Battambang, Cambodia

Battambang, Cambodia

15th June – 24th June

15th June

After a few stops for toilet breaks and food, and a few naps, we made it from Phnom Penh to Battambang in about five and a half hours. As our time in Battambang was mostly for spending time volunteering in a school, we didn’t have anything booked for when we arrived, as we were expecting the director of the school to be collecting us. As we arrived at the bus stop a little later than we should have, we thought that we had missed our ride, as no one was there for us.

We waited for about ten minutes before finding a number online and ringing the school. We weren’t waiting much longer until Kamnat (the director) was there picking us up in his tuk tuk. He took us straight to the school, where we were introduced straight to the other volunteers.

As lessons started at 1pm, we got there just after, so most of the volunteers were actually in class, but two long standing volunteers were out of class and made us feel so welcome from the moment we stepped off the tuk tuk. We got some guidance about what happens in the school and how it all works, before we had a bit of a tour. Joe was a little bit worried and sceptical about it all at first, but as soon as he spoke to others, he felt a little better.

Once our tour was over, it was time for the children to have a break. When the bell rang, the children all came out to play, while all the volunteers gathered on the porch of the volunteer house and had a break too. This was the first difference between English schools and AKD (our new school), as there was no supervision for the children, they were left to have free reign of the playground and outdoor classrooms – the volunteers just had to make sure they had brought all of their resources (including pencils) back to the house so that things didn’t go missing. We met all of the other volunteers, which was a little overwhelming at first but everyone was lovely and welcoming.

Everything at AKD is there thanks to donations and volunteers. The school is designed to offer free English lessons to underprivileged children and Kamnat (also one of the founders) wants to do this as well as he can, so it is so important to look after everything and teach the children about respect, so that they look after things too.

When the break was over, the volunteers and children took themselves back to their classrooms to carry on their lessons. While they were in lessons, me and Joe wandered in and out of the classrooms having a look at what goes on. This brought about difference number two: the classroom rules are a little more flexible, as children stood on chairs and were able to wander out of the classroom for toilet breaks whenever they needed. They always came back apparently, but it’s a big difference. We didn’t stay in classes for too long, as I know what it’s like to be teaching a lesson and have someone just walk in, so I didn’t want to do that to others, as I had already heard how uncertain some of them were with teaching.

Lessons finished at 3, and this is where I saw difference number three, as children from as young as five just got their bags and took themselves home. I don’t think I saw any parents come to collect children, but apparently the odd one does. A few children stayed around and played on the equipment in the grounds. They weren’t exactly supervised but I guess it was better they stayed in school if no one was at home, as we were around if they needed help.

When 4pm came around, some more children arrived for their lessons. These were older children, so their English was a little better and they didn’t need local teachers in their classes, like the younger children had. Not all of the volunteers had lessons at 4, but throughout the afternoon, between 4 and 7pm, different students came and went for an hour at a time (older students from the age of 12, up to the age of 21) for their lessons and all the volunteers taught at least one extra lesson during this time.

Taking a walk around the school grounds


While the ‘afternoon lessons’ (the lessons between 4 and 7, while the lessons between 1 and 3 are referred to as morning lessons) were going on, me and Joe decided to go for a walk. We didn’t really know where we were going, so just walked for a little while, and on our way back, I got my first ice cream in Cambodia – it was only pre-made magnum type ice cream, but it was good enough.

When we got back, we chilled out and chatted some more, until dinner was served just after 7. ‘Mama’, Kamnat’s wife, does all of the cooking in the house. Their family house (for Kamnat, Mama, and their three children Mana, Vathanak and Sanai) was a handmade shed type building on the school ground. They have one section for their one bedroom and one for the kitchen. Their bathroom was outside and the buildings were for the volunteers, as they want us to be comfy – such selfless people. Dinner was delicious and enjoyed by everyone.

I sat and chatted to Sanai – Kamnat and mama’s youngest

The family house
The volunteer’s house

After dinner, we got ready and all went out to a music pub quiz in the centre of Battambang. We set off just after 8, taking the school’s tuk tuk car. The quiz started just after 9, once we had all arrived, and the fourteen of us, made up the only two teams there.

The quiz involved lots of different rounds, which I didn’t have much input into, and some dancing, which I also didn’t contribute much to. The team that I wasn’t on, won, but they still shared the prize with whoever wanted it.

We head home just before midnight, after a long day of travelling and meeting new people. Our bed for the evening (as there were so many volunteers) was a wooden table bed in the communal area. We weren’t bothered though, as Mama tried her best to make it as comfy as possible for us and we knew we could move the next morning when others left. As we were in the communal area, it took a while to get to sleep as others were coming in and out for a while, but it was much better than expected.

