Students: Good Mawning Teacha!
Teacha Alex: Good morning students! How are you?
Students:We awe good, dank you. And ju? How awe ju teacha?
Teacha Alex: I’m great! Thank you!
And then they sit down in their teeny tiny plastic chairs. We are all referred to as “teacha” which is often shortened to “cha”. I think these kids compete for some of the cutest ones I’ve ever seen, and sure enough, I’ve fallen in love with these little nuggets. This month I have the honor of teaching English to precious four year olds and a first grade class.
I am definitely not cut out to be a teacher, but I do love hugging and kissing every kid and watching them get SO excited over a game of hangman. [Hangman is kind of my go-to teaching activity]. My class room gets a little rambunctious with little ones jumping out of their seats screaming “cha, cha!” and it’s hilarious. I hear this countless times a day; I’m starting to call my teammates “cha”.
Christy and Cassie are both teachers, so they have it under control. We all have our own teaching styles. For example, I walked into Allan’s class, and this is what he forces his poor students to endure…
We also help serve lunch in the cafeteria after we teach. In theory, the kids sit at their miniature tables and raise their hands when they want more rice (of course, rice). In reality, it’s total chaos and totally fun. We play with the kids inbetween classes and during their recess. We also came downstairs one day, not so enthusiastic about teaching, and there was a raging dance party going on blaring Lecrae (Christian rapper). Who said being a missionary was ever boring?!
The church and school building is attached and that’s also where we’re staying. It’s nice to roll out of bed (kind of like college again) before I go teach since its right downstairs. The school is called New Hope and the church is New Life. I like to call our living quarters “The palace”. It’s definitely the nicest place we’ve stayed so far.
The school is amazing and a great Christian environment that incorporates the love of Jesus into learning. The school is preschool through fifth grade with about 250 students. A lot of the students are poor (a lot of people are in Cambodia still suffering the aftermath of the genocide in the late 70’s) and a bus load of kids come from a nearby orphanage to learn. Many kids are orphans, while others are raised only by a single parent or relative. A lot of the little ones have rotten teeth, which I’m guessing is because it’s too much money for toothbrush and toothpaste and the parents figure their baby teeth will fall out anyways. Cambodia is still a suffering country in education and other areas of the economy, but I believe these little ones are going to be intelligent future leaders and influential people in their country.
All of these kids have so much life and joy. They really are well behaved and so eager to learn at such a young age. I love coming down the stairs each morning being surrounded by countless hugs, smiles and laughter!
