Go, team CLS!

October 18, 2013October 18, 20132 Comments

We had the enormous pleasure earlier in the week of presenting some brand new t-shirts to the CLS Girls’ Football (Soccer) Team – generously donated by the good folk from Country Rugby League (nothing like a little international cross-pollination of codes!).

Our timing was impeccable – because that same afternoon, the girls were set to play an “international” match against the children from a visiting volunteer group from Singapore.

It wasn’t exactly what you’d call “a level playing field”! Cyclonic rain the night before turned the “pitch” into a mud-bath – but hey, what’s an international test match without a little mud?

“Our” girls were magnificent – gracious in victory. Unlike Mrs Jen, who was singularly one-eyed in her barracking for the mighty CLS gals!

As with our own schools, sport is a valuable part of the CLS program – it’s a great tool for engaging kids, particularly those “at risk”. The donated t-shirts represented more than just rare new clothes for the girls – they looked, felt and played like a team and they were so proud of themselves. And the sight of these lovely young ladies emerging like a bright yellow wave from the CLS bus struck fear deep into the hearts of their opponents!

All bias aside, this exercise proved again that sport can be a remarkably effective conduit for international fellowship. Who needs language when you have a ball, some mud and a bunch of energetic kids?

Dara – the cleanest ref on the planet. Dara is a teacher at CLS – but he takes his reffing VERY seriously. He even managed to play a friendly match without a scrap of mud. (Or touching the ball! But that’s a minor detail!)

Fishing 101

October 18, 2013Leave a comment

“Teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime…”

We’ve spent the first few days of our 2013 visit reacquainting ourselves with Kampot and the Chumkriel Language School (CLS) – which has been both delightful and easy. This is a place that quickly lodges itself in your heart – filled with people who do the same.

We are noticing more and more western influence around Kampot – and this is both a blessing and a curse. The city (around the same size as Dubbo) retains its rustic charm but the nod to the growing “barang” (westerner) tourist interest is noticeable. The streets are demonstrably cleaner and there are increasing numbers of Khmer owned businesses. But there are supermarkets and shopping “malls” springing up – and there are noticeably more international aid/NGO types getting around in their brand new black Lexus 4WDs.

We know we’re part of this westernisation so we can’t be too hypocritical – but it’s a fine balancing act, even for an organisation like Rotary. Where does help end and welfare/paternalism begin?

From its humble beginnings in 2008, CLS is now an NGO force to be reckoned with, and Thy Sothy (the irrepressible “Mr T”) has grown magnificently into his role as school director – to the point where he is now an experienced project co-ordinator, community developer and international diplomat!

The core business of CLS – the teaching of English language – remains the same. But there are now a number of arms to the organisation, including projects involving agriculture, health and dental service delivery and training, teacher training, community outreach and house building (for the poorest of families) throughout the wider Chumkriel district.

Mark Horton – Dubbo Rotarian and founder/project manager of the CLS Rotary Project from its inception – is now working with Mr T on a smaller project to establish water purification facilities throughout Chumkriel community. It’s an experiment at this stage, but the aim is to build a prototype solar still and a bio-sand water filter which can be replicated at minimal cost for each village. It is hoped that each filter will service about eight families in each village with clean drinking water. We think, at this stage, that these filters can be built for a cost of $US7 – less than $1 per family.

The issue of polluted water continues to plague the villagers in the regions around Chumkriel – and in turn impacts adversely not only on health and economic circumstance – and therefore, ultimately and as always, on access to education. So by helping the villages to help themselves by imparting knowledge about the value of clean water, it’s hoped this small project will lead to greater empowerment within these communities.

As with all of Mark’s (and CLS’s) projects, it’s important that the locals and the recipients have some level of “buy in” – so we plan to provide the instructions and the moulds and encourage/direct the families to work together to build their own filters.

Mark and Phoas Keo (our little pocket rocket CLS liaison/admin officer) went shopping on Tuesday for all the necessary bits and pieces to make the still and the mould – and we felt very much like locals balancing all our building materials, our backpacks and two big “barangs” on one small moto! (And no, you can’t see pics – my helmet is a pink Hello Kitty number and there will NEVER be photographic evidence!)

Fingers crossed that this experimental still/mould works! Or it’s back to the drawing board for Mr Mark and Mr T.

The unofficial mantra of all these projects is an oldie but a goodie: “Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day. Teach him to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime.”