 

16th June

As we were in the communal area, we were awake quite early, as others were getting up, ready to leave. The two long standing volunteers (Katha and Peter) had been at the school for four months, but it was now time for them to move on with their travels. We had only met them less than 24 hours earlier and could already see what an impact they had had on the school, so it was a difficult goodbye for them.

Once they had left, and another group had left for Siem Reap for the weekend, there were only seven of us left at the house. Mama and the three children had also gone to Siem Reap for the weekend, so Kamnat was also around. We had a chilled morning at the school. We sat around chatting with other volunteers and got to know a little bit more about the place.

The morning soon went by, and it was time for lunch. As well as juggling his tuk tuk tours and the school, Kamnat also cooked us a delicious lunch. We ate that and chilled out a little more, before Kamnat took the two of us on a tour of our own, around some of the sights of Battambang.

Kamnat offers tours to tourists all over Battambang, as a way of trying to promote the school and raise money for it. It isn’t exactly his dream, as he would like to be at the school more and be involved with the running of things, but it’s his way to keep funds up, so that he can keep the school going.

Although the tours are flexible and we can choose where we want to go, from a book of sights Kamnat has, we just went along with wherever Kamnat wanted to take us, as we didn’t know where things were or what was easiest to get to.

Our first stop was to the bamboo train. The train track has been there for a while and was used, at one point, to transport rice around the country. Now, it is more of a tourist attraction, as the train runs along the tracks carrying tourists through the countryside. The ride was fun and a little different, as it wasn’t exactly a train, but more of a platform with a motor. The views of the countryside were beautiful, as we drove along, taking it all in.



As it was only a single track, on the way back, when there was another ‘train’ coming towards us, we had to stop. We had to get off our cart, while they took is off the tracks and pushed the other one through. They then rebuilt the train on the tracks and we could carry on.

Other passengers coming towards us
Out train came off the tracks

Once the trip was over, we met back up with Kamnat, who told us that we were back very quickly. There was nothing that we could do about it at this point, and we had fun, so we carried on our tour.

Stop number two was to the large statue of the king on the roads in town. It’s a famous statue all over Cambodia, which people come to Battambang for. When they arrive, they pray and worship at the statue, leaving flowers and offerings. The name of the town comes from this king, as one day he got angry and threw his magic stick into the canal. He looked and looked for it, but no matter what, he couldn’t find it. The word ‘bat’ means to lose and ‘tambang’ is a stick, hence the name Battambang, meaning lose stick town.


From the statue, we went to look at some temples and pagodas. Arriving at the Buddhist temple at Somrong Knong, we learned more about the Khmer Rouge taking over the country. The temple was built in 1707 but was taken over during 1975 and 1979 to be used as a prison. The temple is now deserted and unused.

Buddhist Temple used during Khmer Rouge



In the same grounds, we drove by a torture house, used by the Khmer Rouge, before arriving at a memorial stupa. Walking around the stupa, Kamnat gave us lots of information about what happened during the time of their reign. He was very knowledgeable, telling us lots of information that we had already learned, but it still shocked me that this happened in such recent times. The stupa had images around the bottom of some of the most remembered moments, but none of them were happy.

Memorial stupa

Something new that we learned, is that the Khmer Rouge forced mass marriages across people that didn’t even know each other. It was shocking to learn that Kamnat’s parents were two of these people who were forced to be married. He said that he is lucky though as they are still together now, but that must have been unbelievably difficult for them. Curious, I asked Kamnat whether he was alive during the Khmer Rouge reign and he said he was born twenty days before the Vietnamese came in, again stating how lucky he was.

Kamnat’s family were very poor when he was growing. He was the oldest of nine siblings, and when he was fourteen he had to leave school to help work on his family’s farm. This made him more determined to learn, so when he was sixteen, he joined the monkhood, where he didn’t need to rely on his parents. This is also where he learnt English, and he lived there for ten years. Sadly, now he only has three younger sisters still alive, as his other siblings got sick and his family were too poor to afford medicine.

From the temples, we went to try some bamboo sticky rice. Kamnat showed us the place where is best to get the sticky rice, and showed us how they make it. The bamboo trees are cut up and filled with sicky rice. The sticky rice is made up of rice, coconut water, sugar and black beans. The bamboo stick is then wrapped in banana leaves and left to cook on a low heat for two hours. We bought a stick and it was really tasty but not what I imagined it to taste like – it was more like a dessert.

Bamboo sticky rice


From here, we went to learn about how rice paper is made. First of all, rice powder is made after a large pot of rice is left for over 24 hours. The rice is then ground down and the water is drained out through a fine filter. The next step is to light a fire under a pot and put a cloth film over the top. The rice powder is then poured onto the film and left for a minute. When it is taken off, it is put onto a bamboo sheet and left in the sun to dry out for fifteen minutes. On a good day, two thousands sheets can be produced, if the sun is out.

