My First Full Week

I have had the most amazing week. I was sent along with two Cambodian staff members to observe a school in Preah Vihear. It being my fourth day in Cambodia, I didn't really know what that meant.

Essentially, two hours down a paved road followed by 1.5 hours down a dirt road to a very small village. The reason I was sent here was because this is where Elaine and Nicholas Negroponte, some of the principal developers of the one laptop per child project, personally support the elementary and middle schools to have computer and English classes.

It was very impressive. Children who may not have electricity in their homes are programming robots to pick up, carry, and drop small objects with minimal help from a trained teacher. The buzz is that Pepy will also be getting these robots next year and we will be able to incorporate them into our lesson plans which I'm very excited about.

One of the best parts about this week, however, was getting to spend time with Sarakk and Leda, two staff members that I will be working quite closely with this year. They are wonderful. Within a day we were good friends and I feel so happy to know how comfortable and easy working with them will be.

In working with them for a few hours each night after our days of observation, I got a much stronger handle on my role in the organization. One of my main jobs will be to help them develop curricula for a creative learning class (mostly Leda) and an English class (mostly Sarakk) for grades 7, 8, and 9.

What I've done so far is talk with them about making sure their lessons are developmentally appropriate and that they have an idea of what they want to teach before they start looking for lessons, rather than just finding cool lessons and saying "yeah, teaching all that stuff would be good."

I think one of the bigger hurdles will be developmental appropriateness. Pepy recently transitioned their classes from a Primary school to a Junior Highschool and all of their materials are, for the most part, aimed at students ages 5-8. Which means they have a bunch of lessons that are teaching at the right level but are made for little kids. So, we need to acknowledge that we can't expect a bunch of 15 year olds to be excited about standing in a circle and singing goofy songs about English...

Next week I begin my first regular work week. Monday and Friday in the office in Siem Reap and Tuesday - Thursday in Chanleas Dais with Sarakk, Leda, and hopefully a lot more new friends!

Fresh off the boat

I have arrived, safe and sound, in Siem Reap Cambodia. The border crossing was much less painful than I imagined. I had read stories of child pickpockets posing as beggars, touts who follow and cannot be dissuaded, demands for bribery, cons, tricksters, and ne'er-do-wells of all sorts.
My experience was painless. I walked through easily with (despite my best efforts) way more luggage than I needed or wanted. The whole trip took about 8 hours, but I bet I could cut it down to 6 now that I know the route.
My arrival was warm and wonderful. The house, office, and colleagues are wonderful, and my job is really cool.

Here is a basic shakedown of my objectives to start:
1. Staff development: English classes for Khmer (Cambodian) staff.

2. Evaluation planning: working with the "travelling co-teacher" to design better ways to evaluate teachers and schools for future participation.

3. Curriculum development: Helping the Creative Learning Center team develop lessons and materials.

4. Presentation: Helping the 2 main Khmer (Cambodian) staff members working on the travelling English program make a presentation on their program at a conference this year.

My week is split between a lovely office in Siem Reap and an amazing village called Chanleas Dai about an hour out of town. From what I've seen of the village so far, the school is the bulk of it. It will be a true immersion experience, a little electricity for a very short time (just lights in the evening) no hot water, A/C, or fans, and living in a staff house with several Khmer staff, all in the countryside of northeast Cambodia. Luckily, there is satellite internet that was donated by another NGO, so I'll be able to keep in touch all week long!

But, it's beautiful, the people are amazing, and I can handle a little heat...