Off On Our Next Adventure

A Volunteer Opportunity

We had heard about AKD School in Battambang from another family travelling through SEA. It is a not-for-profit school offering free English lessons for local children. When Tess told me about her eight days there with her two boys, Shaun and I decided that it was something that we’d like to do as well. Travelling as a tourist is one thing, but getting authentic opportunities to interact with the locals is rare, so we got in touch with Kamnat Soem, the school’s owner, and arranged to go there for a week after we left Siem Reap. I wasn’t sure whether a week would be much use in terms of continuity for the students, but Kamnat assured us that any opportunities for his students to speak English with native speakers was a bonus.

Siem Reap to Battambang

Thanks to our Angkor Wat tuktuk driver, Mr Black, we had sorted a private driver to Battambang for a great price. Seng picked us up at 12pm, and the three hour drive passed quickly, with a short stop for lunch on the way. The road between Siem Reap and Battambang was in good condition, and it was relaxing looking out the window at the endless green rice paddies that extended out from both sides of the road. In villages, the local pagodas stood out with their distinctive shades of gold, red and green.

This part of the country looked very different to Siam Reap, and it is evident that people out here work hard to earn a living off the land.

Driving into Battambang, it seemed that this was a city that didn’t cater to tourists in quite the same way as Siem Reap. It was smaller, with lower buildings and dustier streets, and as we made our way to our destination village in the south of Battambang, the local shops were open-air roadside stalls.

When we arrived at AKD School, we were dropped off at the dirt courtyard in front of the school buildings, and welcomed by Strem, the mother-in-law of Kamnat, who runs the school, and his wife Rath, who takes care of the volunteers. She introduced their three children to us; Mana, who is 18, Vattana, who is 15, and Sunai, who is 7.

We were then shown to our accommodation, which was a room with two double beds and a couple of fans. Already, we were all drenched with sweat from the afternoon humidity. We were all wondering how we were going to manage to sleep that night, with only fans to keep the four of us cool.

The volunteers’ rooms were off the main staff area, which had a couple of computers, a printer, and some cabinets with resources in them, as well as folders with notes about lesson plans and levels of the students. The printer is maintained with ink and paper by the school’s main benefactor, John Bonn, an American who lives locally. He also pays the wifi and regularly donates useful items such as an oven. While we were staying there, builders were completing a new kitchen for the school that the family could also use.

After getting settled in, we went for a walk to look at the local area, but just as we reached the pagoda, it started to pour with rain. We took shelter from the deluge under a shop’s tin awning and waited for it to pass.

Sure enough, after only 10 minutes, the sky cleared, and we made our way back to the school. We saw some impressive haulage taking place using motorcycles, as you can see in the picture below.

For dinner that evening, Rath served us fried noodles and vegetables, which we all enjoyed. Around 7pm, the other volunteers returned home from their tour of Battambang with Kamnat, and we were able to introduce ourselves to Alice from England, Emma from Germany, and Tom from Australia, who were there for a couple more days.

After a bedtime meltdown from Leo, who had read a sign on the bathroom door about the possibility of cockcroaches coming out of the bathroom drain if you forgot to replace the cover after showering, we managed to get him calm enough to fall asleep. Unfortunately, he was so spooked by the idea of the cockcroaches that he woke twice in the night. It was also very hot with four of us sharing a room without aircon, after a daytime temperature getting up to 34 degrees and 95% humidity. Things weren’t off to a great start. We had prepared the kids for staying in local accommodation, but the contrast with our hotel in Siem Reap was considerable, and it would take a few days’ adjustment.

The Bamboo Train

Fortunately, the next morning (which was Sunday, so there was no school) Rath invited us to join the other volunteers for a visit to the Bamboo Train. After a quick breakfast of eggs and bread, we jumped in the tuktuk with Alice and Rath, and Tom and Emma followed on the scooter.

The Bamboo Train is a famous attraction to visit in Battambang. Originating from the aftermath of the war, when the Khmer Rouge had destroyed so much of the country’s infrastructure, the Bamboo Train was used to transport people and goods around the Battambang province and Poipet on the existing railway tracks built by the French. Made of two metal axels, originally improvised from the wheels of abandoned tanks with a bamboo platform placed on top of a steel frame, they are powered by a small tractor or motorcycle engine. These can be quickly assembled or disassembled if needed, so when two met on the tracks coming from opposite directions, one would be dismantled, allowing the other one to pass before putting the other one back together and everyone going on their way.