Big pots of rice
Rice paper making equipment
Drying racks
Lots of rice paper, ready to eat
The first time I had seen a pineapple plant!

To use the rice paper sheets (which are now hard), they need to wet them slightly before wrapping them around the food to make spring rolls.

We started to make our way back to school, stopping at an ancient temple along the way. It was an interesting temple and we couldn’t tell if it had been destroyed, or if it was falling down, or what, but it wasn’t in perfect condition. We walked up and had a look around , before heading back to the tuk tuk.



When we got back to school, it was around 4pm. We got back just in time, as some of the others were setting up a movie. We got the projector out and all sat around watching a film and chilling out. Coincidentally, as the movie finished, the World Cup matches were starting, so they made their way onto the big screen next.

In between matches, we had a break for dinner, which Kamnat was cooking, while teaching his tourism class. On Saturdays and Sundays, Kamnat teaches classes to older children who already have a good understanding of English. They come for extra lessons to learn how to be tour guides, to give tours to tourists. It’s a good employment opportunity for them and helps Kamnat with his tours. As he was juggling both, I went out and tried to help with dinner, but he had it mostly under control.

After dinner, and more World Cup matches, it was late, so we went to bed. It was another late night, but we already loved the school and the atmosphere and were having such a good time.

 

17th June

When we woke up, we weren’t really sure what was going on with our day. We had spoken to Kamnat the night before and he said he would take the five of us (the five volunteers still staying) to a lake nearby. However, we got up just before 9 and Kamnat realised he had to take two others to the bus station. This was fine though, as we thought that we would just go when he got back.

We had some breakfast and waited for Kamnat to come back, before talking to him about the day. When he got back, he said we would be better going to the lake after lunch, as our day could get very expensive if we had to buy lunch out. We were all more than happy with this plan, as it saved money, so instead, me, Joe, Nathalia, Jalal and Jason stayed around the school and played cards for the morning.

Kamnat prepared lunch for us and it was delicious, as always. He works non-stop to make people happy all the time and is such a gentleman too. Once we had eaten, we assumed that we would be going out, but he had to nip out to help a friend buy a house, so we all agreed that we would go at 2.

After chilling out some more and playing more cards, 2pm soon came around and Kamnat still wasn’t back. We discussed amongst ourselves and agreed to mention to Kamnat that we leave it for the day, as it was late, he was busy and had class to come back to for 6. Also, the next day was a public holiday, so the children weren’t coming to school (that was just our luck really, that we picked to come on a public holiday week).

When Kamnat arrived back again, we told him our plan and he seemed grateful for the break, so agreed. As he loves to please, he wasn’t quite happy about leaving us with nothing to do (and I was getting fidgety as it was afternoon and we had done nothing), so he asked if we wanted to go fishing instead, as it was much more local.

After about ten minutes, we all piled into the tuk tuk, with the fishing net and a bucket, and off we went. We drove for about fifteen minutes until we arrived at the river, where we stopped. Kamnat said the water levels were a little low, but we had a go anyway (sort of). We all walked down to the water and Kamnat threw the net in. When he pulled it out, there was only a tiny little fish in it, but he said it was okay to take. Kamnat threw the net a few times and chatted to another man who was also there, before he decided to move on as apparently some people had been fishing there this morning, so there wasn’t much left.

When we arrived at the next spot, we all got out again, but the bank was muddy and slippery at this spot, so me and Nathalia stayed at the top, while the boys went down. Kamnat had another go, before trying to teach the boys how to throw it. Kamnat obviously made it look easy, as the boys were all useless, but they tried!

Kamnat showing the boys how it’s done





After they had all had a few goes each, Kamnat took it back off them and tried again. He still wasn’t very successful and we only had a few little fish, but he decided to give up.

On the way back, we stopped off at the first site for another try, but there still wasn’t much there. He then hailed down a motorbike selling ice creams and bought us all a coconut ice cream with black beans – I wasn’t keen on the beans but the ice cream itself was good. When we got back to the school, it was almost time for Kamnat’s lesson to start. The boys washed off their muddy feet, before we played a few more rounds of cards.

When Kamnat’s students arrived, he tried to balance the cooking and teaching again, so I stepped in a little earlier. I ground together some ingredients (selected by Kamnat) to make a paste for the meat, which smelt delicious. I then fried the ‘green eggs’ (which was egg with green vegetables), so we all had an omelette each, before I barbequed the beef. We probably put the beef on too late as it took a while to cook, and then we cooked it too quick, so it was tough, but I just followed Kamnat’s guidance.


