Hello from Prey Veng Province!

Yes, I made it to my permanent site and am settling into my new family, my new community, and my new life. After a few days in Phnom Penh and a wonderful swearing-in ceremony, it was tough to say goodbye to the other PCVs, staff, and LCFs, my friends and support system the past few months. Too quickly, we were herded to vans and sent off to our sites. 

There are five of us K10s serving in Prey Veng Province, two CHEs and three ETTTs. Added to the two volunteers already in the province, we will be seven strong, ready to tackle the world! 

As we took dropped each volunteer off at their new house, we all piled out of the van and made small talk with various members of the family. Having the other K10s with us helped ease some of the awkwardness of first meetings and some of the sadness of leaving each other; it was definitely nice to see each person's house and attempt to fix its location on a hastily-made mind map for  a future visit. 

When I arrived at my new house, my host family was there to greet me with shy smiles and hellos. In this family, I have a host mom and dad. (I call them "older sister" and "older brother" since they are not significantly older than me.) I also have two younger sisters, who are wonderful, smart, and quite helpful when I am unsure what to do. They have all made me feel very welcome, and I think I am slowly but surely finding my place. 

As for my work, school doesn't start until November 1st, so I just hang around school for a few hours every day and let people get used to me. However, the school, and the town in general, are dead right now due to Pchum Ben, one of the major holidays in Cambodia where families visit their relatives and go to the wat with food for their ancestors. It lasts for 15 days, and during that time, many people leave to visit family or just take the opportunity to relax. If you know me at all, you will know I like to keep busy, to have a plan and a schedule, so this abundance of free time has been a bit difficult. I know once school starts I will be very busy, so I am trying to enjoy the free time, but it's challenging. 

So, that is a little bit about my life here so far in Prey Veng. I think we are going to some wats for the holiday festivities this weekend, so I am sure I will have more to report after that. 

Until next time, 

Carissa 

And… here we go!

The wait is over; I know where I am going for the next two years! After much anticipation and a few sleepless nights, PC finally herded us into a room and handed out our site placements. They also had a map of all the PCVs in Cambodia on it, so we could see who would be near us. ANNNNNDDDD….

 

A map of Cambodia with Prey Veng highlighted

I am headed to Prey Veng Province to work in a Provincial Teacher Training Center!

I was honestly not expecting to be placed at a PTTC, so it was quite a surprise when I looked at my folder. Most of the ETTT PCVs in Cambodia will work at a high school, teaching English to students while collaborating with a Khmer co-teacher. My experience will be slightly different, because I will be teaching English as well as teaching techniques to primary school teacher trainees. Unlike in high schools, there is not a standardized curriculum for English in PTTCs, so I will be developing my own with the help of my co-teachers. The number of students within the school also fluctuates more than in a high school due to practicums and the layout of the school year. 

As for the province of Prey Veng, I am really excited to explore a new part of Cambodia. Prey Veng translates as the “Long Forest”; however, most of the trees have been cut down to make way for farms. It is 2-3 hours away from Phnom Penh, so getting back to the capitol shouldn’t be a problem. I will also be a few hours from Vietnam, which I am excited to visit. From what I have heard, Prey Veng has a lot of mango trees, so I am already looking forward to mango season and all the yummy fruit! My site is also near at least two other volunteers, so I am excited to serve and work with them.  

All in all, I am very happy with my placement. Prey Veng isn’t known for being the most desirable province, because it doesn’t have a big attraction like Angkor Wat or the beach. However, at the end of the day, I came to Cambodia to work with the people of Cambodia and to truly live in Cambodia. Ordinary is beautiful, but you have to have the patience and courage to look. I am sure each province will have its challenges; I am choosing to approach this placement with an open mind and heart. In that spirit, my provincemates and I have adopted a new hashtag #preyvengproud. 

So, cheers to my next adventure in Cambodia! I am excited to get started, but first we will spend a few days in Phnom Penh and get sworn in as official Peace Corps Volunteers. 

Until next time, 

Carissa

Model School Practicum and the End of PST

My fellow PST co-teacher, Brady, and I!

For the last two weeks, my fellow PST Brady and I taught English to a class full of 8th graders as part of our practicum experience, colloquially known as “model school.” Since we will be ETTT (English Teacher/Teacher Training) volunteers, this was an opportunity to practice our teaching skills in the Cambodian context. The first week Brady and I taught alone, but in the second week, we were joined by a Khmer teacher counterpart. I really enjoyed the opportunity to practice co-teaching with a Khmer teacher. It will also be helpful since we will be required to teach with a local counterpart once we get to our permanent sites. 

