Peace Corps Volunteer Sarah writes: School starts in Cambodia



"The first of October we officially opened the new school year which involved all 2000 students marching through town carrying signs, speeches from community leaders, and lots of 'let me introduce you to our American teacher' and me smiling sweetly. To my surprise, school didn't start then. For the week, all the students came to school but only to clean the classrooms and plant grass. On Monday of this past week we had our Teacher Apprciation ceremony where the students organized an big event - sang karaoke (a Cambodian favorite), performed skits and gave all the teachers gifts - fabric for shirts/skirts for teaching. But school didn't start then either....now we are on holiday for 5 days and will MAYBE start on Monday....but no students have books yet and the teachers might stroll in around Tuesday or Wednesday from their holiday travels."

Peace Corps Volunteer Sarah writes: School starts in Cambodia

Friday, October 12, 2007

Desserts, School, Holiday, and Rain

[Excerpt]

In other news, school has sort of started back. The first of October we officially opened the new school year which involved all 2000 students marching through town carrying signs, speeches from community leaders, and lots of 'let me introduce you to our American teacher' and me smiling sweetly. To my surprise, school didn't start then. For the week, all the students came to school but only to clean the classrooms and plant grass. On Monday of this past week we had our Teacher Apprciation ceremony where the students organized an big event - sang karaoke (a Cambodian favorite), performed skits and gave all the teachers gifts - fabric for shirts/skirts for teaching. But school didn't start then either....now we are on holiday for 5 days and will MAYBE start on Monday....but no students have books yet and the teachers might stroll in around Tuesday or Wednesday from their holiday travels.


This holiday has been quite an interesting one. The holiday is called Phum Bun and is a time to honor ancestors. Basically this is how I've understood what I've been told - if families did not provide food and things when their family member died, that person remains a spirit and cannot reincarnate to their next life. During this holiday, people bring rice and other things to the pagoda and also at their homes to give to the spirits so they can move on to their next life. One night, everyone in my house (which is now 14 people after 6 new boarders moved in) prepared balls of rice, peas, and seeds and put them on trays with candy, coconut, mango leaves, sugar cane and candles/incense.(see pictures above) At 3:30 the next morning, we all got up and walked from our house to the pagoda with our trays of rice. We sat while the monks chanted (see picture above) then walked around the pagoda placing the rice and inscense in different places for the spirits to find. Then yesterday, I went to a different pagoda with a large group of famly members - we took bowls of rice and spooned them into differen bowls in the pagoda to give to the spirits and also set up a table with food and drinks at the house. The pagoda was quite the happening place - absolutely full of people and snack stands and games....very crazy place.

This month we celebrated our 6 month point of serivce. That's right folks....6 full months of service finished!!! We are 1/4th of the way finished and it has flown by. The weeks are just melting away for all of us. I'm getting anxious for school to start and I know that once it does, things will go even faster. I got my teaching schedule this week and it's going to be a full year!!! I will be teaching 10 classes in grades 9-12 with some long 6 hour teaching days (nothing compared to American working schedule I know, but it's a lot for here!!!) . I'm sure I'll have lots to tell you about that next month!!!

Links to Related Topics (Tags):

Headlines: October, 2007; Peace Corps Cambodia; Directory of Cambodia RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Cambodia RPCVs; Blogs - Cambodia; Secondary Education

When this story was posted in November 2007, this was on the front page of PCOL:




Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers

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Dodd vows to filibuster Surveillance Act Senator Chris Dodd vowed to filibuster the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that would grant retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that helped this administration violate the civil liberties of Americans. "It is time to say: No more. No more trampling on our Constitution. No more excusing those who violate the rule of law. These are fundamental, basic, eternal principles. They have been around, some of them, for as long as the Magna Carta. They are enduring. What they are not is temporary. And what we do not do in a time where our country is at risk is abandon them."

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November 12, 2007: This Month's Top Stories Chris Dodd's service began with Peace Corps 9 Nov Matthew McCue called back to Iraq from Peace Corps 9 Nov Tschetter Visits Turkmenistan 9 Nov Lara Weber writes: Oprah Winfrey's stumble 9 Nov Heather Thompson works with P Diddy 7 Nov Karen Hughes' public diplomacy came to nothing 4 Nov James Rupert writes: Musharraf seizes power 3 Nov Martin Puryear is Man of Mysteries 2 Nov Sarah Chayes says Taliban score major victory 1 Nov John Sullivan runs Sudan Divestment Task Force. 30 Oct Tom Bissell writes: Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro 28 Oct Chris Shays to seek 12th term 25 Oct Helen Dudley can't stop giving 25 Oct Joseph Acaba named to STS-119 Shuttle Crew 22 Oct Vince Floriani in USA Today's All-USA Teacher Team 22 Oct Kelly J. Morris writes "The Bight of Benin" 20 Oct Charles Shelan was Buddhist monk Wondam’s teacher 19 Oct Peace Corps returning to Liberia 18 Oct David Peckham started Village Bicycle Project 16 Oct Alberto Ibarguen announces grant for "Project Impunity" 15 Oct Campbell Memorial Park boosts ecotourism 15 Oct Bowers Family keep daughter's dream alive 15 Oct

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Senator Dodd's Peace Corps Hearings Read PCOL's executive summary of Senator Chris Dodd's hearings on July 25 on the Peace Corps Volunteer Empowerment Act and why Peace Corps Director Ron Tschetter does not believe the bill would contribute to an improved Peace Corps while four other RPCV witnesses do. Highlights of the hearings included Dodd's questioning of Tschetter on political meetings at Peace Corps Headquarters and the Inspector General's testimony on the re-opening of the Walter Poirier III investigation.

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Ambassador revokes clearance for PC Director A post made on PCOL from volunteers in Tanzania alleges that Ambassador Retzer has acted improperly in revoking the country clearance of Country Director Christine Djondo. A statement from Peace Corps' Press Office says that the Peace Corps strongly disagrees with the ambassador’s decision. On June 8 the White House announced that Retzer is being replaced as Ambassador. Latest: Senator Dodd has placed a hold on Mark Green's nomination to be Ambassador to Tanzania.

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Suspect confesses in murder of PCV Search parties in the Philippines discovered the body of Peace Corps Volunteer Julia Campbell near Barangay Batad, Banaue town on April 17. Director Tschetter expressed his sorrow at learning the news. “Julia was a proud member of the Peace Corps family, and she contributed greatly to the lives of Filipino citizens in Donsol, Sorsogon, where she served,” he said. Latest: Suspect Juan Duntugan admits to killing Campbell. Leave your thoughts and condolences .

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He served with honor One year ago, Staff Sgt. Robert J. Paul (RPCV Kenya) carried on an ongoing dialog on this website on the military and the peace corps and his role as a member of a Civil Affairs Team in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have just received a report that Sargeant Paul has been killed by a car bomb in Kabul. Words cannot express our feeling of loss for this tremendous injury to the entire RPCV community. Most of us didn't know him personally but we knew him from his words. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends. He was one of ours and he served with honor.

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