After dinner, we cleared up, before it was time for more World Cup games. The projector screen came out again and the five of us sat around. I didn’t really watch it, but I was there for the company. Once the games were over, we packed up and went to bed, making it another late night for us.

 

18th June

We had another start to the day where we were uncertain what was happening. As we had had a late night, I didn’t want to get up too early, to wait around, but I also didn’t want to keep Kamnat waiting. I got up at 8 to check what was happening and no one was around, so I climbed back into bed and got some more sleep.

When I got up at 9, there still wasn’t really anything happening, but I got up and showered anyway as I needed to wash the sticky humidity off me. Once I was ready, I sat on the porch and chilled out, waiting for others to get up and ready. I spoke to Kamnat and he said that he was ready to go when everyone was up, so everyone got up and ready.

Once everyone was finally ready, we left the school just after 11. We were going on a trip to Kamnat’s parents, as he wanted to show us where they lived, as they had their own plantation. On the way, we stopped off and Kamnat bought us an ice pop to keep us going, before carrying on.

It was quite a distance away, but when we eventually arrived, his parents had made lunch for us. His little niece was there too and she was a very chatty one, but she only spoke Khmer so we had no idea what she was saying.  For lunch, there was cooked little fish, which were still whole, but once Kamnat showed us how to ‘peel them’ I was fine and they were so tasty. We also had rice and chicken, but there was all sorts of the chicken in the bowl, including their feet, so I didn’t eat any – the sauce it was in was nice though. Joe lost two games of odds, so ended up eating two chillis, which were a struggle for him, but he managed.

During lunch, Kamnat told us more about the Khmer Rouge period. What I didn’t realise is that, even though their reign ended in 1979, they were still around until 1998, which seems ridiculous! He told us a story of when he was a child, about 8 or 9, he was playing and blowing things through a pipe at the tree. I think he said it was thorns he was blowing, but I couldn’t be 100% sure. One day, the thorn got stuck half way, so he tried to pull it back a little by sucking but it went straight into his throat.

As there was no medical help nearby, Kamnat’s dad had to take him to the border, but he had to carry him on his back, and it was a long way! He said, along the way, they came across the Khmer Rouge, who would usually shoot whoever they came across. Luckily, they felt sorry for him as he was so sick, and they gave him some medicine. He said there were lots of times he should have died during this time, but he eventually got better and better when he got home.

After lunch, Kamnat told us to relax in the hammocks, so we did. We relaxed so much, that we all ended up having a little nap. When we woke up, it was already 2.45 and we still had to go to the lake. We got up and asked Kamnat and he took us on a tour of the plantation, before we left.

Kamnat’s parents’ house

 

Papaya Tree
Banana Tree

Once we were finished with the mini tour, we set off towards the lake. It was another lengthy drive, but we arrived in about twenty more minutes. The lake we were going to, Kamping Puoy Dam, is a man-made lake, that people were forced to dig during the reign of the Khmer Rouge. Thousands and thousands of people were involved in digging the lake and many lost their lives.

Beautiful rice terraces along the way

When we arrived, I couldn’t believe the size of it! I knew it would be big, but I didn’t expect to not be able to see to the other side of it! We got out of the tuk tuk and Kamnat said that we could get a boat out to the other side and swim, if we wanted.

The dam where lots of locals swim
Kamping Puoy Dam

The five of us (Kamnat stayed behind) got into the boat, which took us across the lake. However, it dropped us off at a tree, in the middle of the lake, and then disappeared. We were pretty much stranded for an hour. Jason got into the only rubber dingy we had and floated away, and the rest of us went for a swim around the tree. After a while, it got pretty cold, so we ended up getting out and waiting on our ‘island’ for the boat to come back to us.

Our ‘island’
Joe struggling to get off the boat
Being deserted

It was a pretty place to be stranded

Waiting in the cold for our boat to return

When the boat got back, Kamnat was with the driver, but there was still no sign of Jason, on the rubber ring. We were picked up and taken to the lotus farm on the water, where there were lots of beautiful lotus flowers, we got to try lotus fruit and we looked at how thread can be made from the stem of the lotus flower – this demo was done my Jalal and Nathalia who had seen it done somewhere else, but it was so fascinating.

Joe’s crazy hair

Lotus Farm
Trying lotus fruit
Lotus thread




After our visit to the lotus farm, we went back to the land. Luckily, Jason was there, as he had drifted so far, he reached the land, which is what we expected. We climbed out of the boat and made our way back to the tuk tuk, as we needed to get back. While we were on the tree island, there were many calls to Kamnat’s phone (which we were looking after) from the French girls and Mama, as they had arrived back from Siem Reap, but couldn’t get in to the school grounds.

