Tag: class-act

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Lunar Landing

By Jessica Wawrzyniak

11/5/2009

Moon Landing

Today Dave (the President of ClassACT and one of my traveling buddies) put it aptly when he said, "I feel like we are aliens here". Indeed we are. It's as if we're constantly parading through the streets as people stare, and smile, sometimes giggle amongst themselves, and very often come up to us in slightly overwhelming numbers in order to harass us into buying something for a "very chip pry foh yoo". Every once in a while we'll hear the word "barang" casually floating through the air as if we don't know that they're talking about the "foreigners". Yes, it's true, at times we are treated as if we have just emerged from a glittering golden spaceship, but the general feeling we get (and this may very well be a completely naive assumption) is that they like us. This might be due to the flocks of gleaming children that surround us with questions of "howahyoo?watisyournam?wheayoofrom?howmanybrothasistadohave?" anytime we arrive anywhere. Most common is a timid request to have their picture taken. Once one kid builds up the guts to ask you and you acquiesce, then prepare yourself to take a hundred additional photos as the children suddenly charge forward with more assertive demands for their picture taken.

What truly cements the E.T. Experience for us here is that this is a world unlike any we have seen. Our little stint in Siem Reap led us to explore mystical temples thousands of years old that we couldn't imagine in our dreams. This was the stuff of another kind of fairy tale (the kind without Snow White and Cinderella), I am talking about something otherworldly, ancient, and exotic. It was here that we shared a one-of-a-kind moment with the universe: Just before dawn, as we stepped carefully up to our first moonlit view of Ankhor Wat (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Wat), we looked up into the sky and saw a rainbow. This was no ordinary rainbow. It spanned the entire sky and there was no sun in sight. It was 5am. This was a MOON rainbow. We stared on, stumped by this wondrous sight. Then, it began to rain. And it didn't stop. We spent the entire day outside splashing through puddles and navigating temples – I haven't felt so much like a kid in a long time. This was truly an epic adventure, but more details on our temple hopping will come soon. I'm not done talking about the moon.

It's always interesting to find those minute differences between cultures – I'm talking about how different cultures emulate the sound of a rooster, or what the word for "ouch" is in each language. Well, the other day I discovered that the whole Man-in-the-Moon thing, is a total lie. Now that my life has been turned over to Cambodian rules (and boy are things different here), I have come to accept that there is no longer a man, rather a RABBIT that resides in the moon. Try looking at the moon, squint hard enough, and you will see it.

Today is the first day that my traveling companions and I classified our stomachs as feeling "almost normal" – after about 3 weeks of constant surprises and inhibiting instability, things have finally settled down. Overcoming this great hurdle is always a momentous victory for travelers, but it is ironic that after all this trouble, and after coming so far digestively, that tomorrow my two great bodyguards, Niels and Dave, will be flying back home to the US of A. I am sad to see my friends go, and I would like to give a personal public thank you to them both for being such great companions. It's been a crazy ride. Still, I will forge on.

We could very well be the aliens landing in the very real world, or just some good ol' run o the mill Americans landing on the moon, but however you see it, we are someplace we have never been before. And that makes all the difference.

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The Teacher’s Life – Class-ACT Global Children’s Art Exchange in Cambodia

Jessica and Niels were in "Go Mode" from the time they landed in Cambodia with the photo portfolio project. Weekend days were exactly like during the week, visiting schools, families, prepping for classes, meeting with people. It didn't stop.

So when it was all over, one coud imagine they might be tired.

Here is a peaceful moment, post classes, when we finally got to relax back at the hotel.

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Public School in Cambodia is Different than in the USA

While there are many things that are different between going to public school in the US and Cambodia, there are a couple things that really caught our attention. I'll write about those in a second, but I have to mention that I am constantly learning new information, typically from people who don't speak English fluently, so sometimes the info has to be adjusted as we go along.

