By Pon Sdey
My village name is Tchey, is a big village, and it is located in Puck District, Siem Reap province, Cambodia. It has many houses and many people live there.
It is close to the National Road 6, which makes it easy for people to visit. The distance from Siem Reap to my village is about 12 kilometers. The population in my village is about 156 families, but 45 percent of the family members moved to other villages and Siem Reap town to get a better job. Some families moved to live in other countries because they want to get a better life with a better salary, since almost all people in my village are farmers.
Rice is the main crop, but they also plant other crops such as carrot, pepper, tomato, lettuce, corn, pumpkin, and cucumber. They depend on the sale of their crops, and if their crops grow well, they will be able to get more products. They also make baskets, brooms, rugs, sandals, and roofs for their houses. It takes a long time to make all these things, but the profit is not so high.
They love their village because it has a peaceful and easy way of life, since they have the basic needs like water system, school, market, and hospital. People in my village are friendly and work hard; however, they move because they need more money to support their families. They have different jobs such as waiter or waitress, construction, and sometimes in hotels. They get only 70 to 90 dollar a month. I love my village with its farms and the people who live there.
I do not want to leave my village, and I also want to work as an English teacher. I started teaching at Tchey school when I graduated from 12th grade in Samdach Ouv high school on December 2012. I am a student at the PLF organization in Siem Reap, and they sponsor me for my education.
Lori Carlson and Ponheary Ly head the foundation, and gave me a job to teach English at Tchey School since November 2012.
I teach, two classes from 11:00 am until 13:00 pm, grade 5 and grade 6.
I want to teach English because I want to share my knowledge to the new generation so they know another language beside their original language. I want to improve their other language and make it easy for them to look for a job. I want them to communicate with other people around the world. I am really interested in my English teaching, since its make me happy with the kids.
Sdey is a graduated student, and he continues to study at the university. He likes to work with his computer. He is good at science and geography, but he likes Khmer studies the most. Now he is a teacher at Tchey School; he loves his job so much. In the future he wants to be a person who can improves his village and share his experiences with other people.
Nice article Sdey! I did not know there was so much enterprise at Chey Village besides farming. I hope you can stay there to improve the village and bring the work to Chey people instead of taking the people out to work.
Thankyou Sdey for your very informative blog. Your hopes for the future of your students is to be commended. I’m a retired teacher and I agree with your plans to help your students communicate on a global level. Well done!