It took us about half an hour to get back to the school, and when we did everyone was back and had managed to get in. We sat down and chatted and caught up on the weekend. We all had dinner, which was bought sandwiches from town, as it was already after 7 and no one had time to cook. It wasn’t much, but it was fine.

After dinner, we played some cards and chilled out for the evening. When the World Cup was on, the projector came out. I sat and kind of watched, but did some blog work, before going to bed quite late again, after the football finished.

 

19th June

The next morning, I got up just before 9 and decided to do some cleaning. It’s our job to keep the house clean and tidy, so I felt it only fair to do my bit. I cleaned the bathroom, although most of the cleaning products had run out, before sweeping the communal areas and cleaning the tables. Joe cleaned the kitchen area, before we sat and had some breakfast.

After breakfast, everyone started to plan their lessons for the day. I was co-teaching with a French girl who had already been there a week, and she had already planned the lesson. This was good I guess, but I always find it difficult teaching off someone else’s plans, but she was happy to take the lesson. I had two lessons with the same girl, so both of those were already planned, but then I had a third lesson with a different French girl, so we sat and planned that together.

Once planning was finished, lunch was served at 12. We had our lunch, while children started to arrive. Cambodian school finishes at 11am, for primary students, so some of them come straight to AKD, after getting changed.

At 1pm, the bell rang and the lessons begun. My first class had about twenty children in, aged between five and eight. They were the youngest class and had the least English, which made it even more of a challenge, but we had a local teacher too, who could help translate for us. As I wasn’t leading the lesson, I stayed back a little bit and just watched the class to see how they were; I knew they were going to be a challenge (especially as they didn’t understand most of what I was saying).

They were cute though!

As I was the only qualified teacher in the school (everyone else was new to it all), it was really difficult at times to sit back and watch things being taught in the incorrect way. For the children’s sake, it was difficult for me to not step in, but I didn’t want to seem like I was taking over, on day one.

When it was break time (at 1.50), the children stopped for cleaning break. Cleaning break is usually on Monday, but as it was public holiday on Monday, we were doing it on Tuesday instead. The children all gathered in the playground and talked about why it was important to clean, before they collected bins and picked up all of the rubbish. Of course, some children didn’t do anything but play, but most of the children got involved.

Clean up time!

As it was cleaning break, the children got a little longer to play, so we didn’t go back to class until 2.20. Back in class, the lesson had moved from the alphabet and numbers, to colours. It was difficult to watch, as the children were so good at it, and they weren’t learning anything new. Luckily the lesson was shorter than it should have been because the other volunteer ran out of things to do with them, so it was hard to keep them under control, even with the help of the local teacher.

At 3, the lessons ended for the younger children, and they all took themselves off, home. From the sounds of it, Joe’s children were angels, but they were a bit older, with a better understanding of English, so it was understandable. Most volunteers had a break from 3 until 5, but Joe had two different conversation classes in this time. The conversation classes were two older students, who had a good understanding of the English language, but came to practice their conversational skills.

When Joe’s classes finished at 5, my next one began. The next class was with older students, who were in high school. They had a much better understanding of English, so it was easier to talk to them. The class was only small, and only one student had turned up at first, so it seemed a little silly that two volunteers were needed, but the girl I was volunteering with didn’t have much confidence, so I was there to support her. By the end of the lesson, we had two students, who we worked through a work booklet with.

The evening lessons only lasted for an hour. At 6, I swapped classrooms and had my final lesson of the day. This final class was much bigger, with about twelve students turning up. This lesson was taught with the same volunteer who my first class was with, so it was already planned before I knew I had the class. I watched again, as she lead the class, getting involved with the students, when they were completing activities.

Lessons finished at 7, and when they did, dinner was on the table for us. We all sat around and ate dinner, with the football set up. Colombia were playing, and as Nathalia is Colombian, she was keen to watch it and get everyone cheering for her country. While we were having dinner, the French made crepes for dessert. These were good and a nice treat, while the football was on.

When the football finished, we sat around and chatted, eating more crepes, until we all eventually ended up going to bed just after 10.

 

20th June

We got up just before 9 again the next day. We had breakfast and got to work planning lessons. My co-volunteer had asked me if I wanted to plan the lesson for the afternoon session, which I was fine with doing, but all other volunteering pairs seemed to work together, so I’m not sure why ours had to be one or the other.

I planned the lesson anyway, and as the children had never had a story (apparently), I thought it would be good to include one in the lesson. This was difficult, as the library wasn’t exactly bursting with stories, and there was nothing big enough for the whole class to see, so I decided that I would use the projector instead.

The mornings went by so quickly, and we were soon being served up with a fresh cooked meal from mama. We sat and had lunch while the children started to arrive. At 1, the bell rang again and off we went to lessons.

