Where's Waldo?
Trip Start
May 16, 2008
1
34
41
Trip End
Sep 15, 2008
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
First, to tell you about my success teaching computer classes! I finished teaching English class last week with the kids and moved on to the teachers and computer lessons this week. The kids' learning games (flash cards, hang man, the farmer game, bingo, the alphabet stamps and a few others) were a hit! I figured it out pretty quickly, kids prefer moving while they learn, plus its so hot in the classroom I still am amazed they sit still as long as they do. I left them all the supplies I brought with me, which left me more room in my luggage to shop. Heh!
Without any real guidance on topics, I spent Sunday preparing all these tips and tricks that I find useful when using common programs like Word and Excel, things like creating table of contents, equations and pivot tables in spreadsheets....what I thought a teacher could use at work.
Wat Bo School has a proper computer lab for the teachers with about 15 new computers (only one is connected to the net right now) all with an updated (non-pirated) copy of Windows operating system (phew!). They were donated by the William and Mary University in Virginia (the Business School I believe) and the University continues to fund their monthly internet bill with plans to connect the other 14 computers.
I had a bit of a shock when I got there, as they wanted to start with turning the computer on......oh. Back it up Stephanie. Back it way up.
So basically in 2 days I went through how to set up a folder, open a document in Word, save it to the folder, then find it again using explore, oh ya and the 'undo' function in case you delete something by accident. They are eager and quick learners and it won't take them long to get the hang of it, they just need people who know computers to show them the way. So hopefully volunteers will continue to come and share.
My last day was today, which is kinda bitter sweet as I am looking forward to getting home yet realize I only just scratched the surface here. The real shock came when I was presented with gifts! I really feel like being here doing this was the most amazing gift in the world, but they insisted. The kids got me a sand stone carving, copied from Angkor Wat. Its beautiful (and heavy)!! Then the morning class of teachers outfitted me in a traditional handmade Khmer silk shirt and scarf (it wasn't lost on me that it was an XL!). Followed by the afternoon class of teachers with a pair of shoes to match! Wow! I was speechless. And a little teary. Which I think they got a kick out of. What a cool bunch of people! I got as many email addresses as I could and gave them mine and promised to send pictures.
Spent Monday evening watching Pon Heary sort out this year's order of supplies for 1,763 of the poorest kids at the six schools her foundation serves. The foundation makes "backpack packs" for each child in time for school starting Oct 1. Included in the packs are uniforms (skirts for girls, shorts for boys), pencil cases, backpacks, notebooks, rulers, markers, protractor sets, pens, pencils and shoes for the entire school year. With over 1,700 kids of all different ages, and sizes, her manual spreadsheets were a marvel! She somehow keeps it all straight so each child gets the correct size and supplies for their age and grade.
Each bag costs about $20 to put together with all the supplies to allow the kids to attend (if not for the foundation, they would not be in school).
While sitting with her last night I checked the loads on the flights to get me out of Cambodia to Hong Kong to try for my flight home starting on the 21st, as I was standby from Phnom Penh to Hong Kong and didn't have a confirmed seat. And yikes, they were all sold out for the whole week! A travel agent confirmed, and all other destinations to get to Hong Kong were either full (Kuala Lumpur) or ridiculously overpriced (Bangkok)....OMG OMG. So the agent was able to find and book me from Siem Reap to Vietnam on the 19th then to Hong Kong on the 20th. Leaving a day early was the only way I was leaving Cambodia this week! Oh and I don't have a Visa for Vietnam! So they expressed my passport to the capital and back to get a visa all in 24 hrs. Phew! Talk about panic! Without the visa, I would have had to sleep at the Ho Chi Minh City airport (which, like the bus, I said never again and I mean never again).
Anywhoooo, Pon Heary and 2 of the nieces (LeiLei and Mimi) came along to see me off at the airport. With a high 5 from the two little ones....I said goodbye to the lovely Kingdom of Cambodia and a super amazing experience.
So......Sin Chow from Vietnam!!
PS - Just figured out what the hub bub was going on at the airport when I landed. The Vietnamese government just released Garry Glitter on child molestation charges after almost 3 yrs in prison and he was leaving as I was arriving. Sicko. In Cambodia, they have caught over 2000 child predators in the last 5 yrs. Sickos.
