Why am I here?

It is essential for children in Cambodia to learn English.  During the KR all intellectuals were killed and places of learning destroyed.  Therefore there are very few text books in Khmer for High School and beyond.  At University level all books are in English.  So you can see that English is not just an extra it is central to getting this Country back on it's feet.  We are not teaching the kids English so that they can be tour guides or work in hotels we want them to go to University and train to be Doctors and Engineers etc.  Cambodia is desperate for highly qualified people.  The Khmer English teachers do their best but their pronunciation is dreadful and the rote teaching doesn't help.  Part of the work here is also to train the teachers.  The kids are so eager to learn it is very rewarding.  I have some very bright children in my class. They need the opportunity to do well and to carry on beyond grade 6.

It makes my blood boil when I see tourists giving money and sweets to children. It just encourages them to have their hand out, as it does in other third world countries.  They need skills to help themselves.  The dependency on hand outs has to stop.  Teach a man to build a house but don't build it for him.  Allow him to have ownership and pride in his work and let him go on to teach others.  Do not give to beggars there are better ways to spend you money and you can help the whole country.

Sermon over.