When we arrived, we paid our fare of US$5 each and watched as the train was assembled in less than five minutes.

After hopping on, the driver started the engine and off we went, and boy did it go fast! I didn’t realise that the train travels at speeds of 50km an hour for several kilometres of track and I was glad that Anna was next to me in the middle and Leo was holding on to the bar at the front. Other than that, it’s a contender for the Steve Minogue Health and Safety Fail Awards.

We had so much fun! After going for about 5km, we had to stop to let another bamboo train carriage go ‘through’ us.

We then travelled for another couple of kilometres and stopped at a little shop where there was the option of buying a cold drink or a souvenir before making the return journey.

A Quick Visit to the Local Market

One of the challenges we have with Leo not eating fruit (its a texture thing) is trying to make sure that he gets enough veges into him, so we try to source and prepare raw vege snacks once in a while. After the Bamboo Train, Shaun popped out to the local market on the scooter to pick up some veges to go with lunch.

When he got back, he washed and prepared them, and they were  delicious.

The Killing Cave Memorial

In the afternoon, Rath took us to see the local memorial at the Killing Caves of Phnom Sampeau, which had been used as an execution site by the Khmer Rouge. It is now part of a larger shrine and pagoda where people can pay their respects.

After a long tuktuk ride out of town, Rath dropped us off at the foot of the hill and we made our way up the steep path, led by 7 year old Sunai, who knew the area well. We were all rather hot and sweaty by the time that we got to the top. When we got to the cave, I quickly escorted Anna past some of the sculptures that conveyed some Khmer Rouge torture methods and down to the cave.

It had a sombre feeling to it, with collected bones on display as a memorial, and knowing it had been witness to so much cruelty, suffering, and horror, we didn’t stay long.

From the cave, we walked further up the hill to see the view at the top, stopping to look around the temple on the way, which was set into the caves and merged quite beautifully with the natural environment.

It was a bit jarring seeing the amount of litter just thrown all over the ground in some areas, given the spiritual significance of the place. Unfortunately, this is such a common sight in Cambodia, and it doesn’t seem likely that it will change anytime soon.

The view from the top was spectacular, giving us a panoramic view of Battambang province, with rice fields stretching for miles.

There were monkeys here as well, playing together in the trees and wandering amongst the visitors.

Sunai then led us down the stairs to the bottom of the hill, where we met Rath and took our seats to wait for the bat exodus at sunrise.

There were some beautiful stone sculptures on the cliff face and a huge Buddha statue overlooking the temple nearby.

As we sat there enjoying the Cambodian version of poppadoms made out of rice, we saw a few bats flying around the cave entrance, but that was nothing compared to witnessing the steady stream of millions of bats that flew out as the sun sank towards the horizon. It went on for much longer than the twenty minutes that we stayed for, and we could look back from our departing tuktuk to see the bats still spiraling up into the sky, off on their night foray for food. While we were able to get a video of the bats, it was tricky to get a photo that did it justice in the twilight.

That evening, we enjoyed a delicious meal of pumpkin, vegetables and rice prepared by Kamnat, who had arrived back from his trip to Phnom Penh. We enjoyed chatting to the other volunteers and hearing about their travels and their experiences at AKD School.

Not knowing quite what to expect for our teaching the next day, I prepared a few rough lesson plans based on what was in the folder for each class. Alice, Tom, and Emma were very reassuring, and we were glad that we had Tom and Emma there for one more day so we could observe and learn the ropes.

Our First Teaching Day

For our first day, the plan was to observe two classes and have one conversation class with Kamnat’s older children. Things turned out a little differently! At 1pm, which is when the younger students come after their main school, the little kids’ teacher hadn’t turned up so Shaun was asked to go and teach a class of about 25 younger children who were beginners on his own! Meanwhile, I went into the class of 12 year old intermediate learners to team teach with Tom, who did the introduction and then let me teach my planned lesson.

Poor old Shaun had to learn on the job, with nothing prepared since he was supposed to have been observing. But he landed on his feet and managed to come up with enough impromptu activities and games for the two hour class. The children thought he was funny and the sound of laughter emanated from the classroom.

