Last day at school

Nominations:
Awkward moments: Olivia for spelling the alphabet wrong, Hai for spraying ants onto everyone and freaking out.
Hero of the day: Harry for his ability to speak clearly and loudly to the students and Connie for being a first aid when Felix sat in an ants nest.

The experience we are having in Cambodia is one you simply cannot put into words. Each day I feel we are learning more about ourselves, each other, societies, cultures and these children. Today my group (Stacey, Lauren, Olivia, Connie, Ciaran, Harry, Siobhan and Nat) and I were fortunate enough to go to Ohana. This is a one classroom school taught by a man named Makara who has only been teaching since March. It is amazing to see what he has managed to supply to these children and how much knowledge he can absorb from Tim, his teacher, and pass onto the children at Ohana.

The ride was filled with views of villages, fields and the occasional loose pig, chicken, horse or cow. This is a very big change from riding your bike down the street at home and these bike rides seem to be allowing us to soak in the environment that these people have to cope with everyday. We were fortunate enough for our pathway to be dry which limited the mud slips we could be having. I don't think any of us could bear these conditions on a regular basis which is a big eye opener as to what superb fighters the Cambodian people are and that despite the little amount of resources they have, they are mighty people.

When we arrived at Ohana, it was a big change from Prea Run's 150+ children when 40 children occupied the space. Our group managed to seize this opportunity and split into groups to individually teach a group of roughly 8 students. The interaction of this personal teaching style felt beneficial to the kids as they had a very concentrated amount of attention on their ability. I'm unsure as to whether I learnt more from them or they learnt more from us. I am more aware of how I speak and the interactions I make on both a verbal and non verbal approach and I'm sure most of the students on this tour would agree.

The positive affirmation these kids were given by Makara was so heartwarming and created such a positive environment for these children to be learning in. The children themselves were also extremely positive and were so welcoming that when departure was due, none of us wanted to leave. These children have so much to offer the world and I'm so grateful for this experience. I cannot wait for more classes and the more experiences I will have in such an amazing environment. This place has so much to share and everyone on this trip is soaking in every second of it.

Claire