When I learned that our placement for Cambodia was in a floating village, I was a bit taken aback. In retrospect, this was probably because I had no idea what a floating village encompassed. All I knew was that we would be teaching English to children in the community. I learned that our trip to the floating village would consist of one very bumpy van ride, and a canoe ride (it did have a baby motor). We lived in a treehouse that is typically surrounded solely by water. However, since we were there during Cambodia’s dry season, we were able to walk on land a bit! I was excited to learn that I would get to work with the older girls (13-15) in the morning, and the little ones during the afternoon (ages 6-8). The morning girls were so delightful. These young ladies were so respectful, considerate, and helpful (to both myself and those around them). They always came to class prepared and excited to learn. Such a dream.
The afternoon class? Well, you can say that it had a bit of a different vibe. The highest attendance we had in that class was 16. Sixteen little nuggets of pure, unrestricted energy. There were moments where I felt like Sally Field in the beginning of Mrs. Doubtfire (when she comes home to the party, goats and all). At least…I’m pretty sure I had the exact same look on my face as she did in that scene. Yes, the language barrier was a bit of a struggle at times. However, what was more of a challenge was the fact that many of these children had never attended school before. So, the idea of staying in your seat, being quiet, raising your hand, not punching the kid next to you in the face etc were all completely new concepts for these little ones. My co-teacher and I decided after those first couple of days that we needed to shift our goals for the class. My hopes of helping them spell basic words and assisting with English pronunciation quickly dissolved. My job now was to attempt to teach them the alphabet, period (keyword being attempt). This seemingly simple task turned out to be not-so-simple. The kids wouldn’t focus, they would yell out random words when I would point to a single letter on the board, and we struggled with volume control (our only two volume settings seemed to be a dull shout and a blaring scream).
Michelle (my ASQL/co-teacher) and I decided that we needed a neutral outside party to help these kids grasp the alphabet. After some impromptu brainstorming, she thought that maybe an ABC song that was more interactive might be more successful for the class. So, we searched “ABC songs” on YouTube and stumbled upon what is now one of the highlights of my teaching experience: a video of Usher singing the ABC’s on Sesame Street.
The first time we played it, the class was about 30% confused and 70% just amused by the wireless speaker we were using. By the end of our time in the village, they were 110% into it. It did not take long for them to start dancing, clapping, and trying so hard to keep up with the glorious musical cadence that is Usher Raymond. Did we expect them to all master the English alphabet with flawless phonetics? Negative. However, the fact that we were able to get them all to participate joyfully (and peacefully) in the same activity felt like an epic win.
As exhausting as they were, these kiddos were so precious and fun. I truly adored my students, and there isn’t a day that goes by without thinking of them. The precious village of Prek Toal will forever and always hold a special place in my heart. It was a lovely month of treehouse life accompanied by ABC songs, crocodiles, and an absurd amount of mango.
With love from a Cambodian treehouse,
Alexis