First, the school schedule is different. Here, there are two sessions per day, and children attend one of the two – either 7am-11am or 1pm-5pm. Classes are held 6 days per week, Monday thru Saturday. During the time of the day a child is not in school, they sometimes attend tutoring classes with a teacher, or they might be working. That includes small children who might be working. Sometimes children attend supplemental classes, for example to learn English. The school we are supporting provides supplemental classes in English, computers, art and dance.

The second difference has to do with cost. Though public schools in Cambodia are "free" to attend, it actually is required that children pay to attend. This is required because the teachers salaries are abysmal so the only way they can survive is to collect additional money. It might cost 12.5-25 cents per class for younger kids and more for older kids. This may not seem like a lot, but it is for a poor family living on $50 per month. 25 cents per day times 6 days per week for four weeks is $6. If you have three kids that's $18. A big chunk of your take home pay.

Considering the reason for the extra charge it wouldn't seem so bad except for what the consequences are of not paying this daily "tuition" fee. The typical teacher, from what I've been told, will treat the non-paying students differently in class; ignored basically. And even worse, if a child has not paid, any tests they take result in bad grades, even if they are the smartest person in the class.

The director of the school we support told us a story today from his childhood. He was told by his teacher that when they have the next big test, it will be necessary for each student to bring in a present. His family was poor, and could not afford anything more for school, so for a couple months he saved up what he could. He knew he didn't have enough money to buy a the kind of gift his teacher would want, so he bought a less expensive present. When the time came to give the present to the teacher, he handed it her, she looked at it, and then pushed it back at him and told him to bring it home. this was a situation he has not forgotten about.

The whole "paying off" the teacher thing does well in educating the students about bribery, which is really unfortunate.

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The Photo Portfolio Project has been completed in Cambodia!

The title really tells it all. What a great time we have had bringing the project here.I will try to get comments from Niels and Jessica.

We actually completed this two days early due to a holiday that starts on Thursday. It's the King's birthday, and apparently it is quite a big bash. The shortening of classtime came as a surprise to us, but Niels and Jessica adjusted the schedule so that everythiing could be completed in the time we had.

Here's a link to some info about the holiday. http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200310/30/eng20031030_127240.shtml

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I Just Saw an Elephant Walk by!

I woke up early Wednesday morning, which is actually normal for me no matter where I am,. though we were out late last night. But I haven't been sleeping as much since I've been here. After stumbling around a bit I realized I was up for real and needed some coffee. On other days there were some instant coffee packets in my room, but the maid did not replenish the supply, so I thought – well, let's go down to the lobby – maybe they'll have some! Not knowing whether this was a 24 hour serviced hotel, I wandered down to find the lobby quite dark. A gate was pulled across the hotel entrance and was locked, and some motorbikes were parked in the lobby. And, the two front desk clerks were sleeping in the chairs in the lobby!

My first thought was how I wasn't going to be having coffee anytime soon. I also thought how it seemed awful that these guys had to sleep in the lobby. I couldn't imagine that happening in the U.S., but actually this is quite common in Cambodia, from what I've been told. I've been told the tuk-tuk drivers sleep in  their tuk-tuks. Many people sleep on their motorbikes. And, there are many who live and sleep at the city dump. Sleeping in the lobby is obviously better than the dump.

So, I headed back up to my room without coffee, showered, shaved, no coffee. By the way, I have an amazing view out my hotel window – the Sap river meets the Mekong River that goes out to the Mekong Delta. And, I can watch the sun rise over this every day. Wow. I love it.

Checked email, no coffee.

Around 6:30 I decided to go next door for some coffee. And that's when I saw the elephant. I was sitting in a chair facing the street, under the fans (you have to sit under the fans – it's hot!) Sipping my coffee (Yayy!). Motorbikes going by. Tuk-tuks going by. People walking by. And an elephant walking by!! Was I in Jumanji?? It just leisurely walked by, in the street, with his walker holding a rope. I guess it was out for a stroll.

I researched this and apparently the elephant's name is Sam Bo and he lives at the Pagoda up the street.

