i volunteered for this trip because i wanted to help, little did i know it that not only was i able to help the youth at BBLC,they too managed to help me in more ways than one.
from the beginning it was clear to me that the relationship i had with the Guys in my group will be different than that of the other groups. the people in my group were those with a really basic and often inaccurate view of the English language, hence it was our job (farhana, farah, amir& myself), to try our level best to impart knowledge to them. however for me, it was more than that.... first i had to make sure that could understand me... at times i feel as though I'm talking to a wall. nonetheless, i persevered.
looking back, as i type this know, i feel a profound sense of achievement. i managed to make them understand me and not only that after an hour an a half (with help from Yana & Sakinah) they finished 4 pages in their workbook.
from education, we move on to ROAD BUILDING! i for one absolutely enjoyed it!! i won't go into details to tell you what happens in Road Building because seeing that the others would have probably touched on it in their posts. but i will tell you this: imagine about 14 teenagers & 1 or 2 teachers doing manual labour( ie. shoveling sand/pebbles, carrying heavy pails, transporting big rocks from one end to another... just to name a few) and not once did any one of us complain. a complete reversal of the Singaporean attitude. we only complained when they did not give us anything to do. when that occurred we would sit and try to improve their work structure amongst ourselves.
apart from, teaching and helping with road building, we also visited the genocide museum and S21 killing fields. i was very shaken when i found out the ways in which the Cambodian soldiers
(usually teenage boys) torture people. many a time during the tour i felt my eyes go damp.
As i sit here in my room and blog about the trip on a whole, i feel so fortunate to have been born in Singapore in the year 1991. my mom always says that i should be grateful that i was born in Singapore and that my family loves me and is stable. i believe her now...
Maninder Kaur
Millennia Institute embarked on the Overseas Community Involvement Programme to Cambodia from 16 to 25 November 2008. During this period, 22 students and 3 staff were involved in a Road Building Project at a village in Pouk District,Siem Reap. The students were also involved in teaching English lessons to the students studying at the Boy's Brigade Learning Centre.
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