Category: Changing Cambodia

At the end of each academic year, we are asked to write a reflection on the following questions: How did I think about the change? How did I raise awareness about necessary change? How did I try to promote and encourage change? How did I develop the possibility of change? How did I actually create change?

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Changing Cambodia 2015-2016

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.

  1. Artist of Cambodia
    1. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
  2. Marine Conservation
    1. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
  3. Project-bases Learning
    1. 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.
    2. 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.
  4. The Kingdom Of Wow
    1. 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.
      1. 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.
      2. 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.
  5. Local Library
    1. 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.

 

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Changing Cambodia 2014-2015

In between 2014-2015 I have four Explorations. In every Exploration, I have learned lots of things and I also helped to change my country. My Explorations was Tech Support (I had it twice), Recycle Community and Entrepreneurship. In Tech Support class I went to Singapore to study technology with UWCSEA students. UWCSEA stood for United World College South East Asia. My group also helped to fix other NGO computers. We went to Takeo to fix some computers for Green Umbrella, Chbar Ampov Market to fix the computer for Tiny Toones and teach their students how to use a computer. Our team also fixed another 5 computers that QB have donated to us. After we fixed QB computers we didn’t keep to use by our self but we also donated it to other NGO. There are more things that we did in this Exploration. The next Exploration was Recycle Community. In this Exploration, we focused on plastic and other wastes. We went into the community to ask some questions to community people about plastic and waste. Example: What will you do after you use all the plastic bag? Do you recycle your plastic or waste? Do you use another thing to pack thing instead of plastic? etc…After we did this survey we came up with an idea to a created new thing from plastics and made a lesson plan for community people. We have invited some community people to our school and taught them how to recycle the plastic and other materials. We also went to Ministry of Environment and Sinty to study more and knew more how the plastic waste and another waste effect to the environment. Next Exploration is Entrepreneurship. In Entrepreneurship, we focused on business and a 3D printer. In this group, I had help, other people, to make their own styles by using my pendant. They could make anything from my pendant. Example: make necklace, bracelet or keychain. This all the things that I had help and changed Cambodia. If I only help one part in Cambodia but I’m happy. I hope in the future the people that I have help can continue to practice their computer skill and try to make other styles from my pendants. Now I and other people in my team are working on coding and designing an app to help Cambodian people to know more about plastic. This project happens at Development Innovation. It is one of the competitions for Cambodian girls. If we win this competition we will put our app online, then other people in Cambodia can use. My teams and other teams have working on it for three months. The benefit of our app is to teach people, especially household and the people that have a smartphone, android to manage their waste. Our app also has video that is used to teach other people how to make a new thing from plastic and other wastes. Our user can post their own video or photo that are related to the recycling things. They also can get the point and like from their friends and they can use their point to buy cloth for their avatar and other things that we have put in our app. I hope my app is the winner and I hope there are lots of people use my app. There are more thing that I want to continue helping to change Cambodia. The most thing that I want to change for now is Education in Cambodia. As you know Cambodia is the developing Country. If it develops, but it only develop in one place or it only develops at the fancy city or provinces. I can see that there are more children that need help from the organization and other NGO. I know that they have a chance to study but they didn’t get a chance to study new thing and have a chance to raise their own idea up and play or study about their idea. In the future, I want to spend my whole time in my Exploration or other class with other students from other place and teach them what I have learned and what are the new things that they can try.