had not set up a lesson plan but Cobra gave us the book they were using and let us do our thing! Much easier and less stressful than I thought as the kids are eager to learn, respectful and at worst - just a little shy. We had to refresh our memory on the grammar rules but were able to form a lesson. The next class was very little kids, and a bit more of a challenge as they could not speak much english.

With them we went over some easy vocabulary (house, car, bag, doctor, student, teacher) and then played games such as pictionary and hangman. They are extremely attentive for such young kids and seemed to enjoy the games.

Yesterday night we observed the Youth School (25 minute drive) classes from 2 - 7:30pm (which was extremely tiring) and found that the kids are studying too many words and the classes should be broken down into simpler tasks.

Youth School

A Justin Bieber Education

The kids at Rudi Boa have requested Max and Victor sing Baby by Justin Bieber and we filmed them practicing when they weren't watching. Quality stuff.

More Pictures From Tiny Toones Day 1

Art Class (todays lesson was about circles)

Smile!

Nick and the kids

The Train Game (Tiny Toones)

First Day at School

English Class for the little ones

Morning at Tiny Toones
Just came back from an 8-11am shift at Tiny Toones. Today Nicholas and I were there to observe the english and art classes, getting a sense of the place and the students before we begin teaching.

An amazing painting by the art teacher

Posing with the kids

Tiny Toones is a great place, all the kids are really friendly and seem to have a great time running around. They all were very welcoming, curious as to what our names were and where we came from. Many liked to show off their dance and gymnastic moves in recess and even more enthusiastic when they saw I was filming. We sat in for 3 classes, an english class for intermediate kids, a class for beginners (both taught by Cobra), and an art class.

Durian Time

Dinner By The Mee Kong River

Our view of cow bottoms on the trip there

Last night Victor's uncle, who lives in Cambodia, treated us to some lovely seafood :) We all piled into a van and were driven to the restaurant - unaware the trip would take 40 minutes. Many of us took this opportunity to practice our singing.

The biggest Chik Chak I have ever seen..at least 5cm wide.

Ida's Makeover

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

On a sad note, today we went to Tuol Sleng - a school turned into a prison under the order of Pol Pot in 1975 (not very long ago!) It was run by the Khmer Rouge and "designed for detention, interrogation, inhuman torture, and killing". 

Tuol Sleng Museum

There are 4 buildings - many classrooms were split into prison cells made of brick walls, and all balconies were lined with barb wire to prevent the desperate victims from committing suicide.

In 1978 there were 5765 prisoners, not including the estimated 20,000 children killed.

It was an extremely heartbreaking and shocking experience as the museum holds pictures of all the prisoners mugshots, the torture tools used (for methods such as stretching and water boarding). Some buildings include stories from family members or prison guards forced to work for the Khmer Rouge. A woman recalls having to tell 4 - 10 people (every night) that they were relocated to pick fruit in a neighbouring village when in fact they were to be killed.

Ten prison cells in one classroom

The pictures are extremely graphic, and are what I imagine any concentration camp in the Holocaust would look like. There are scenes of terrain covered in the skulls and bones of these people whose faces line the walls of the museum.

There remains a plaque listing the rules the captured had to follow, including number 6  "While getting lashes or electrification you must not cry at all"

We all were left feeling slightly stunned but agreed that it is key to understand the history of Phnom Penh before we begin teaching.