The Experiences of Anna from Luxembourg

Hey Everybody, I’m Anna a Sociology student from Luxembourg. My passion is to explore new cultures and meet new people. After spending a month participating in a TGL program in the most beautiful, and still very much untouched country of Laos in 2017, I decided that this year I would dive into the teaching program at the Greenway school in Samraong (north-west of Cambodia) for 4 weeks, while on another school break. My trip to Cambodia started with the Culture Week. Here some details about the activities I enjoyed that week:

• Visiting the Museum of War dedicated to the Civil War
• Visiting Siem Reap
• Visiting a silk farm
• Khmer massage
• Relaxing at the swimming pool
• Cooking lesson
• Visiting a pagoda and talking with a monk
• Meeting the other participants at the Blue House in Samraong (the Blue house is the main accommodation in Samraong. It’s a simple, but a beautiful place).

During the Culture Week I had my first chance to visit the Greenway school, where I was supposed to teaching local kids for the next two weeks. When I first saw this place, I immediately fell in love with it. Greenway school gives the opportunity for children, from what are most often, really poor backgrounds to have English lessons and to have cultural exchange with people for many countries, that they may not have otherwise met.
I decided to teach the kindergarten class. Not all were typical age for this class, it was more like they were just at the very beginner level. So my task was to teach the kids, mostly 8 and 9 years old, fruits in English. I’ll never forget how the kids spelled guava because it sounded like twenty little frogs sitting in front of me. The second week of teaching I helped the kids to prepare for their final test, which determines which kids are actually ready to move up to a higher level class during the upcoming school year. The final tests were on Wednesday and on Thursday. It was an all hands on deck situation, so all participants corrected these important tests together.

On Friday, we had an refreshing and fun water balloon fight with students at the school. Afterwards most of the kids danced around in the mud. It was really fun to see these happy and smiling kids. Even though they live in poor conditions and have very little by most western standards, they are happy with simple things. They don’t need expensive toys to have fun, they play games with their flip flops or make rubber band ropes. They just use what they have and it is a lesson for all of us.
These kids remind you everyday through words and actions that they are thankful to have an English education and they always show their teachers the utmost respect. Every day when entering the classroom, I was touched by my kids, who stood up to say hello to me. “Good morning teacher. How are you today?”. Also, most of the other kids in the school greeted me every day and started a conversation in English. No matter who you are or where you come from, the kids accept you and show you their respect. My motto during those two weeks was “You get what you give”. I helped the kids to get an education and they gave me back their respect and their love.

During my last week I was supposed to do construction at the school, because of the school holidays, during which the kids had no lessons. But before doing this, three other participants and I joined Mr. Ya, the Country Manager of the Green Lion in Cambodia, as he travelled to his hometown, where we celebrated Pchum Ben or Ancestor’s day along with him and his family. This was a religious festival, with great cultural significance. It was an extraordinary experience, because I got to know more about rural Cambodia and its traditions (Thank you Mr. Ya for this opportunity!). Back at the Blue house after three days we continued our work at the Greenway school by cleaning up a messy classroom. After 4 intensive and awesome weeks, I had to say goodbye to this beautiful country and all of its kind and welcoming citizens, I had fallen in love with.

The greatest thing I had learned in Cambodia was to recognize and be more thankful for the opportunities that I have. I experienced so much during this one month in Cambodia, that I can’t even begin to tell you everything about my stay. If you want to know more about this country and its people, be curious and sign up for the teaching program at the Greenway school in Cambodia. I’m sure you’ll appreciate it as much as I did.
Here a few reasons why it is worth to participate at the teaching program at the Greenway school in Cambodia:

1. Beautiful location (Blue house and Greenway school in Samraong)
2. Thankful, happy and smiling kids
3. Fun in teaching
4. Nice and helpful coordinators
5. Meeting new people
6. Beautiful nature, especially green rice fields and sunsets
7. Visiting Angkor Wat, floating village and other attractions during the weekend in Siem Reap

I hereby want to thank The Green Lion team in Cambodia for their great job and everyone else I met during my amazing experience.

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