Dear Sponsors and Friends:
Happy Mother's Day!
Cambodia has just celebrated Khmer New Year, and Cambodia Tomorrow has a lot to celebrate. During the last twelve months, we made the transition from paying for English education to providing English education. Last April, our two outstanding teachers, Hai Poch and Hur Thirneang, began teaching in a makeshift classroom. With your generous support, we were able to build the Cambodia Tomorrow School, featuring two classrooms, a computer lab and an office. The teachers and children are thrilled with the new facility. The Grand Opening ceremony in December, 2008 was attended by Board member Sheila Pompan and her husband Gary Pompan. (For a glimpse of the school opening ceremony, check out Cambodia Tomorrow on YouTube. Watch for more videos soon!)
During a follow up visit in February, Board members Kathleen Hart-Zavoli and Michelle Moon spent time reviewing curriculum and student reports with the Cambodia Tomorrow School teachers and students. The students have been working hard on their studies and are thriving. Kathleen, Michelle, the teachers and our long-time Program Manager Sngin Ken Sokeoun, attended CamTESOL, a conference dedicated to the Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Language. We are committed to advancing the skills of our Cambodian team, to provide a great education to the children of Kompong Speu.
Thank you for being part of that process!
Elizabeth Gullam President
Cambodia Tomorrow |
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Letters From the Kids |
"My teacher is Hur Thinearng, he is a good teacher, he always speak English in the class, because he wants all students can speak it fluently to make communication with foreigners well, and he always give me some good advise to students, and he is good in teaching as well. You know, my studying English at Newtown school and here is different. At New Town I cant speak it well like I study here, because my teacher there never speak it in class with students, and can't explain well."
Thy, grade 9 |
Enthusiasm for Teaching and Learning
by Kathleen Hart-Zavoli
There is nothing as moving and gratifying as watching children totally engaged, excited and involved in learning. In late February, Michele Moon and I journeyed to Cambodia to support on-going Cambodia Tomorrow projects as well as to facilitate cooperative ventures with other NGO's working to improve the lives of Cambodian children. The high point of the trip was the opportunity to spend time with our teachers and students.
My introduction to our teachers was at the two-day CamTESOL (Cambodia: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) conference. We attended several workshops focused on methodology, motivation and creativity in the classroom. Our teachers, Poch Hai and Thinearng Hour, actively participated in discussions and were clearly anxious to apply many of the ideas and teaching strategies in their classrooms.
During our weeklong stay in Phnom Penh, we made several visits to the English School. In between and after classes, the teachers and I shared teaching experiences as well as ideas for expanding curriculum. The most astonishing thing they told me was the lack of resources available to government-supported schools. They had to develop both materials and innovative presentation strategies to make their classes interesting.
The most rewarding experience was spending time in the classroom with our younger students and teachers. The level of excitement and student participation was remarkable. They eagerly answered questions and repeated English phrases. The young children even arrived to class early to see the "stranger" at their school.
 Poch and Thinearng use holistic teaching methods that engage the children visually, verbally and socially. I was incorporated into the classroom activities as a student side by side with the children. I was asked to demonstrate the correct pronunciation of difficult English sounds such as /th/ and consonant endings that are not as predominant in the Khmer language.
Based on my observations and discussions I can say with confidence that we have a qualified and caring staff at KS. They enjoy their work and love the kids. In addition, their enthusiastic participation in the teaching conference demonstrates their willingness to grow and acquire new skill sets.
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Your Cambodia Tomorrow Board of Directors
by Catherine MacNeal
Our Board gathered in Berkeley, California in March at the home of Vice-President Catherine MacNeal, for an all day meeting. Why was this special? Our board members live from coast to coast and we conduct our meetings via conference call. Some of us had not met in person. We were able to gather everyone except Kathleen Hart -Zavoli (who had just traveled to Cambodia with Michelle Moon and wasn't able to travel again from New York State). It was so successful that we have scheduled a weekend retreat this summer.
During this meeting, we also voted sponsor and longtime supporter Wendy Wisniewski onto the Board. Welcome Wendy!
We took a moment to pose, wearing our Cambodian kramas:
Back row L to R.: President Elizabeth Gullam, Treasurer Scott Nichols,
Bo Zawadsky
Front Row L. to R.: Michelle Moon, Vice-President Catherine MacNeal, Secretary Sheila Pompan
(absent Kathleen Hart-Zavoli) |
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Wat Prey Chroum Orphanage
by Michelle Moon
On my last trip to Cambodia, I visited Wat Prey Chroum Orphanage. The journey was an adventure, down a bumpy dirt road past the rice fields and beautiful palm trees. I was greeted by approximately 40 children, smiling and welcoming us even in the face of their dire circumstances.
