I would like to share with you a short review of our activities in Bech Khlok so far. It is good to look back every now and then to once again become aware of all that we have achieved thanks to your great support.
Since the construction of the first school building in 2015, we have continuously expanded the school with more classrooms, a large library, a kindergarten, rooms for the teachers, a small kitchen, various sanitary facilities, water tanks and solar panels, a great playground and a school garden.
I still remember the moment when the head of the village came up to me at the inauguration of the last building and thanked me for creating an oasis in this rather desolate place where children can learn, play and be happy. I was very touched by that...
However, we did not only focus on building the school, but since then we have also ensured that the quality of teaching continuously improves, fill the gaps in the state curriculum with a supplementary offer and make sure that the older students can continue to secondary and high school.
In this way, we support the reduction of inequalities and injustices in education, both in terms of access and quality.
Sustainable development depends on every child receiving the highest quality education possible. When children have the opportunity to reach their full potential, they become productive adults ready to give back to their communities and break the cycle of poverty.
Malnutrition, dirty drinking water and poor hygiene can lead to impaired cognitive and motor development in children. With a lunch programme for the neediest primary school students, a balanced meal for the kindergarten children, water tanks and water filters for the families, a lot of educational work and help in emergencies, we have contributed a great deal to noticeably improving the children's health condition and thus also their learning and concentration ability.
Here are a few current figures on our programme. I would like to take this opportunity to remind you that 8 years ago there was no qualified elementary education (2 village elders taught) and the "school building" could hardly be called such.
Our programme in Bech Khlok
(75 families live in Bech Khlok)
71 pupils attend primary school
27 children attend the kindergarten (a total of 122 already since the opening 3 years ago)
25 students from Bech Khlok attend secondary school in Koas Krala with support from Seed (16 of them girls)
3 students from Bech Khlok attend high school in Koas Krala (all girls)
83 pupils attend English classes
10 students are currently attending the additional Khmer and Maths classes in Bech Khlok and many more take advantage of the extra offer during the big school holidays.
20 primary school students receive daily lunch at school
27 kindergarten children receive a balanced meal every day
24 families received a water tank and filter
3 families participate in the cow project
Dozens of children received bicycles, children's helmets, school uniforms, school supplies, solar lamps, hygiene items and much more.
Our programme in the neighbouring village Arai (since summer 2022)
(211 families live in Arai)
83 children attend the public primary school in Arai, 3 of them will transfer to the secondary school in Koas Krala next school year with support from Seed
48 students attend Seed's English classes
Heang Ho, the manager of Seed for Cambodia is supported by three teachers, a kindergarten teacher and her assistant and a gardener. All staff members are Cambodian. The teachers also help with the cooking, do the bookkeeping (one teacher has studied accounting), run the library, participate in educational work (one teacher has studied community development) and organise workshops for the older students on general life, education and environmental topics. It is a well-coordinated team and it is a great pleasure to see how committed everyone is to our cause.
Our biggest financial challenge at the moment is to fund the support of the secondary students and the urgently needed replacement of the old, dilapidated school building, which is needed for English lessons, workshops/meetings with students and parents and much more.
The cost of a secondary student has risen from 30 USD to 60 USD per month because since this school year the students attend the much better secondary school in Koas Krala, which is much further away. With classes of up to 80 pupils and a chronic lack of teaching staff in the old secondary school, we were forced to take this step. As only 10 out of 25 secondary students are supported through sponsorship, and only 2 of them with the full contribution of 60 USD, we have to cover a large amount from general donations.
Please contact us by email: seed_beginning@hotmail.com if you would like to sponsor or help us finance the new building. We will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Finally, here are a few photos of activities from the last few months. See you next time!
Our three teachers and the kindergarten teacher with her assistant on Woman's Day
One of our teachers (on the left in the picture) was able to participate in a 5-day training on "Learning to read and write with phonetics". In addition, there was a short training for all 3 teachers on the same topic, but related to English teaching.
In mid-April, the Khmer New Year festivities took place. Before the holidays, the school says goodbye to the old year and welcomes the new one with fun and games. This includes sack races, rope pulling, chair dancing, circle games, climbing, water splashing and powdering.
Florian Pahler from Seed Germany is currently spending a few months in Cambodia and last week, with the help of the older pupils and Heang, he built a large sandpit with a water feature. The children are thrilled!
In February, the first calf was born!
As always, you can find many other pictures and short reports about our activities of the last months on Facebook and Instagram.
