Knar School clean kids project
Knar School is in a village 28 kms from Siem Reap. Not many miles, but a world away in terms of the living conditions of most people. It is a deeply impoverished area where there was still fighting up until about ten years ago. Many tourists pass through the village on their way to Banteay Srei, a beautiful Temple complex. Most will just be aware of a picturesque journey through the rice fields dotted with the majestic sugar palms that are so characteristic of this country. The houses that you see from the road can look pretty; simple wooden stilt house in lush greenery with the usual chickens everywhere and some cows and water buffalo. But, as with so much here, scratch the surface and all is not what it seems.
For the majority here life is a desperate struggle to get through each day with enough to eat. Some have their own wells, many do not. the health care access is severely limited, unless you can get into Siem Reap. Many adults and most children have never made that 28km journey. There are virtually no employment opportunities and most subsist on what they can grow. Along the road, people can be slightly better off as you can sell palm sugar, etc to tourists but, even on the road I could take you to houses, little better than shacks and tell you the families story that would break your heart. I have had many people say to me ' well, their life may be simple, but it's happy' Alas, images can be very deceptive. The Cambodian psyche is gentle, stoic with a great propensity for laughter. Life in the countryside, for the vast majority of Khmer people is far from bucolic.
Keeping clean when you defecate in the open, do not have your own well and almost always do not have soap is a difficult thing to achieve and most people here do not even try. The vast majority of children at our school are absolutely filthy, especially the little ones. It is not just their bodies, their clothes are filthy too. We give new uniforms, along with shoes, twice a year. For many, the clothes are never, ever washed. When I go out to school I get filthy too, it's dusty and hot. I have access to hot, clean water and all the soap and shampoo I need and still I wonder if my feet will ever be clean again. For most of our children a wash means throwing some dirty water over yourself. Hence, the project to get the children of Knar School clean.
We decided to build a special structure around a well at school to use as a dedicated washing station. The day after the decision was made the teacher's started to construct it as it was a day off for Cambodia Day, celebrating the fall of the Khmer Rouge in Phnom Penh. Things can happen very quickly here, when needed.
Turning up for school less than 24 hrs after discussing it I found the place a hive of industry. The supplies were there for the structure, there was much sawing of wood and nailing together, all to a soundtrack of constant teasing and laughter. It was wonderful to see. We had a family from Australia with us volunteering for a week. Tony is a builder and was helping with the project. He was rather astonished at some of the construction methods used, but joined in with gusto. I think that Cambodian building techniques are seldom seen in Melbourne!
After a couple of days with all the teachers, a couple of our drivers and some of the school boys helping all was complete. What a work of art! Magnificent! Lori and I could not have been more happy. A concrete base was in place complete with a new path to the classrooms, a wonderful metal roof to keep the sun off and, more importantly the rain during the monsoon season, and a low perching bar was all around.
I bought baskets to hold brushes and soap, nail clippers, big bowls and a bucket to collect the well water. Towels were hung from a string and there was room in the middle for the first aid station. Happiness was mine. Now, all that was needed was to get the kids to use it and to instruct them on what to do. If you've never used soap, you need to be taught that it matters; that water alone is not enough. You need to told that you do not leave the soap in the water or in the dirt on the ground. You need to now that you have to change the water and not just keep using the same old dirty stuff. You need to be shown that nails have to be kept short and scrubbed with a brush. You need to know that you should wear your shoes and not walk everywhere in bare feet. We are giving out endless pairs of shoes here and yet some children still do not wear them. You need to be shown how you wash yourself, that you make a good lather and really get it everywhere to clean.
Such simple things are a struggle here. It is not their fault, we take so much for granted but if noone has ever shown you what to do, how do you know? So far, it is proving to be a big success but I am concerned that the novelty of it will wear off. There are still many more stages to go through yet. The school staff need to take more of an interest in the personal hygiene of the children as a great deal of encouragement is needed. I have taken a series of right and wrong photographs and I am hoping the Srey, Ponheary's sister and computer whiz will help with the graphics and providing suitable khmer script. It will not be plain sailing but, I am cautiously confident. Watch this space...
For the majority here life is a desperate struggle to get through each day with enough to eat. Some have their own wells, many do not. the health care access is severely limited, unless you can get into Siem Reap. Many adults and most children have never made that 28km journey. There are virtually no employment opportunities and most subsist on what they can grow. Along the road, people can be slightly better off as you can sell palm sugar, etc to tourists but, even on the road I could take you to houses, little better than shacks and tell you the families story that would break your heart. I have had many people say to me ' well, their life may be simple, but it's happy' Alas, images can be very deceptive. The Cambodian psyche is gentle, stoic with a great propensity for laughter. Life in the countryside, for the vast majority of Khmer people is far from bucolic.
Keeping clean when you defecate in the open, do not have your own well and almost always do not have soap is a difficult thing to achieve and most people here do not even try. The vast majority of children at our school are absolutely filthy, especially the little ones. It is not just their bodies, their clothes are filthy too. We give new uniforms, along with shoes, twice a year. For many, the clothes are never, ever washed. When I go out to school I get filthy too, it's dusty and hot. I have access to hot, clean water and all the soap and shampoo I need and still I wonder if my feet will ever be clean again. For most of our children a wash means throwing some dirty water over yourself. Hence, the project to get the children of Knar School clean.
We decided to build a special structure around a well at school to use as a dedicated washing station. The day after the decision was made the teacher's started to construct it as it was a day off for Cambodia Day, celebrating the fall of the Khmer Rouge in Phnom Penh. Things can happen very quickly here, when needed.
Turning up for school less than 24 hrs after discussing it I found the place a hive of industry. The supplies were there for the structure, there was much sawing of wood and nailing together, all to a soundtrack of constant teasing and laughter. It was wonderful to see. We had a family from Australia with us volunteering for a week. Tony is a builder and was helping with the project. He was rather astonished at some of the construction methods used, but joined in with gusto. I think that Cambodian building techniques are seldom seen in Melbourne!
After a couple of days with all the teachers, a couple of our drivers and some of the school boys helping all was complete. What a work of art! Magnificent! Lori and I could not have been more happy. A concrete base was in place complete with a new path to the classrooms, a wonderful metal roof to keep the sun off and, more importantly the rain during the monsoon season, and a low perching bar was all around.
I bought baskets to hold brushes and soap, nail clippers, big bowls and a bucket to collect the well water. Towels were hung from a string and there was room in the middle for the first aid station. Happiness was mine. Now, all that was needed was to get the kids to use it and to instruct them on what to do. If you've never used soap, you need to be taught that it matters; that water alone is not enough. You need to told that you do not leave the soap in the water or in the dirt on the ground. You need to now that you have to change the water and not just keep using the same old dirty stuff. You need to be shown that nails have to be kept short and scrubbed with a brush. You need to know that you should wear your shoes and not walk everywhere in bare feet. We are giving out endless pairs of shoes here and yet some children still do not wear them. You need to be shown how you wash yourself, that you make a good lather and really get it everywhere to clean.
Such simple things are a struggle here. It is not their fault, we take so much for granted but if noone has ever shown you what to do, how do you know? So far, it is proving to be a big success but I am concerned that the novelty of it will wear off. There are still many more stages to go through yet. The school staff need to take more of an interest in the personal hygiene of the children as a great deal of encouragement is needed. I have taken a series of right and wrong photographs and I am hoping the Srey, Ponheary's sister and computer whiz will help with the graphics and providing suitable khmer script. It will not be plain sailing but, I am cautiously confident. Watch this space...
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