I also got a surprise lesson when I was asked to take the 4pm class of 15 year olds because their teacher was away. This went reasonably well, as I was able to get a sense of what they had done recently from their notebooks and focused on revision, and we played a few games at the end of the class.

Anna enjoyed getting out there with a football in the afternoon, although she was shy about joining in with the students for the first couple of days.

That evening we enjoyed a last meal with Tom and Emma before they caught their night bus and said our goodbyes later in the evening. The kids were a bit sad that the other volunteers were leaving, as Anna had had fun kicking a football with Tom, and they’d found the company reassuring.

A Trip into Town

School didn’t start until 1pm, so the following morning, Kamnat took us into Battambang so we could buy a few necessities, organise train or bus tickets for our onward travel, and check out the town centre.

It had rained heavily overnight and there was a lot of surface flooding in town, as you can see in the photo above.

Kamnat took us to the local train and bus station so we could find out prices and buy tickets to Phnom Penh later in the week. We ended up choosing the bus, because the one train a day didn’t leave until 3pm, and we didn’t fancy arriving in Phnom Penh at 11pm! The bus left at the much more suitable time of 10am and was due to arrive in Phnom Penh at 4pm.

After our shopping, we stopped in at the 7-Eleven in town to enjoy some air conditioning and a cold drink. The kids also talked us into some sugary treats.

We got back in time for school, and our first day of teaching without Tom and Emma went well. Shaun was relieved that the local teacher was back, and I had a much better idea of where the students were at, so had planned appropriate lessons.

Frogs for Dinner

During our afternoon break, we watched with fascination as Rath prepared frogs caught by her brother for dinner. After chopping off the head, the frog skin slid off easily, or at least Rath made it look easy.

That evening, we enjoyed another yummy dinner cooked by Rath of rice, whole egg soup with a peppery broth, veges and barbecued frogs. Despite Shaun and Leo’s assurances that they tasted just like chicken and were delicious, Anna and I stuck to the vegetarian options.

Our School Week

Shaun was assigned to assist the local Khmer teacher with the young beginners from 1pm-3pm and then join me for the late afternoon classes with the older students.

Shaun embraced the opportunity to try his hand at teaching, and he was a natural. He also took the opportunity to brush up on his parts of speech and grammar so he could answer the childrens’ questions.

Anna joined Shaun’s classes and learnt a few new things that week, including that her dad was “a very bossy teacher!”

Shaun led games such as Simon Says, hangman, and charades, which were received with great enthusiasm from the students.

My classes were the intermediate 12 year olds from 1pm-3pm, the advanced students from 5pm-6pm and the 17 year olds, who were also pretty advanced, from 6pm-7pm.

The 12 year olds were a delightful group of students who were very bright and capable. I learnt this after my first lesson, which was far too easy for them, so I went in much better prepared the next day. They worked hard, and although they found the conversation practice a bit daunting, they still gave it a go.

There were some real characters in this group, as well as some exceptionally diligent students, and I had a lot of fun teaching them. They made sure that we played a few games at the end of each lesson and were very competitive!

Our evening conversation classes with Kamnat’s older children Mana and Vattana were brilliant. We basically just chatted about different topics and learned a lot about Cambodian daily life from them, and made comparisons with New Zealand. When teaching points arose in terms of grammar or vocabulary, they made notes, but it was very informal and enjoyable.

At 6pm, the 17 year olds would arrive and they were very focused, diligent, good-humoured young people who were an absolute delight to teach. Having watched Tom and Emma deliver a lesson on our first day, we had a good sense of what level they were at, and continued with the geography theme that the other volunteers had started. After us doing a presentation on New Zealand the first evening, followed by a range of activities and conversations, we set up a task for the students to do a presentation about Cambodia the following evening. The students were amazing, taking their group’s topic, researching it, and then presenting to the class for 3-5 minutes. Leo and Anna loved joining these evening classes and found the students to be super friendly and welcoming.

At the end of our last class, where we had discussed the mysteries of the Bermuda Triangle, Anna and Leo helped me serve the lemon cake we had made for the students, which they really enjoyed. We saved some for the family,  and while the kids loved it, Rath found it not sweet enough for her liking! It had been an adventure working out how to make it without our usual ingredients of sour cream and butter, but I found a good dairy free version online, and we used that.

