Notes from Cambodia

The students of the Cambonian school having their first look at a computer

The students of the Cambonian school having their first look at a computer

Tin Can Bay locals, 79 year old Pete Raynes and wife 71 year old Ros first visited Siem Reap, in Cambodia 10 years ago.

They said: “We did some volunteer work at the schools and decided after visiting Kampot in 2014 we needed to help and be more involved.

“We bought a block of land, built the one-room classroom, a house for the teachers with room for volunteers and slowly but surely the library and store shed.”

They met two teachers, Sareth and Theavy (a married couple), who now run the school.

“These two teachers have always been special to us as they have so little themselves yet are so dedicated to the kids they teach.

“As most Khmer students are only given a half day school from their government, the four of us worked together to provide free English classes to 43 students at different levels and of course at different times.

“If you met the children who just love to learn, you would understand why we love it and it is so sad now with the virus as we don’t know when we can return.

“If our senior students pass their year 12 Khmer exams, we then support them at university and provide them with their own computer.

“Sadly, our little school is still closed but the library remained open for the kids to take a book home to practice their English and ‘take-home’ assignments were organised.

“Job losses from factory closures have resulted in a big percentage of the men leaving the village for Thailand looking for work, as their government has no such thing as JobSeeker or JobKeeper and in fact no support at all.

The new school’s humble beginnings at Kampot in 2014

The new school’s humble beginnings at Kampot in 2014

“Our teacher checked after our request to see how the families in our school village were faring and we were all dismayed to find a total of 57 families have not enough to eat or money to purchase cleaning items, masks, etc.

“We have organised a bag of rice, noodles, tinned fish and soap, along with masks for each of these families. The supplies, with the help of our teachers, students, the commune chief and the village chief, were delivered last month.

“We know how difficult it is to give to a little village in Cambodia when our own country is suffering from job losses and economic uncertainty, however we are now asking for any help to meet the next supply requirements.

“One 50kg bag of rice may last a family one month and the cost is $30US, and we would love to be able to continue this assistance for a couple more months. The smallest donation will be of great assistance and appreciated.

“The website for the school is ercokp.org  (Education Rural Community Organization) and the facebook page comes under BVES (Bokor View English School). Thank you for anything you can give.”

The not-for-profit account is:- Friends of Cambodian Children’s Education Inc, NAB Gympie, BSB 084-691, account: 776634107.

Pete and Ros Raynes, Tin Can Bay  rospete444@gmail.com

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