A visit to the local villages

It's been three weeks since I stepped off the plane and began my life here in Cambodia.  Although I have adjusted to the heat and feel pretty comfortable finding my way around town , I have not even begun to scratch the surface in getting to know the community in which I live in.  

Prior to the start of summer school, all the new teachers were taken around to the local villages where our students live.  We were accompanied by one of the school staff members who is knowledgeable of Cambodian culture, speaks the language, and is a familiar face in the village.  We even met a few of the students and also visited a local elementary school.  Words cannot describe the level of poverty here and I am left speechless.  (It's taken me two weeks to process this visit so I can sit down and write this post for my blog...my eyes keep tearing up just recalling the images.)  The homes of my students are nothing more than simple wooden huts on stilts.  Although I knew this coming here, it was still stocking and leaves my heart feeling very heavy.    Some of the students' homes were washed away during last year's floods and they are still trying to rebuild them.  

When we visited the local elementary school, all the children were running around outside and playing.  The teachers were sitting in chairs under a tree, trying to stay cool.  After introducing ourselves to the teachers at the school, and they realized we were also teachers, they quickly ended "recess" and sent the students back to the classrooms.  Each of the eight classrooms had one teacher and about 50-60 students sitting on old wooden benches behind even older wooden tables.  The buildings were dilapidated with holes in the walls and ceiling.  There were very few, if any, books in the classroom and the teachers had very little control of the students.  One of the classrooms began reciting the Khmer alphabet but when asked what a particular letter was, they could not tell us.  The students were simply memorizing songs and not really learning much.  Knowing that most local schools function this way motivated me to work that much harder for my students.

Below are some pictures from this visit to the local village and the area surrounding the school.  I find the images both beautiful and heart-breaking.   

This is the dirt road that I take everyday to and from work.  My school picks up the teachers in town and transports us (via air-conditioned bus) to the school, which is located about 5 km out of town.  

A house in the village.  Houses that live in flood plains are built on stilts.  However, the insides of the houses are extremely hot and most of the actual furniture are under the house where it is a bit cooler.

Another house on stilts.

These two houses are ones that some of the students at my school live in.  We did go and visit the families and talk with the students, who were happy to see us and meet their family.

View from the back of the truck that took us around the villages.

This house has a car battery sitting out in front.  This is how some houses get electricity.

 This vehicle is delivering jugs of water to local villagers.

Walking along the dirt road, this guy is carrying a heavy load of palm branches.  Several houses' walls and roofs are made from this material.

This is a house that was affected by the flood.  At the peak of the flood, you could only see the roof of this house.  They are slowly rebuilding the side walls that were washed away.  The orange sheets hanging on the side of the house are the clothing of a monk.

Students from my school also live in these houses, or what's left of them.  The floods completely washed away most of homes in this little village.

This house has been completely abandoned after the flood.  If possible, families are moving to higher ground, especially since there is fear that the floods will return again this year.

Inside the abandon house was this basket and a flower growing up through the floor.  An image of "beauty", a sign of "hope" in a place that typically does not have these words associated with it?

I wonder if this chair was already in the house or  wash up from somewhere else and became lodged in the structure.  Note the plastic bottles...there is litter everywhere in Cambodia.  :(

There are several boats along the small rivers and streams throughout the villages.  Although they do not look functioning, many of them are...

 ...or they are used as a home.

This woman was happy to talk with us (through our translator) about the floods.  She expressed appreciation for the school coming out and helping the villagers but is concerned that the floods will return.  Here she is feeding her dog, two puppies, and a rooster their lunch...they all get rice.

Here's one of the puppies who took a chunk of rice and tried to hide behind us.  I don't think he wanted to share his lunch with the others.

We also visited a local Wat (a Buddhist temple).  This particular Wat housed many of the students and their families during the flood last year.

This building is where several families slept to get away from the flood waters.

Inside the Wat.

One of the monks standing in front of a beautiful painting on the wall.  The interior walls of the Wat are covered with these paintings and my camera will never do justice to the size and beauty of these images.