It is very easy to just tell someone that you want to change your country. If you take a step back and look at the world or just your country you will realize that it is so hard to change your country in real life. I wanted to change my country and now, I still have that dream go on in my brain. I want to change Cambodia. As what I see we have a nice road, nice building, many shops and fancy mall are opening right now. People are very happy with the new version of Phnom Penh. People can connect to the internet, and especially Facebook. Sharing information, ideas, news, and learning style through internet or Facebook are very popular and this is one of the factors that connect to Education. Education in Cambodia is everywhere. We learn from school, our community, internet and home. Every day, there are always some people talking about education. How to get a better education? This becomes one question for me, but after researching and talking with my parent I know what they need are resources and a clear schedule. Students are not very clear on what they are going to study for each day. Most of the students go to class late. Some of them afraid of the teacher and shy to answer a question that connects to their lesson if even they had been taught already. This problem makes me think of the idea of doing Project Based Learning (PBL) which is one of the Exploration in Liger year four.
Project-based learning is a very good way for learners to improve their skills and explore the real world. The government school didn’t have project-based learning like our school. Students just sit in the class, listen to their teacher, write the lesson down and then go home. So they didn’t have much knowledge or experience with the real situation. The PBL group had gone to introduce the students and teachers in Kratie and Phnom Penh high schools about project-based learning to let them have a better knowledge and real understanding. I want to bring this idea to all of the government school in Phnom Penh and Provinces, but it not only focuses on the lesson in the books. It also can be work with the other topic such as recycled, Art, or Citizen Science. I wish I can bring my experience to the other students and young kids by making a lesson plan, posters, or even fun activity that include in PBL.
In the year 2015-2016, I’ve learned so much and had lots of opportunities to share my knowledge with the other people about my project. They are Artist of Cambodia, Marine Conservation, Project-based learning, Kingdom Of Wow Talent Show, and I’m also a part of Local Library.
- Artist of Cambodia
- We are working on the recycled art in Cambodia by using 3R (reduce, reuse, recycle). Our goals are to change people’s perspective on the waste that they throw away every day. We make many recycled materials that are usable and some are for decoration. We take a baby step before a big change by doing it with dry waste.
- We run this project by collaborating with the community people that are near our school. In this exploration, we have been doing some activities such as collecting waste from community people, visiting CINTRI Company, a trip to Takeo province for teaching NFO organization students, Campaign at the market and a big show on the Sharation day.
- After doing all of this activities, we get at list 60% successful. This been working so well with the students and young adult but it so difficult for the old people because they used to their everyday habit already, so it will take them longer than the other people to help change with the waste.
- Marine Conservation
- On this exciting exploration, we researched about marine life and tried to understand the marine problems in Cambodia. Our biggest goal was to protect Cambodia’s marine ecosystem. To accomplish this goal we worked really hard to finish a Proposal for a Feasibility Study of Algal Farming as an Alternative Livelihood for Cambodian Fishermen. We travel along with three facilitators to Koh Seh which is an island in Kep province. We went there to work with an organization named Marine Conservation Cambodia (MCC) which helps to protect the marine life in Kep province.
- In this exploration, we did reef survey, collecting the waste on the island, history study about the island, seahorse presentation, self-directed study (students have their own topic about marine to study), snorkel and diving lesson, recycled, and a big researching about algal farming.
- We didn’t get a chance to work with community people but what we can do is we can help to protect our marine life and share what we learn with the other people in our BIG day.
- Project-bases Learning
- This big group divides into three groups, Literacy, STEM and Project Evaluation. Our goal is to bring the new style of learning that help them to have a better knowledge and real understanding.
- After spending seven weeks working on this project we can see that students are really happy and enjoy with the new style of learning. Some people requesting us for continue this project and some told us that this is the first time that they go and interview people in their village about their lesson and turn their lesson into the short movie for performing.
- The Kingdom Of Wow
- The Kingdom of Wow is the talent show that is able to invite and give the opportunity to the kids in Cambodia to show what their talent is. Four students and one teacher that is calling KWOW Committee are working so hard to make this event happen, and am also one of them.
- We have been contacting and visiting many schools in Phnom Penh for letting their students join our talent show. We tell them our goal that want to help preserve our Cambodia’s song, dance, culture and to show us what they got. In every week four of us (students) spending 1 to 2-hour practicing songs with the kid in a government school that are in our community.
- After working so hard for about 6 months we decide to have the event in ISPP Black Box Theater for 25 acts that divide into four different categories such as a song, dance, music bands and magic trick. In total there are about 96 performers that are coming from nine different schools around Phnom Penh. From the experience this year we decided to have this event again next year and maybe continue for another 3 years. We hope to get more acts and performers to join in to make the event become more awesome.
- The Kingdom of Wow is the talent show that is able to invite and give the opportunity to the kids in Cambodia to show what their talent is. Four students and one teacher that is calling KWOW Committee are working so hard to make this event happen, and am also one of them.
- Local Library
- I am not the members in Local Library group but I also like to help them bring it to my community. After setting up the library, people start to sign out the book. Just one day with 15 books has gone from the library. Some of the kids that are below 12 years old knock on the door of my house and asking for more books and some asking me to read the English book and translate it for them. I know I cannot make the big library with all the fancy book and learning materials for them right now but what I can do is to try my best sharing what I have with them and try hard to make it come true in one day.