'Teacher, teacher'

It is Sunday night as I write; I have been in Siem Reap since Wednesday. I like the town, it is geared towards tourists but, in contrast to other places I have been, it is very laid back. It is a relatively small town with a multitude of bars and restaurants wrestling for space with genuine massage boutiques and souvenir shops. I’ve been to both day markets and the night market; ‘same, same’ as they say around Asia. There are basically about four or five stalls repeated over and over throughout the markets and it gets repetitive and boring after a short time.

Over the past few nights I have been out for meals and drinks with some of the other volunteers here. Since I have taken up lodgings here two others have arrived and I am no longer the new kid on the block. Socially speaking it is probably the coldest place I have been to so far. It strikes me as being a bit cliquish in ways. Tonight I wasn’t asked if I would like to join some of the others for dinner. Myself and one of the new girls, Charlie from Arizona, were left to our own devices regarding dining. We got a tuk-tuk down to where we knew the others were eating. Just as we arrived they were leaving. When I asked what bar they were going to for a drink I was told that they didn’t know; they left Charlie and me in the restaurant. Sod them.

More importantly though is that I have spent two days at the project I am working with. It is a place called Sala Tesa and is basically a large shed out in the countryside. I was working with Rhonda who hails from Australia and Sam (one of the guys from the restaurant incident) who is English and just fresh out of University. Sam and I are due to help with building the new classroom this Tuesday. Sam is finished then and Suzanna, who just arrived last night from London, is taking over from him. I had a few drinks with Suzanna last night and we spent time together today walking around town. She can’t wait to get started and her enthusiasm is infectious.

As I set out on my first day to the project I felt apprehensive and concerned that I would not make any connection with the children. Those of you who know me well will know that I am in fact not too comfortable around children. My fears proved to have no foundation. As soon as I arrived I was met with about fifteen smiling faces and a multitude of small hands looking for a ‘high five’. From all sides I was asked, ‘Teacher, teacher, what is your name?’ I look positively gigantic next to most of them. One of the small boys kept placing his skinny little arm next to mine and marvelling at the size of my big hairy forearm. One of the girls, Leah, who is aged around 10 years took me around the land for a brief tour. The land and the ‘classroom’ are owned by her father Khan. Leah lives in a thrown together two storey shed (access to upstairs via a ladder) with her father, mother and about ten other adopted brothers and sisters. The cooking is done on a large outdoor stove built by Khan, the washing, both dishes and clothes, is done by her mother at a water pump beside the classroom. I was shown the wooden pallet that all the boys sleep together on. At one stage on the tour I saw some children handling and washing what looked to me like snot. When I asked what it was they explained by showing me, it was dried sap from the trees around us. They washed it, added sugar and ate it.

Classes are from 1.00pm to 5.00pm, so no early starts which is fine by me. There are four classes, each an hour long. The very youngest are in the first class and they are aged around 5 to 6 years, the second and third classes have some basic English and ages range from 6 to 10 years. The final class contains only six pupils with much better English and all aged from 10 years to 14 years. A lot of the young students have head lice and their clothes are filthy. Rhonda, who has been here several times over the past few years, told me that she has seen children come to class and fall asleep because they have been working in the fields since daybreak. I have sat with some of the children on a one to one basis and complimented them on their drawings and worked with them on their pronunciation of certain words. They are absolutely chuffed to have someone spend some time with them personally.

We make sure we are fed, watered and toileted before we go to the project. If you need the toilet while there you will have to discreetly find a tree to hide behind. As is the custom I leave my sandals on the step outside the classroom. I noticed that whenever I stepped outside again my sandals had moved. Sam explained to me that the kids waiting outside to go into the next class would be wearing my sandals for fun and marvelling at the size of them. At the end of each class there are more high fives and touchingly many hugs from the children (both boys and girls) before they leave the classroom.

I was disappointed to be told that the classroom would be closed this Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Khan had decreed these days to be holidays; he doesn’t have to explain to us why, it’s his land and his classroom. As I have already said, I’ll be there on Tuesday to help with the building of the new classroom. Hopefully then from next Thursday we will get a good run at giving classes for the next three weeks.

The guesthouse has furnished me with a bike so I can get about the town at my leisure. My brilliant plan is to get up early each morning and cycle for an hour or so before going to the project. It hasn’t actually worked out that way yet but I’ll let you know if it does.