St Ursula's College Toowoomba Ex-Students Continue To Educate In Cambodia

News from Nicki and Theresa's Visit to Battambang

We are Nicki and Theresa, a primary school teacher and an accountant/dance teacher, both former students of St Ursula's College, Toowoomba. We decided to take a gap year at 28 years of age, perhaps not the most conventional idea but once the seed was planted there was no denying its rapid growth. In the last 10 months we have been fortunate enough to have seen 20 countries, experienced endless fun, met incredible people and seen breathtaking places. However we're not writing about those times, we're writing about the last 6 weeks of our epic journey, the part that took us to a little village named Chrab Veil on the outskirts of Battambang in Cambodia.

We met Sr Jantana at the dusty roadside on her bicycle and she welcomed us warmly. We heard all about the projects run by the Ursuline sisters, wow are they busy people! Their day starts at 5.30am and doesn't finish until 6pm. They run a kindergarten, a learning centre, a scholarship program, a local parish, a health education program and they help out at a nearby health centre. We taught them the secret to a delicious carbonara pasta; they taught us the true meaning of Serviam.

The kindergarten has 60 children, complete with two teachers, a cook, a gardener and a secretary who is also the computer guy and musician. The children would run and meet us at the gate and smile their biggest smile while greeting us with the traditional hello, 'Chum Reap Suor'. We did some art activities with the students and made some hop scotch squares for them to play on. We taught the children English and played games with them every day; they taught us how to be carefree and show unconditional love.

Our afternoons were spent teaching English and dance to local students aged from 6 - 22 and the kindergarten teachers. It was a challenge to teach these lessons with limited resources and the language barrier, but to see the improvement in the students after six short weeks made it all worth it. We became close friends with the older students, and the younger students would walk home with us holding hands and practising what we had learnt in class that day along the way. If ever we were out and about in the village they would never miss a chance to say 'hello teacher' and bring us flowers.

We taught the students English and dance; they taught us how to be enthusiastic about learning.

Our walks around the Chrab Veil village showed us how little the locals had and how different their lifestyles were to our own. They cooked on coals outside, had a shower with a bucket and many went without electricity. When we looked closer, we saw the way their priorities are more family orientated and more about the simple things in life. We saw children having so much fun running around outside together, and a closeness between grandparents and their grandchildren as three generations of family live together under one roof. We taught them that communication is possible without words; they taught us that 'less is more', and while the Cambodians may be poor in financial terms, they are rich in the time that they spend together and the love they share.

We were definitely a part of something bigger in Battambang, with so many religious orders supporting the community in valuable ways. We were invited to a rice blessing at a youth hostel run by the Providence sisters. Instead of feeding ourselves rice it was tradition to feed each other. So we went around shoving rice in people's mouths. Not the most hygienic blessing we've ever had but certainly the most fun! To finish they dragged us onto their makeshift dance floor for some freestyle dance. We taught them some rockin' 90s dance moves and the Nutbush; they taught us how to welcome strangers with open arms and be friendly and happy in all that you do.

We arrived in Battambang with the intention of giving something back as a way of showing gratitude for our incredible year of fun and freedom, the final blossom of our travel tree! We may have given something back yet in the end it was us that gained so much. We will both return home feeling not only grateful for what we have, but much more importantly who we have.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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