A Local Tour by Shaun

I had a free morning before school and took up an offer from Kamnat to jump on his bike with him and have a look around the city. He knew that I wanted to visit the killing fields without the kids and that Amelia struggles to visit such places, so it was just me and him.

He ended up showing me a few other places, too, and we spent a good few hours together. At one stage (outside one of the shrines we visited), we just sat and talked for about 45 mins. I listened and learned a bit more about his country, culture, and history (from his point of view). I took the opportunity to quiz him about everything from politics, corruption, and pollution to poverty, housing, and education. He also opened up a lot about the atrocities his country suffered in the 70’s and 80’s. It was so good to hear his personal thoughts, stories, and opinions. Not something you’d get from a standard tour guide. I really valued my time with him.

Kamnat was proud to show me this pagoda, which is still under construction. It’s nearly finished and looks amazing with temples, shrines, lines of statues, and gardens.

As is often the case, I attracted an audience and had a handful of kids following me around giggling and laughing at me. I don’t know why they find me so funny. Seeing my large fair skinned frame wandering around is just so different to their norm. I become somewhat of a circus attraction to them! Of course, I always play along and have fun with them.

Battambang means “Disappearing stick”. This famous statue in the city centre is of a legendary cow farmer who found a magic stick. He used it to usurp a terrible king and free the city.

We also visited a stupa that was built in the early 1800’s and holds the remains of at least three head monks from this region. It’s still an important site to the monks who were praying nearby, but like so many other examples we’ve seen, there is just no money to preserve and maintain such a place.

The killing fields were horrific. The stupa there displayed human remains, and the surrounding concrete tablets illustrated stories of torture and murder. There were two lakes there that are now mass graves to thousands of innocent people.

The torture that these people suffered before death is what gets me the most. I won’t list things off on here, but it’s just pure evil. I’ve often read of parents being forced to watch their children/babies killed first (and in barbaric fashion). The Pol Pot regime insisted that the children must also be killed so that they didn’t rise against them in the future or try to exact revenge. The regime compared human genocide to gardening……the weeds must be pulled out roots and all.

On the way back to the school I snapped a couple of quick photos of some litter along the waterway. It’s something that is just so common throughout all the countries we’ve visited. Some are worse than others, but all South East Asian countries have the same issue. People (including the authorities) just don’t take care of rubbish.

People freely, unashamedly, just fly tip their waste anywhere they please without a thought. Some responsible people might at least burn their rubbish and in most centre’s there might be some kind of rubbish collection or drop off point but certainly nothing that can cope with day to day urban and rural household waste.

It’s so sad because we’ve seen so many beautiful places in Malaysia, Indonesia, Laos, and Cambodia that are literally being destroyed and ruined by litter. And plastic! OMG, they love their plastic. We get given plastic bags inside plastic bags and plastic bottles and plastic cups etc. There is so much waste, and very rarely have we seen any evidence at all of recycling. I’m not even a greeny but it makes me feel quite sick and it makes me wonder why we waste our time running out to the path each Wednesday morning back home with our little green bin, while Asia continues to pollute their region at a rate and volume a million times larger than little old NZ.

Saying Our Farewells

We were sad to be leaving after such a lovely week at AKD School, but also quite excited about getting back on the road again. We enjoyed spending our last evening with the family and had some great chats about all sorts of things. We had felt so welcome and well cared for during our stay, and we had all really enjoyed Rath’s cooking.

A Fulfilling Week

Our time at AKD School had been incredibly fulfilling and enjoyable. We loved getting to know Kamnat, Rath, and their children, as well as all the lovely students. There were difficult moments, especially for Anna and Leo, who had to fit in around us, cope with the challenging living conditions and entertain themselves or join in when we were busy planning or teaching. We were super proud of the way that they adapted to the situation and environment, knowing that it was something I had always wanted to do, and I felt incredibly supported by them, just as I did by Shaun stepping up and embracing the experience.

We were so impressed by the energy, enthusiasm, and work ethic of the students at AKD School, who come for the English lessons after they have already done a day of school. The older ones in particular are so focused on educating themselves not only to learn English but also to learn about the world. It was inspiring hearing about their hopes and dreams for their futures, and we have no doubt that they will fulfill those dreams.

I would love to go back again at some point in the future to help out again. If you’re ever in Battambang and have some time to spare, consider getting in touch with Kamnat to help out: https://akdproject.wordpress.com/