Village Schools: Sopiep

There is not one teacher or child that I am more fond of than another but I think it is good to give you a brief glimpse of our work  villages schools in this last week of mine in Cambodia. Every day after the teaching at the Pagoda and having my time with each teacher, I join in a lesson at a village school: to help, to observe, to advise, to play.

On Monday I am with Sopiep , one of the three female teachers. Sopiep is gentle and stern at the same ime. She exudes maturity but when she laughs she chuckles like a happy child. Today it rains heavily at intervals in impressive downpours. So many students have not travelled to the school. This is one of the schools that is remote and when the weather is bad attendance suffers. Sopiep is slightly embarassed but soon she relaxes as we jest.

There are five cheerful girls in our first class. Today we learn the sound 'ch' as in  the word 'child'.  We look for words in Khmer that help the girls understand and reproduce the sound. The name of teacher Chaya (another of my teacher students) is the most obvious and easy one to remember. So we practice, we learn , we laugh. 

There are two classes each afternoon between 5-7 at each school. At 6 we exchange one small class for another for the last hour of teaching. It is now really dark and Sopiep is keen to let the children travel back home. Some of them have to go a long way on foot in the dark.

'Thank you teacher. Good night and good luck for you .See you tomorrow', they chant in harmony.

Maybe not tomorrow, but 'see you soon'. And I intend to keep this promise.