Last day of Teaching

I still have a few days until I leave Cambodia for good but with the new years celebration coming up, it was my last day to teach the sewing school girls.

They have such a curiosity and eagerness to learn which kept me to come back each day to teach them. And yet they were all so friendly and we also were able to joke around a lot in a mix of Khmer and English which made class time much more enjoyable. My main focus was English but hopefully I was able to teach them some life skills as well. There were so many things I wanted to incorporate into their curriculum including workshops but as always, there wasn't enough time.

I sincerely wish that they will become wonderful women, wives, mothers, and entrepreneurs and they will carry the future of Cambodia with them. They have such a bright future ahead of them and I'm so proud of how much they've all come.

I cannot wait to see them again when I visit in the near future!!!

New Production Center

Sometimes the unlikely similarities between Japan and Cambodia surprises me in a good way.  In Japan, before any new business starts or opens on new property, a Shinto priest is brought into do a purification ceremony. There is a religious component of warding off evil spirits and bringing good luck in for the business to prosper; but there's also a component of community in which the neighborhood comes to welcome the newcomer and for employees to celebrate their new start of the business in unison. 

LHA is expanding in every direction and with the Sewing School we've opened a new production center about 1km away from Wat Damnak. Here the girls would come into work on mass orders from clients where as the Sewing School itself would be used to train the girls and do small customized orders. 

Of course, no Cambodian celebration can be absent from large stereos and set-up had been going underway since sunrise. The girls have also been preparing food for 60 people including 10 monks. Everyone was gathered into the hall which faced a row of monks chanting and spraying holy water with flowers. The business managers, Clive and Laura came up to offer incense and get purified and given good luck prayers from the monks. 

The production center have been a long aspiration of Clive and Laura's and it's a bit step towards self-sustaining the sewing business in LHA (the sewing school is sponsored by the Park Hyatt but not the sewing business itself). Hopefully with the production center up and running, we are able to get more global customer orders as well as provide paid jobs for gradating girls from the school. 

After the ceremony and food offering to the monks are finished, now it's our time to party. With music blasting away and food going around, we all definitely had a good time.

Rewind: Last Day of School (Dec.14, 2013)

My first term in Cambodia came to an end in mid-December as I headed home in San Francisco for the holidays and also to take my exams and finish my applications for graduate school. As much as I knew that I was coming back in January, it was hard to part with the sewing school girls. The core of my work at LHA involved working with the sewing school girls. These girls have been working very hard for the past 10-months, mastering the art and skills of a seamstress. In addition to their hard working schedules, they also had daily English classes in which I taught them for the past month and a half. Many of them had an exponential learning curve, considering that many started with absolutely no prior knowledge of English. Since they graduate in mid-January, I will not be able to see them when I return.

 

The last day of school went fine for the most part. I brought treats and desserts for the girls to enjoy and they gave me gifts and trinkets. We talked and joked around as usual, half in English and half in Khmer. All went well until one of the girls suddenly started to wail. Then one by one we all started to sniffle and cry, including myself. For most girls who were returning to their villages, we knew that this was the last time that we would be able to meet. 

Though they many not yet be fluent speakers, I do sincerely hope that they do something with them and use it in their future careers as seamstresses. Even though I was only able to be their teacher for a short time, I did make sure that they at least have the confidence to speak English regardless of their fluency. Speaking a foreign language does take a lot of courage but once the confidence is there, it is all about communication skills rather than grammar or vocabulary knowledge. I do know this from my personal experience and I do hope that they carry this mentality. I do pray from the bottom of my heart that they will become successful Khmer women, mothers, wives, and leaders for the future of this country. I am truly proud for each and every one of them.

English is an especially needed kill for girls in the garment industry. Cambodia is a major exporter of apparels worldwide. With many Western clients, having any language knowledge is a big advantage in wages whether it is working for a US-based garment factory or getting foreign clients in a self-run tailor shop. Currently I am working on a more concrete English language course curriculum for the new girls that have started their term just yesterday. I can't wait for the new term to start. 

Girl Power

Several weeks ago, I've started to work with the girls at the Sewing School. The teacher volunteer that had been teaching them English is leaving so I am taking over from next week. Eek. I've tutored and taught English before but I fear this may be my biggest challenge yet - namely because about half of them do not understand any English and I only understand a few words of Khmer. Moreover, a few of them are illiterate in Khmer as well (only 70% of Cambodian women are literate).

 

But they are all very keen learners and their eagerness keeps us going. Coming from poor villages, this is their chance to become an accomplished seamstress and having English knowledge will definitely help them in the future to talk to get foreign customers. I still have qualms that I have to teach all by myself in a few days but I am very determined to make a difference in the girl's lives in someway whether it's being their mentor to making them master their ABCs!