As it was my first day taking the class, I tried to get the local teacher involved a little more, to help with translations, but she ended up sitting at the back of the class with the other volunteer, looking on their phones at one point, which was a little difficult.

During the break, I tried to set up the projector but for some reason, it wouldn’t link with my laptop properly and I ran out of time. I had to try and make it work without the projector, so I got all of the children on the floor around my laptop. It wasn’t the most ideal situation, and they wouldn’t all sit still, but most of them listened.

Lessons finished at 3 again, and while most of us had a break, Joe had his conversation classes.

At 5, when Joe’s classes finished, mine began again with the older students. The first class is very boring, and textbook based, but as I was only staying a week, I didn’t want to take over and start suggesting new things, as my co-volunteer in this lesson was already less confident, so I didn’t want to start changing things for her. From 6 until 7, I was asked to lead the lesson. It seemed to work really well, as we bounced off each other and helped the class with their activities, so that was good.

At 7, dinner was ready again, after lessons were over. Apart from the few of us who were teaching from 6 until 7, everyone else was showered and ready to go out. Wednesday nights are pub quiz nights at one of the local pubs, so after dinner, we all set off there.

Kamnat brought us some red ants and eggs to try before we left

When we arrived, we were just in time for the start. We split into two teams, but the quiz was so hard. Luckily Jalal was on my team, as he had so much knowledge, but it still wasn’t enough to win. Although we weren’t dead last, as Joe’s team had even less knowledge than us.

Once the quiz was over, we set off back to school. When we got back, a new volunteer had arrived but she was too tired to come out and say hi, she just wanted to sleep, which was fair enough. We sat outside and chatted for a bit, before heading to bed.

 

21st June

The morning routine was the same throughout the week, pretty much. We got up and ate breakfast, before planning our lessons. According to the pattern of the teaching, it should have been the other volunteer’s turn to teach the afternoon class, but she asked me to do it again. She told me to ask her if I wanted help planning, but she was never around during planning time. While I finished getting my lesson ready, Joe nipped out to get some more water and a fresh pineapple juice.

Lunch was ready at 12 again, and the bell rang for class at 1.

I lead the lesson again, getting even less help from the other adults. I don’t know if it’s because I didn’t directly give them anything to do, but surely it’s obvious when there are multiple children out of their seats, that intervention is needed from adults, as I couldn’t help each child individually, all at once. Even when I asked for help, there wasn’t much support from the other volunteer, so I just carried on with a smile on my face and lots of hand actions and drawings to try and get the children to understand.

During the break, it rained quite heavily but this didn’t bother the children, until mama came out and shouted at them. They ran under shelter until it passed a little and then were straight back out.

The second half of the lesson was more of a challenge for me, but I kept it upbeat for the children’s sake and got them involved.

At 3, while Joe had his conversation classes, I spoke to one of the students who I met at the weekend. She was in Joe’s morning class and lived next to the school and I had spoke to her quite a bit. I did a video of her speaking, to show my class when I get home, and she gave me a tour of the school.

I had my usual classes again 5 until 6, and 6 until 7. In the 5 until 6 class, there is one boy who is very clever and much better at English, than the others. He spoils it for the others a bits, as he tells them the answers, and when we ask him not to, he just speaks in Khmer.

As the students that come 6 until 7, are coming straight from school, they are usually late, as they don’t finish school until 6 and then get caught in traffic. The class usually starts at 6.15, when most students have arrived.

When 6.15 came around, my co-volunteer wasn’t there, so I decided to start without her, as most of the class were ready. I’m not sure that this went down too well, as she didn’t get involved at all, all lesson. Luckily it didn’t matter too much with the older children, as they could sit still, it just meant that they didn’t get as much support as normal, as I couldn’t get around quick enough.

After classes, we had dinner, followed by a chilled evening. The football was set up again, but I ended up going to the room for something and not coming back out. I’m not sure what we had done to upset the girls from France, but there was definitely awkward tension and I couldn’t be bothered sitting outside uncomfortably.

 

22nd June

On Friday morning, we changed our routine a little, as we all went out for breakfast. It sounded like a great idea in theory, but it was still awkward for us. When we got there, two of the group had arrived earlier and got a table for the ten of us. It was split slightly with a thin pillar in between and for some reason, no one wanted to sit on the four with us. I don’t know what we did to them, or if they were just rude people in general but it just made it more awkward.

Breakfast was tasty though, and it was all you could eat (which turned out to be not very much for me). We had yoghurt and fresh fruit with granola and there were even eggs available. We ate so much, we could barely move.

At around 11, we made our way back to the school, to get our lessons organised. I ended up planning the afternoon session again, which I didn’t mind, as I knew the children a lot better at this point. Lunch was served at 12 again, but I was still too full to eat, so I gave lunch a miss.