The orphanage was in very bad shape. The living quarters were pieced together with scraps and in various states of disrepair and only approximately 10x20 feet, with a makeshift wall down the middle to separate the boys from the girls. Each room had 5 plank wood beds, which the children share. The children had no woven mats and very few mosquito nets or blankets. I was told that the children are dropped off at the adjacent wat (temple) by families who can no longer care for their children.
Touring the "orphanage" was sad because it was clearly not a safe place for children to live. We were asked if Cambodia Tomorrow could provide some emergency assistance for basic needs and we readily agreed. Our Program Manager Ken delivered mosquito nets, blankets, sleeping mats, school notebooks and soccer balls for the children.
Your generous support allows us to respond quickly to emergency needs. Thank you!
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Book Donation
by Kathleen Hart-Zavoli
The Watt family contacted Cambodia Tomorrow late in 2008. After getting more information on the new Cambodia Tomorrow School At Kompong Speu Orphan Center, the Watts were impressed with our work. A donation was made by the family with instructions to purchase what was needed at KS.  Board members used the Watt's generous donation to purchase approximately 60 Khmer/English books, wall charts and art supplies for the Cambodia Tomorrow School. The Khmer/English books are a invaluable teaching tool. The children read the books in Khmer. After they finish the story the teachers ask them to either write or speak about the story in English. Art is an integral part of our teachers' curriculum. These supplies diminish rapidly, therefore having extra supplies available is quite important. Thank you to the Watt family for your donation and support. |
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Wall of Gratitude
by Catherine MacNeal
It's been exciting for the children at Kompong Speu to find their names and the names of their sponsors on the Wall of Gratitude. Over 80 of you have added names of your family, your sponsored child or a relative, friend, teacher or mentor you wish to honor.
The Wall of Gratitude has now spread to two walls in the classrooms, and it's not too late to make a contribution. For $100 per listing, you can create a memory for your family and a strong connection with the children at the Cambodia Tomorrow School.
Checks payable to Cambodia Tomorrow can be mailed to our Seattle address at the bottom of this newsletter, or you can use our Paypal link to make your donation. Please email me at cmacneal@cambodiatomorrow.org to give us names for the wall. Thank you! |
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Letters from the Kids |
"I would like to say thank you to you that you support me to study English, because English is very important language around the world and in Cambodia also...I'm very happy when I study in Cambodia Tomorrow School because I have a good teacher teach me he always pay attentions and speak English to me all the time so I can speak English better than before. Mum and Dad I saw your name and your family name on the wall in Cambodia Tomorrow School and I'm very happy to see that."
Srey Roth, grade 10
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Elementary Students in the U.S. Help Our Students Learn
by Kathleen Hart-Zavoli
During the month of February, children from Onondaga Road Elementary School in Camillus New York embarked on an adventure. Their objective was to write letters and stories for the children at the Cambodia Tomorrow School to help the student learn English. Second graders from Mrs. Madden's class wrote letters telling the children about life in Central New York and about their families and school. Mrs. Goodnough's 4th grade class wrote stories with topics from a pencil boy who wanted to be an eraser to alien invasions. Some children made their stories into books complete with illustrations and an "about the author" section. One young girl even dedicated her book to the children of Cambodia.
These letters and stories were presented to our English teachers, Poch and Thinearng, when board members Michelle Moon and Kathleen Hart-Zavoli traveled to Cambodia in February. The teachers were excited to receive materials from children in the U.S.  Since the delivery of the stories and letters in February, the students at the English school have been very busy with their lessons. In early April the students at Onondaga Road School have received letters from the children at the English. These letters included drawings of the upcoming Khmer New Year celebration. Our more advanced students even wrote a bit about the celebration of the New Year. The children at Onondaga Road School plan to write back to the students at our school and include something that is significant about their school.
Thank you Onondaga Road students!
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Shop On-Line and Earn Money for Cambodia Tomorrow
Shop and Give: Many of us use the internet to shop. Now you can shop and earn cash for Cambodia Tomorrow. I-give.com is an online shopping mall with over 700 stores and on-line services, such as Eddie Bauer, J C Penney, Target, Expedia.com and many, many more. When you shop your favorite stores through the I-give mall a percentage of your purchase is donated to Cambodia Tomorrow.
How it Works: Go to www.igive.com and create an account with a username and password. Cambodia Tomorrow is a listed charity with I-give. Select Cambodia Tomorrow as your charity, then each time you make a store purchase through the I-give mall anywhere from 1.5% to 10% of your purchase will be donated to us. These donations are tax deductible and can be tracked through your I-give account.
Browse the Web: I-give is also beta testing a web browser. Go to www.igive.com and download the ISearchIGive browser. Each time you browse the web with the I-give browser $.02 is credited to Cambodia Tomorrow. If you visit CNN five times in one day, we are credited with $.10. It is that simple.
Log on today at www.igive.com, create an account and help Cambodia Tomorrow while you are shopping on your computer. |
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