Volunteers.

Hey ya!
I've decided to tell something more about my experience with SCAO and SCOOP.
And today I would like to speak about volunteers and their roles at SCAO schools.
There are two kind of volunteers - long term and short term. I suppose we can consider all volunteers who participate with SCAO more then 6 weeks as long term. Because even if it looks like "only" 2 months, in the end a volunteer and the organisation have gave a lot of things to each other (and the most important one is experience, of course).

SCAO I

The 1st school what was built under SCAO name and where are 2 Red Cross long term volunteers at the moment. The school is separated from the volunteer house, there are 2 big classes. Class hours are from 8 am to 7.30 pm 

There are Khmer teachers together with foreign teachers, but basically they are teaching different hours.

At the volunteer house you are free to cook whatever you would like to, you will share a bedroom or have your own (depends on availability at the moment), and every 2nd Thursday there is General meeting in the evening.

SCAO II

I've already described accommodation at the 2nd school in the previous post.

Materials.

At the schools we have a lot of materials that you might need for your lessons! There are Student books, the curriculum, flashcards, extra books and worksheets, examples of test and lesson plans... We also have the projector and tablets to using MultiMedia at the classroom. You are free and welcome to use whatever you need, SCAO encourages their volunteers to use their creativity and imagination to make lessons more interesting, deep and fascinating for the students.

Bring up the new idea at the meeting and be sure that your organisation and inspiration skills would be appreciated.

Extra events.

It is nice to have a movie or karaoke night some time, and it is nice when new volunteers bring the fresh spirit into usual routine. Since September 2014 we have Go Green class every month when we are talking about the importance of taking care of the nature together... And it is amazing when you have an idea and thanks to team-work it becomes in something extremely interesting both for teachers and students.

Free time.

It is also important to have a break from teaching and have fun on the weekend. Spend a night in Phnom Penh, visit Thai or Vietnam, swim in the sea! Rest and come back to your teaching responsibilities empowered.

Volunteering in Cambodia - http://savepoorchildreninasia.org/volunteering/

See you soon =)

myself together with our monks students - Nov, 2014

Food (and accommodation)

I know, I know, it's a bit weird choice for the 2nd post.
But what can be so invisibly important as food? Especially, if you get used to one kind of meal, and then you have to change it completely... Not easy challenge for someone.

Food.

I am not fastidious person, I can it almost everything. I used to be very picky, but then realised that the best food is the new food.
As it says on SCOOP and SCAO websites, 2 meals (breakfast and dinner) are included in accommodation costs. Our wonderful housekeeper Sovandred and his even more wonderful wife Daa are the ones who are cooking for volunteers. You would never try so many options of traditional Khmer food, and this is one of the most amazing parts of living and volunteering in Som Roung. How can you be involved in this kind of authentic Khmer life else? There is no way, and, believe me, mostly of expats keep living their Western type of life. There are no good or bad things about it, I just think, if you decided to live in another country, do it - do LIVE it.
Also I have to say it is not easy to eat rice every day, especially in the beginning you don't understand this kind of breakfast. But this is part of being a human - you are getting used to it. You start to like fried cucumbers and tomatoes. Your favorite meal becomes fried pineapple with onions (who knew that it's THAT delicious?!). And, of course, the best curry ever - the Khmer curry from Daa. You are full, but you can't stop to eat it!
Anyway, if you feel tired of Khmer cousin, you always can have a dinner on the weekend in Phnom Penh where is various of restaurants with food from all over the world. And it's usually very cheap competing with European prices (3$-6$ for a meal depends on a place).
There are supermarkets where you also can find different types of Western food, but, for example, good Italian cheese will cost money.
Anyway, if you are modest enough with your food taste, you won't be suffering for sure.

Accommodation.

As you know, at SCAO II volunteers are living inside school building. There are big double beds and a shelf for each volunteer, so furniture is quite basic. You can have 1 roommate max and if there are not many people, even your own bedroom, but three bathrooms are shared between everyone.

The building is new and nice, we have a rooftop where you can see starts at night (if you're lucky).

You can also live in Phnom Penh and come to the village every morning, but I think it would worth it only for people who are staying for a long period (more then 1-2 months). The village is very nice, and you always can take Friday off so you have time to travel around.

Thanks for reading!
Best,
Elena.

Dear diary.. )

2 months in Cambodia - unexpected, unbelievable (already) experience, and it feels like I am here for at least half of a year. So many things have happened so far, so many thoughts and emotions have passed through my head.

Hello! My name is Elena and I'm here in Cambodia, ready to tell about my volunteering experience with the SCOOP Foundation and SCAO so far. I know how it is important to have a picture about your possible volunteering overseas, so if you are reading this, you should know, that you can contact me by comments and ask whatever you would like to know!

There are things that I would like to share in my Blog with all future volunteers. And I have decided to start with a talk about our village (approximately 20 km north from Phnom Penh).

Som Roung village is located in a very quite rural area. There are a few little shops around, a place with ice-coffee (the most popular drink after fruit smoothies) and one beautiful Pagoda. If you want to meet locals and to see how 90% of Cambodians live, that is the right place.You cannot visit only Phnom Penh or Siem Reap and say that you have seen Cambodia. There are a lot of things that you would like or dislike, but that won't leave you without any emotions.
What I like the most about Som Roung? People, of course. I can say the same thing about Cambodia in general. Friendly, smiley people, who are living very modest life, but appreciate every little moment of it. You cannot walk along a street without giving a smile in return or saying "hello". Children in the village are always ready to play with you, sing and dance, or just take your hand and make you laugh =)  They are adorable, and there is no way you won't fell in love with all of them!
Life is not easy here, but you will begin to enjoy little moments of happiness as well as Khmer people. Like a new kind of chocolate in the small shop in front of the school. Or the beautiful sunset after a rainy day, a lift to the school from a villager after coming back from Phnom Penh, a little person running to jump on you and call their friends to greet a "Cha" (="teacher").
There are nice places around the village which you can visit by taking a school bike. A nice market is only 20 minutes riding, but there are also little markets with fresh fruits and vegetables in the village.

Here we are - happy with our wonderful balloons =) What do you need else to have the highest point of your day?! ;)