This is Sayron (pronounced Sion, he also has a much better smile than this). He is one of the kids staying with us in the floating village. Most of my team’s ministry here is to help teach English to elementary and middle school aged kids from the village. The majority of kids are learning the basics: mostly just ABC’s and elementary vocabulary, but we focus on 4 kids that stay with us. Their names are Sayron, Thida, YeongJae, and Srey Pet. They’re older and they are a part of Living Waters ministry. We get to spend time teaching them English and encouraging them in their faith and future dreams.
Each morning I get to have a conversation with Sayron in order to practice his English speaking and understanding. In turn I’ve learned a lot about him, his family, his village, his culture, and his dreams. I’ve really enjoyed talking and spending time with him and the other 3 staying with us. He’s pretty awesome and I wanted to share a bit of what I’ve learned with you guys.
Sayron and Family
Sayron grew up in one of the floating villages. His parents are fishermen, but his mother is from a different province. She grew up in the countryside as a farmer, so she had to learn the lifestyle of living in the floating village. The family has 5 children, Sayron is the 4th and the only boy. His older sisters are currently studying in University in Phnom Penh. His younger sister still lives at home with their parents.
Sayron is 18 and currently in 11th grade. For the past 2 years he has been living on his own in Battambang town (Krong Battambang). This is where his high school is and he gets a better education there. English and literature are his favorite subjects to study and he doesn’t like Chemistry or Physics. Next year he will graduate high school and move on to university.
When it comes to religion, Sayron 3 of his sisters are Christian.Their parents and older sister are still Buddhist. His parents want the kids to have the freedom to choose what they believe in, but they often remind them of Buddhist traditions. Its pretty cool to hear how Sayron his sisters stay strong in their faith despite being completely surrounded by a different religion (parents, classmates, government…)
The first time he heard about Jesus was when he was 10 years old. Some local friends kept inviting him to church and, after a while, he agreed to go. His life has never been the same since.
He told me that at first he didn’t want to believe in Jesus, but he could feel the Holy Spirit changing his heart. Since that initial spark, some Japanese and Korean missionaries were involved in his discipleship. In 2016 the Korean missionaries really began teaching him to study the Bible and to share the Gospel. After that he began teaching English and Sunday school at the local church. Just last year he got baptized.
Village
Most people live as fishermen. Fishing with nets, traps, and electric prods are typical methods. In the past few decades there have been fewer and fewer fish in the river. Keeping a fish farm is a common thing, but not all of the fish are native to the river. Because of the decreasing fish population, the villagers sometimes have to import fish from Vietnam.
They also are able to grow some crops: more during the dry season. April is the hottest month of the year and the river is low, making transportation more difficult. Once the water rises it makes transportation much easier. Its also less hot and there are more fish in the river. Some people even have floating docks with gardens or crocodile farms. The whole system is pretty cool.
Cambodians make up most of the population, but some Vietnamese live here. A lot has changed since Sayron was a kid. The river used to have more fish and they used to be bigger. They used to not have electricity; everything had to be powered or charged by battery. Now there is some electricity and most people have phones. They used to follow many more traditions. Now that is shifting in order to attract more foreigners. From what it sounds like, a lot of people travel to Thailand either to sell fish or to search for better jobsand better living conditions.
Culture
Cambodia has a King and a Prime Minister. The King is supposed to be the role model for Cambodians but the Prime Minister takes care of most governmental responsibility. Citizens vote for a new Prime Minister every 5 years.
Around 95% of Cambodians are Buddhist and Sayron says that most people practice it regularly. Monks are often asked to bless celebrations like the New Year (which falls on April 14 and 15 this year) and weddings. Monks have a similar role to a pastor in wedding ceremonies. Guys and girls used to get married young, around 16 for girls and maybe 18 for guys, but lately people have been getting married in their early to mid 20s. Normally the guy has to pay for the wedding and find a nice place that will do his bride’s hair and makeup.
Education in public schools are free, and kids progress from grades 1-12 (similar to ours). Most kids have to skip out on school in order to help their parents work. These kids normally follow the same trade as their parents. This contributes to a growing gap between the rich and poor here in Cambodia as some kids with wealthier families have the time to get a better education and they can afford to study in university.
Dreams
Our most recent topic we talked about was his future dreams. I asked him the classic question: “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?” He answered that pretty easily. Next year he will pass his exam to graduate from High School. Then he hopes to study abroad somewhere like America or Australia so he can learn better English while getting higher level education. He hopes to study education, Bible, and business while in college for 4 years.
His main reasoning for studying education and English is so he can come back to Cambodia and really help teach students how to speak English well. He said that most Cambodian students have difficulty competing with the success of students in other nearby Asian countrie (like Malaysia and Thailand), but he hopes to help change that so they can have brighter futures while also teaching them the Gospel. He also wants to be a businessman. Ideally he would own his own coffee shop that would help support his teaching and ministry.
Like I said, he’s pretty cool and he has some awesome goals. I would love to see fulfilled. By next year he will be looking to apply for colleges, and I’ve been trying to help him look for some places with programs that have what he wants. I think it’d be good for him to study TEFL or TESL (Teaching English as Foreign/Secondary Language). Does anybody know of colleges I could recommend to help give him a jump start? Or anything other information I should share that would be helpful?
Lastly, if you can think of any fun or difficult questions you would like me to ask him then let me know in the comments! It will help me help him practice his English 😉
God bless
