From August 18, 2008

August 18, 2008

This is my last entry, as I leave Cambodia on Thursday. Lately, I think my journals have been somewhat negative. August has certainly been frustrating for several reasons. However, my recent writings do not accurately convey my thoughts about the entire summer.

Cambodia’s Hope is an amazing organization. They are doing a great service to the children, as they are receiving a great education, they are learning English, and they have food and shelter every day. Compared to street children in Cambodia, they are very fortunate. This is all thanks to Cambodia’s Hope and Palm Tree Orphanage. I think the language differences and the communication problems would have been present in any organization here, so I do not fault the staff for that. However, it was very different from any other Watson summer and I am thankful for the experience. I would have been very upset if I traveled thousands of miles to sit in an office from nine to five.

Most importantly, I have made strong connections with all of the children at the Palm Tree Orphanage. I think that I made an impact on the kids by letting them know that I was there for them, no matter what the circumstances were. I made an emotional connection and I think most of the kids appreciated that. On the subject of my teaching, I think I made a greater impact outside of the classroom. In class, I felt that I was really only following what the teachers had done before, and there was no room for me to make suggestions or corrections. For example, the children can only read because they are repeating what they hear phonetically. Most of them cannot pronounce a word they have never heard before, but I tried to have them ‘sound it out’ and recognize the sound of the letters. This did not go far. However, outside of class time, I was able to work on their language skills by talking with them informally, reading to them, and answering questions they had about homework. Overall, I think I did make an impact and I hope the kids feel that way too.

I believe working in Cambodia has been the best thing I ever done. I am proud of myself for dedicating myself to the idea and then following through to make it a reality. I am not a natural traveler; before this trip, I had only been to England twice and that was with my family. I like to think it was bold to plan my first solo trip abroad to a developing nation. Certainly, I was presented some challenges that others, in more wealthy countries, were not. Of course this was done purposefully. I sought a transformative summer and I thought I would learn and change the most by living in a radically different place. I am satisfied with my work and progress over the past three months.