We have received a lot of training about the differences between the Cambodian and American education systems including the perception of teachers and common practices in schools. In order to provide more context to this and future posts, I wanted to highlight several features and practices of the educational system and schools in Cambodia: 

Our classroom

• Since the Khmer people place great importance on education, teachers are traditionally respected within a community and especially within the classroom. To reflect that, students stand when answering a question or talking to a teacher during class. 
• While teaching methodology is definitely changing throughout Cambodia, many schools and teachers ascribe to a top-down approach to education where the teacher has all information and knowledge and shares it with students. Often this results in teacher-centered lessons and activities with little to no interaction between students. One of our jobs as volunteers is to work with teachers in our schools to implement more student-centered activities where students are encouraged to talk to each other, use each other as resources, and experiment with the language. 
• Classes in Cambodia are often quite large, usually around 40-50 students. This is another reason teachers often use a teacher-centered approach. It is much easier to keep control of the class using these types of activities and lessons. 
• Students wear uniforms which usually consist of white shirts with blue or black pants or skirts. Cambodians take off their shoes when entering houses, temples, and some buildings; students in most schools take off their shoes when entering the classroom. 
• The English curriculum for the entire country is set by the Ministry of Education, and each grade has a book to reflect that curriculum. While recent reform has improved the curriculum making it more relevant and communicative, students often struggle to use English in real life situations. While students may be able to fill in a blank, pick the correct verb tense, or memorize a dialogue, they lack the opportunity to hear and use these things in spoken speech. As an education volunteer, one of my jobs is to give students the opportunity to practice speaking with a native English speaker. 

Our students!!

I hope this gives you some context and insight into the Cambodian education system; I will of course continue to elaborate on this subject throughout my service, but I wanted to get some of these down on paper. 

Finally, I have about two more weeks of PST before we move to our permanent sites. On Wednesday, we will receive our province placements and get a better idea of who will be near located near us. Because it is a small country, the vast majority of us will have someone within biking distance of our house. Some of us will also have situates (or other volunteers in our village). I am simultaneously nervous, scared, and excited about learning our placements!! 

Until next time, 

Carissa 

The Khmer Rouge and Cambodia's Dark Past

Fence and makeshift memorial surrounding mass grave

In the last two weeks, we visited the Cambodian Genocide Museum, the Killing Field and its memorial to those who died, and listened to numerous stories from staff and family about the Khmer Rouge period in Cambodia.  

 

And I’ve spent the last two weeks thinking about this blog post, thinking about what I should say and how I should say it. How should I discuss the horrors of the Khmer Rouge and the genocide Cambodia endured in the 1970s? As a graduate student studying peace and conflict resolution, I could speak about the recovery process and the slippery concept of justice as this country continues to recover from the horrors of the Khmer Rouge. While many young Cambodians did not live through the Khmer Rouge period themselves, everyone in this country has been directly and intimately affected by the genocide of (estimates vary) up to one third of the population, the destruction of family and social life, and the massive dismantling of the education system. Justice, as is often the case, has hardly been cut and dry, which continues to affect the country and its people.  

Former school transformed into an infamous prison during KR regime

As a graduate of an international relations program, I could speak about the global causes as well as consequences of the Khmer Rouge regime and how it continues to impact Cambodia’s position on the world stage. Cambodia and its leaders, while certainly not blameless, were caught up in a struggle much bigger than this small South East Asian country; other major players also contributed to the circumstances that led to the rise of Pol Pot and his Communist Party. After the country emerged from this horrific period, it faced the difficult task of rebuilding from the ground up. The Khmer Rouge targeted all intellectuals as enemies of the Communist agrarian utopia they strove to create; the country lost a generation of teachers, doctors, engineers, and scholars. These consequences have continued to impact Cambodia as it tries to improve its people’s standard of living. 

National memorial to genocide victims

However, I finally decided to forgo any academic or political discussion and focus on the people who have shown such resilience in the face of unspeakable horror. As I mentioned, the Khmer people are still recovering from this tragedy; it can be seen in every tear shed for a lost family member and in every memory and experience shared from that time. Despite the outwardly cheerful demeanor of many Cambodians, It is still very present in this country; it is still very real. I honestly cannot wrap my head around the terrible conditions my Khmer neighbors, friends, and family endured. 

 

So, in the end, I find I do not have much to say. I am in awe of the resilient, warm, and welcoming people I have met thus far; I honestly do not have the words to do them justice. While it was difficult to hear such emotional and heartbreaking stories, I am glad I was able to listen, learn, and stand witness to their experiences.  

 

 

 

 

"For the dead and the living, we must bear witness.” -Elie Wiesel 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you want more information on Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge, and the Cambodian genocide, please visit the following websites.  

 

The Killing Fields Museum: http://www.killingfieldsmuseum.com/

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum: http://www.tuolslenggenocidemuseum.com/

The Documentation Center of Cambodia: http://www.dccam.org/