Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Study Tour to Kompong Chhnang

After having studied the theories of non-formal education, three classes of students from different sessions (morning, evening, and weekend) were given an opportunity to see the real practice of NFE, particularly the community learning center which is organized by the local authority in the commune which responds to the Cambodia’s national policy on NFE.

Led by teacher Sangvath, teacher Darin, and teacher Im Keun and supported by the university, we went to Kompong Chhnang province in which CLC management is evaluated to be the most successfully throughout the country. We witnessed the establishment and implementation of CLC in Teuk Phos district.

The study tour took place on Friday 27th August, 2010. There were 43 participants, 12 of whom are from my weekend class, studying with teacher Darin. The bus was planned to leave from UC at 6 a.m., but it was finally delayed by a student (Bong Sophorn) from the weekend class. As a result, we left UC at 7 a.m.

As we arrived at Prek Gdam bridge, we stopped over for a while to have breakfast. A small group of morning session including me already had breakfast before getting on the bus, so we sat together and waited for others finishing their breakfast. We continued our journey at 9:00. Around 10:00, we arrived at the Department of Education, Youth and Sport based in Kompong Chhnang Province. We were led to the room where the Vice President of the department, Mr. Pich Sambo, gave a presentation on the history, education situation, and local residents’ way of life of Kompong Chnnang Province. We reviewed the origin of name of the province, historical events, and Khmer literature related to the province. At the same time, we were presented about the organization and management of CLC as well as the purposes of its existence.

After listening to the presentation, we left the province center to Teuk Phos district where is 30km away. We arrived at the Am Lieang village, Choung Oaung commune, where one of the CLCs is being operated, at almost 11:00. The CLC is quite small, consisting of only 3 rooms where only 3 skills are being taught to the trainees. The 3 skills include playing Pen Piet music (a kind of Khmer tradition music), make-up and wedding decoration, and hairdressing. After interviewing the trainees and the facilitators, we gathered under the trees and listened to the talk of the representatives of the community including the vice president of the commune, the principal of the school and the center, and other related members.

This CLC was established on October 25, 2007. The training period is 6 months per year, and so far two training groups (2008 and 2009) have been completed, the one operated in 2010 is on the process. The organization of CLC is cooperated with the provincial department, village leaders, masters of pagoda, and other influential people. The funds are partly from the national budget and mostly from local community.

The trip covered only one CLC within the province, and the visiting duration was not long enough for us to fully understand how it is implemented. However, this experience enables us to compare the theory with the practice. From the study tour, personally I feel that CLCs in Cambodia focus mostly on income-generating skills such as sewing, Pen Piet music, machinery repairing, motorbike repairing, mushroom growing, hairdressing and so on, while other general knowledge such as of health, sanitation, environment protection, legal understandings, culture, and so on is not highly promoted. According to the leaflet delivered, Pen Piet music training class is offered in all the three training periods in the same community. This may be one of the weaknesses of the CLC management.

After this tour, all the participants are assigned to write report on the trip by showing our impressions and suggestions on the management and operation of CLC in Teuk Phos district. For weekend class, the report is due on September 11, 2010.



Saturday, August 14, 2010

Days after the trip

Two days after the trip, I caught a serious cold. I had had a fever for two days and it reached to 39.1 celcius. I was terribly in bad conditions both physically and emotionally because I couldn't do anything instead of sleeping, and it ruined my plan of playing badminton with friends. I could not do my group assignment until Saturday morning when I could read a bit of it and went to school unprepared. Luckily, my group presentation is delayed to next week. God always love me than anyone else!

A Trip to Kompot


After the stressful three-week period of lessons review and final examination, the trip with classmates at RULE that I’d been longing for finally approached. This has been a class of strangers although we’ve studied together for three years. In fact, this trip was intended to strengthen the relationship of the people in this class; it is to make us closer and to know each other more. Sadly, this intention failed—only 9 out of 64 members of A3B1 joined the trip. Luckily, the trip was still successful with the composition of various groups from different universities.

This was a trip to Kompot—Nataya Resort and Teuk Chhu—and was organized by Malay, our class monitor. Through invitation of our friends from high school and other universities, there were 31 participants. Malay and her cousins were the main organizers. We gathered in front of RULE at 6:00 and left Phnom Penh at 6:30am, and then we arrived at Nataya Resort at around 11:30 where we stopped over to take some pictures. After that we continued to Teuk Chhu and had lunch there. The weather was not very good since it rained slightly on the way and especially when we prepared the BBQ.

The food was delicious; we should be thankful to Mina, Malay’s cousin, who prepared all of it by himself. I was quite full and very enjoying. Some of us went into the water, but I didn’t. We stayed until 3:30pm and started our journey back home.

If asking me how I felt about this trip, I would say that it was a real unforgettable experience since it’s the first time I have travelled far from Phnom Penh with my friends. However, I didn’t feel very happy because we spent too much time on the bus where I felt very bored and uneasy.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

My Birthday 2010


My birthday fell on the mid of the final exams at RULE; therefore, the celebration was delayed by one day to 06th August when I just finished the exam on the day. We planned to eat something at Song Tra and to play badminton after that. The most frustrating thing happened on the day was the rain which destroyed the badminton plan. No one knows how much I wanted to play badminton rather than any other thing else. However, we did laugh alot on the day under the building that was being constructed. We had been standing in the strong wind for an hour and a half, and then we returned home at around 6:00.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Non-formal eduation, a short summary

This is a doc file on non-formal education. It includes:
- how NFE emerges;
- Summary of discourses and framework of how NFE is defined--Deficit, Disadvantaged, and Difference; and
- Discussion on how formal education should be reformed--redeemable or irredeemable.

http://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=1Aua17MxCl-CCFEQQSyYt8VAdzXtuPXkQH3LgHw6RsWU&hl=en

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Confusing, Worrying, Questioning.........

Who knows what I am thinking about?
Who knows why I want to shout?
I am stuck in the world of sadness,
Looking for a window of brightness.


Who knows how I can get out of it?
Who knows when I can succeed?
No commitment, no ambition,
No passion, but questions.