By: Katie Stafford, Aged 12, London, England
This is my second time visiting Cambodia as a volunteer for the Ponheary Ly Foundation. My parents and my older siblings have been coming for years, but now it was my turn to come!
Rainbow Looms and a Scavenger Hunt at Tchey School
Rainbow Looms:
Last year, I brought Rainbow Looms and these were a great success, so I wanted to do it again. The Headmaster chose around 50 kids and we squished into the small library to get started.
I could tell, they were all different from my group last year. At first, the kids didn’t have a clue what to do. Once I demonstrated with my fingers on how to make a bracelet, within minutes a lot of people seemed to catch on.
We had both boys and girls in the class and they all really enjoyed making bracelets. It made me smile when I saw these kids having fun. Some people were very good at making the bracelets and they had them all up there arms and even on their head!
The Scavenger Hunt
This year, we wanted to try something different as well. I had the idea of a scavenger hunt. We came to Cambodia with lots of little things to hide, such as plastic animals, rubber balls, stretchy toys and soccer balls. We then created a clue list of where these things would be hidden at Tchey School.
We divided the children up into 10 teams of 5 each and the first team to find all the small items was the winner. The 50 plus or so hidden items were marked on their clue sheet in English and Khmer with a picture. We chose 5 guards to help us hide the items and make sure that each team only took what was required so that there would be enough for all the teams.
Once all the items were hidden — it was ‘ready, set and go’ and 50 screaming excited children ran crazily out of the classroom and around the school. It was great to see their excitement, but also to watch how they worked together in teams. Some teams even seem to have quite clever strategies of divide and conquer.
All in all it was so amazing to see these kids have some real fun. Life is really hard in Cambodia and they had never seen the toys we brought before or ever played this game. I was happy because they were having such a good time.
The excitement was palpable and it gave me a great sense of pride to watch the game unfold. All the players got to keep the small items that they found in the end, but the winning team was awarded a special medal and prize, with a huge round of applause.
Visiting the newest PLF school Romchek
Finally last but not least on this trip, we had the opportunity to travel to the newest school that the PLF is now just beginning to support. This was a great adventure as it is far in the countryside, about 3 hours from Siem Reap.
I was amazed when we arrived to see nearly 300 students piled into just 4 classrooms with only 4 teachers, and 1 headmaster. They have a system where 2 classes with 2 years sit in one classroom, one facing backwards and the other facing forwards. The teacher would then move from the back to the front of the room. This makes me appreciate how difficult schooling conditions are.
For this new school, we were able to bring food supplies (packages of noodles and cans of milk). We also gave fresh bread with condensed milk inside, which the kids loved.
It made me realize that the schools in the middle of nowhere like Romchek have so little. The PLF is just beginning to work here, but there is still so much to do. It makes you realize just how big Cambodia is and how many kids are still in need.
Thanks PLF and all the team who came with us for making my stay so welcoming. Also to the kids, who make me feel really special when I am there and who make me realize how lucky I am, and how wonderful it is to try to help, even in a small way.
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