When the bell rang at 1, we all went off to class. It was my last lesson with my younger class, so I had planned some nice activities with them and wanted a photo with them at the end. The local teacher didn’t turn up for this lesson, which was annoying as some children don’t understand much at all, but it just made it a bigger challenge for me. I taught the lesson as best as I could with no translator, but my co-volunteer wasn’t much help, as she just sat at the back of class on her phone, only helping students when they approached her.

In the second half of the lesson, I had an activity which needed a lot of explanation. As I had no one to translate, I had to practically do the activity for the children on the board, but most of them got the gist of it, in the end. As I tried to tell them a story again, at the end of the lesson, it didn’t quite go to plan as the class next door were playing the macarena. I tried to control the class on my own and when I asked my co-volunteer for help (as she sat there on her phone) her response was that they should go and dance next door, so I just gave in and let them go as the lesson was almost over anyway. As the bell rang they all came back, and I got a photo with them, before they left. It wasn’t how I wanted to say goodbye to the class, but they just didn’t understand anything I was saying, so it was too hard to control them on my own.

They were crazy but I loved them already, after only four days!

During my 3 until 5 break, I took the laundry to the local shop, while Joe had his classes. I chilled out for a bit and made a video for the school, before my next classes.

Joe’s conversation class

For the first time, all three students turned up for the 5 until 6 class and we tried to make it a little more interesting for them, but the booklet doesn’t allow for much creativity. For the 6 until 7 class, my co-volunteer told me that she wasn’t coming as she wasn’t any help the previous day. I couldn’t argue with that and the class was so much better on my own. The students engaged in the activity, although they found it difficult and I got some good pieces of writing out of them.

After class, we had dinner as always and everyone got ready to go out. As they were planning a big night and we were obviously already a burden to be with, for the French girls, we decided to stay in, and it was such a good decision.

Once everyone had gone out, we sat with the family and chatted. The children came onto the porch and we took some photos and played with them, before they went to bed. I then cut Joe’s hair, before we got the projector out and had a movie night. I didn’t quite get through the film though, before falling asleep.

Some time with the gorgeous family


 

23rd June

As our teaching time at AKD was over, and we knew everyone else would be rough from their night out, we had a little lie in. I got up around 9, and we got ready. We didn’t have breakfast at school, instead we cycled into Battambang to explore the area.

In Battambang, I looked for a patch, but couldn’t find anything at all. We cycled around the streets looking for anything that was souvenir like with ‘Battambang’ on it, but we weren’t successful. Instead, we found an ice cream shop and decided to indulge.

As we hadn’t had proper ice cream in ages and hadn’t spent any money on a night out, we treated ourselves to a chocolate milkshake float each, and shared an ice cream, and it was so good! It was a little expensive, but it was most definitely worth it – we felt like we deserved it.

Ice cream treat

After a rest and our ice cream, we went to the supermarket, before heading back to school. On the way back, we collected our laundry and got to school just after 12.

Although we were back just in time for lunch, we were so full from our ice creams, we didn’t eat any. Nathalia and Jalal’s friends, who they met in Thailand, came to visit the school and sat and chatted with us for a while. A new volunteer, Simon, from America, arrived just after we got back too.

At 3, me Joe, Nathalia, Jalal and Simon went on a tour to the caves. I didn’t think we would get to see them, as we didn’t have any plans, but it was the only things that we hadn’t seen in Battambang, so we arranged it last minute.

Our first stop was the killing caves. Kamnat parked at the bottom of the hill and we had to walk up, which was unexpected and steep. On the way up, Kamnat gave us so much more information about the history of Cambodia. It’s such a sad and corrupt country, it’s amazing the people are still happy.

The bottom of the walk (we took the road way up)

Since the Vietnamese helped free Cambodia from the Khmer Rouge leadership, they have been under control of Vietnam. Vietnam have taken everything from Cambodia and have ruined their country. The deal was for them to have control for forty years, but as the forty year anniversary approached, Kamnat doesn’t believe that the Vietnamese will give Cambodia back and thinks that they will be forever under their control.

In this same deal, the Vietnamese bought Angor Wot, meaning that all of the money tourists pay to go to see the Angkor Wot temples, goes straight to Vietnam (which almost makes me not want to go, on principal).

Kamnat also explained that the people of Cambodia are much more in favour of the Khmer Rouge, but their purpose and not their regime, rather than the government which is in place now. He explained that the top leaders of the Khmer Rouge didn’t know what was going on during that time (but I’m not sure how that happened). He said under the leaders were thousands of people, a lot of those being Vietnamese. He said these were the people hiring the young Cambodians and ordering the killings, making it still true to be Cambodians killing Cambodians, but it being ordered by the Vietnamese.