 

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Cambodia Trip Update Sunday 10-25-09

Today we visited the homes of eight of the students who attend the school we sponsor in Phnom Penh. It really was an incredible experience. First of all, we expected to visit the homes with just us plus the director of the school but instead were an entourage including several teachers and around 20 enthusiastic students. It really was a blast for us spending all the time with everyone and almost unbelievable seeing the conditions in which these poor families live. The families welcomed us with open arms into their homes which were in many cases smaller than some bathrooms you find in houses in Southern California.

One family with a mother and two children had $40 per month coming in as income of which $25 per month goes toward the rent. The rest has to somehow cover everything else.

114_0383 Yesterday we visited the Stung Meanchey dump in Phnom Penh which until recently was covered by scavengers looking for bottles, cans and anything else of value, as well as families actually living on the dump. Children from114_0356 here are among those currently participating in our photo portfolio project.  Homes come right up to the edge of the dump where everyone was recently evicted to make way for a company that will be extracting methane from the site.

Below is a status report video from Jessica from a few days ago. After the weekend, we'll be back in the classes again on Monday morning.

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Tuk-Tuks and Motorbikes in Cambodia

One of the more interesting and noticeable things in Phnom Penh are the motorbikes and traffic in Motorbike1general. Motorbikes are the most common mode of travel on the streets. They're everywhere, weaving in and out of other vehicles and people, sometimes driving in the opposite direction of traffic or perpendicular to traffic. Pretty much anything goes, though there are a couple key rules – biggest vehicle wins, and the responsibility for avoiding accidents lies with the vehicle that is behind another vehicle. So if you are driving any vehicle, you don't worry at all about what is going on behind you – only Motorbike2 what's going on in front of you. Makes driving simpler, Motorbike3doesn't it? Also, as a pedestrian crossing traffic, if you've committed in your actions to moving forward you better keep moving, because the motorbikes and tuk-tuks and cars are going to go behind you – they are assuming you're not stopping. And don't ever back up while walking across the street.

Tuk-tuksOne of the main modes of hired transportation in Phnom Penh is the Tuk-Tuk. They are basically like taxis (there are traditional taxis also), but these are open-air and a motor bike or bicycle pulls it. They're really plentiful all over the city and pretty inexpensive for getting around.

 

 

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Monday in Phnom Penh with Class-ACT

I woke up early and felt really good Monday morning. Niels and I headed next door to the hotel for breakfast and had traditional american stuff. For me it was an omelette with toast and Niels just went for the toast with jam. And coffee, of course!

It was a good day today. Niels kicked off the photo project with 3 different classes. It was quite impressive how many of the children have a pretty good command of English.

Here's Niels talking about our visit to Cambodia.

 

 

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We Arrived in Cambodia

Niels and I arrived on Sunday morning into Phnom Penh right on time at 11:00 am, and yes, I know it was three days ago and I'm just writing about it now.

It was a pretty long trip for both of us, though it really didn't feel so long. Door-to-door for me was around 26 hours and for Niels a little longer since he flew out of San Diego and I flew from LA.

I had a pretty cool experience when dropping off my Hertz rental car (I rented a car rather than leaving my car in the parking lot at LAX). After getting my receipt at rental return, the attendant offered to drive me to the terminal, which was amazingly helpful considering I was traveling with 4 bags which otherwise I would have had to lug on the shuttle bus.

It took a while in the terminal with it taking around 2 hours to get my boarding pass and get my baggage x-rayed.

Once on the plane I had an interesting experience – I sat next to a couple that was also from San diego (not that big a deal I guess), but the woman volunteers for a fundraising organization based out of Rancho Santa Fe that raises money for organizations just like Class Act. Nice!

So the plane took off at 1am and I went to sleep. I woke up, watched two movies, had breakfast, plane landed in Taipei, Taiwan, couple hour layover, took the flight to Phnom Penh and was greeted at the airport by the director of the school we are supporting. His brother drove us in his car to the hotel, we had lunch (mine was a rice and chicken soup, a local dish, really good, Niels had a spicy prawn soup) hung out for a little while and I crashed around 9pm.