In 1998, when the Khmer Rouge ended completely, they were integrated into the government. The leaders were offered jobs, to help remove any opposition when it came to re-elections. Re-elections today, still don’t happen, as the Prime Minister knows he will lose, so gets rids of his opponents before the voting happens. It’s unbelievably crazy to think that this still happens in the world and people get away with it! The Prime Minister now, is one that has been in power since the Vietnamese ‘freed’ Cambodia from the Khmer Rouge, so he is like their puppet, doing exactly what they want.

It is believed that eventually, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam will all be under the same Vietnamese power. It’s so sad to think that this is allowed to happen and no one can stop it.

When we got to the top, there was a temple up there. We saw some statues, which were statues of the Buddhist punishments in hell, depending on the Buddhist teachings. The statues were a little scary looking, but showed what happens if a person lies (has their teeth pulled out), is an alcoholic (forced to drink boiling water), commits adultery (forced to climb a thorny tree), looks down on their parents (has a saw through their head), is stingy (has their mouth sewn up to be only a pin hole size), and many other things.

Kamnat telling us about the statues

The people in the statues, carrying out the punishments, are the people who were happy for those committing crimes when they were alive, so if a person was rich from stealing and someone was happy for them, they would go to hell and carry out these tortures on others.

When we got to the killing cave, we bumped into the volunteer who arrived on Wednesday night. It was a little awkward, as she moved to another hotel on Thursday and said she would still come back to teach, which she did on Thursday, but then never turned up on Friday.

Views on the way up

We had a look around the caves and heard more sad stories from Kamnat. One of the caves, known as the frog cave, was where the children were killed and thrown. The killing cave had a hole at the top, where people were hit across the head and pushed in. There was no way out for them, so those that survived the fall, died a slow and painful death. This particular cave was used for killing 1009 people. If the people did something wrong, they were told that they needed an ‘education’ which was the term used when they were going to be killed – that was their lesson.

Frog cave
Killing cave

Victims’ remains
Looking down into the cave (from where victims were pushed)

After looking in the cave, we walked up to the top and looked down the hole where they were pushed. We carried on walking to another temple where there were lots of monkeys. Simon bought some bananas which made him very popular (which wasn’t a good thing), while we all had ice pops.

Cheeky monkeys!

Building new temples

We enjoyed the views and walked further up, sitting on the edge, looking out over the town of Battambang. We couldn’t stay for too long, as Kamnat had to get back for class at 6, so we walked back down, where we met mama. Kamnat rode back to school, while mama sat with us.

Beautiful views

At the bottom of the mountain was the bat cave, where over a million bats fly out of every night. The bats were already out when we arrived, so we just sat down and watched them. It was fascinating to think that they know what their doing; although some were just flying around in circles.

Bat cave

Just after 6.30, we were all ready to leave the bats and head back to school. Mama drove us back and we got home just after 7. While mama cooked dinner, we packed our bags, as we had an early start and needed to put all of our laundry away.

When dinner was ready, we sat down at the table and tucked in – we were so hungry, as we hadn’t had lunch. While eating, we had the football on, but I carried on with my video of the school. When it was finished, everyone wanted to watch it, so I let them. It was too late to show Kamnat and mama though, as they had already gone to bed.

One last photo with the family, minus Sanai who was already asleep


Once the video was complete, we went to our room to finish packing, and get some sleep ahead of our early start.

 

24th June

The next morning, the alarm went off at 6.30. We got up and ready and put the final things into our bags. There were a few of us leaving, so we piled our bags on the porch and said our goodbye. It didn’t take long as Nathalia was the only one that was up, that we were bothered about saying goodbye to.

Just after 7, three of us piled into the tuk tuk and set off to the bus offices in Battambang. Kamnat dropped the other girl off first, before taking us to our bus stop. We said our goodbyes and got onto the bus, to head to Siem Reap.

We were met with so many new challenges during our time at AKD, and we learnt so much. Besides a few of the people, it was one of the most amazing experiences and we will cherish the memories we made. Making a difference to the children’s learning was something that we didn’t expect to be able to do in just four days, but we did and the children we met were just gorgeous! We will miss AKD but will continue to help them when we get home, and hopefully come back and visit again one day. For now, it’s time for the traveling adventures to continue as we head into our final month!

Watch the video I created about this amazing place, here: https://vimeo.com/276707742

To travel is to live, Katie x

2 Replies to “Battambang, Cambodia”

  1. Aww, this is lovely, I’m so glad you were able to use your teaching skills to help out. Well done to you both! What a lovely, kind family they are!💖💙

  2. What an amazing family, and how wonderful to be part of it❤️. Such an experience for you both, well done 👏!😘xxx

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