ecoledubayon, Author at École du Bayon

Jean Pierre & Michèle

by ecoledubayon | 10 Apr 2024 | Agroecology training, Bakery and pastry school, General education, Health, hygiene and food, Primary school, Social and families support

Michèle, an executive at Danone Eaux (Evian), discovered the Bayon School when it was created in 1997 by Marcel Bertaud, Director of Danone Japan and co-founder of the Bayon, with whom she works. In 2006, Michèle and her husband Jean-Pierre, a doctor by profession, came to Siem Reap with Marcel Bertaud to visit the Bayon School. It was an unforgettable experience, as close as possible to our beneficiaries.

In 2016, they decided to invest in the Bayon School by supporting the education and health of young people. Touched by our pupils, sensitive to the need to ensure their long-term quality education, and aware that good health is an essential condition for their development, Jean-Pierre became the NGO’s medical referent, assisted by Michèle. The Bayon School has become like a second home for them. In Siem Reap 6 months a year, they take care of the annual medical check-up of all our beneficiaries, namely :

184 elementary school pupils
20 female pastry-making students
20 agroecology students
The program team

The health and well-being of individuals are fundamental to their personal development and their ability to lead active, productive lives. As part of our mission within the organization, we have undertaken a series of actions to promote health and provide social assistance to those in need. This report details our efforts in these areas over the recent period.

Health

The introduction of health check-ups for all students and beneficiaries is one of the pillars of Jean-Pierre’s health initiatives for the Bayon school. This initiative aims to detect potential health problems at an early stage and provide the necessary interventions to ensure students’ well-being. He has been running a dental follow-up program for all students for several years. It has also provided complex medical follow-up for several students with specific health conditions:

Colostomy for an elementary school pupil
Medical care for an agro-ecology school pupil suffering from a spinal injury following a traffic accident
Medical care for a student from the pastry school with a leg injury requiring surgery
Medical care for a university student suffering from tuberculosis

Thanks to its network of competent doctors built up over the years, it is able to offer comprehensive medical care and recommendations tailored to each individual case.

Social

In parallel with their healthcare initiatives, Jean-Pierre and Michèle conducted an in-depth survey of the needs of the students’ families. Working with our social team, in particular Romain, they identified the challenges these families face and implemented concrete solutions. Among notable achievements, they facilitated the installation of sand filters and latrines for 160 families, improving their living conditions and environmental health. In addition, they assisted social workers to strengthen their skills in responding to families’ needs in an emphatic way.

Administrative management

As part of their activities, Jean-Pierre and Michèle also collaborated on the implementation of the “Team Desk” management tool, which facilitates the coordination and monitoring of our actions (social, educational, health). This platform enables us to manage our resources efficiently and ensure better communication within our organization.

Specific intervention: “Run Ta Ek

Jean-Pierre and Michèle know our families well and visit our students’ villages every year. Deeply concerned by the recent displacement of several families in Run Ta Ek, they decided to monitor the families’ conditions of displacement, in order to assess with the NGO’s social teams their needs and provide the necessary solutions in terms of housing, health, social and educational support.

The aim was to help them achieve sustainable autonomy by strengthening their resilience and providing them with the resources they needed to improve their quality of life. Thanks to this work, the École du Bayon teams, together with Jean-Pierre and Michèle, identified the help these “former” families needed (assessment of assistance, identification of partners, action plan and budget). All this was done with the aim of giving the students and their families the means to get out of this precarious situation, an essential anchor to be able to study in good conditions and give birth or rebirth to their future projects.

Every 6 months, we come back to the Bayon School to help out – it’s an addiction we’re not trying to cure.
Our involvement is amply rewarded by the smiles of the families and the joie de vivre of the pupils.

Michèle and Jean Pierre

Say hello to our fantastic 10th graduating class !

by ecoledubayon | 10 Apr 2024 | Agroecology training, General education, Sustainable agriculture and environment, Vocational training

At the beginning of February, we had the pleasure of welcoming the Class of 2024, a total of 20 students to our Pastry School.

As they do every year, they received a bicycle, their T-shirt and trouser ensemble, a hygiene kit renewed monthly and financial compensation to meet their daily needs.

Every day, they receive 1 breakfast, 1 lunch and 1 dinner in our canteen. Their dormitory has been recently renovated to provide them with a larger, more comfortable toilet space.

Their year is divided into three distinct phases:

Firstly, the initial term is devoted to learning English, the necessary personal and professional skills and IT, in line with the national educational program.

From April 1, our students begin their practical and theoretical courses as part of their pastry training.

Finally, starting in September, they will be introduced to the professional world through a four-month internship, which can be carried out in hotels and restaurants in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. To support them in this enriching experience, our teacher and social adviser, Tak, guides them in their search for internships, organizing visits to establishments.

In addition to their training, our students take part in fun and creative activities every Friday afternoon, enabling them to explore new professional and personal horizons.

The students also volunteer to take part in occasional coffee shop events. Recently, they went to the Marché de la Francophonie in the heart of Siem Reap to represent their school, offer our delicious pastries and welcome visitors.

We look forward to watching our students flourish throughout the year, and to supporting them on their journey to pastry excellence !

Discover our young talents from the class of 2024 !

by ecoledubayon | 10 Apr 2024 | Agroecology training, General education, Sustainable agriculture and environment, Vocational training

We’re delighted to introduce you to the young talents who joined our agroecology program last February. For the third year running, we have welcomed a dynamic group of 20 students, most of them women, ready to dive into the world of agroecology.

Throughout the school year, our students will acquire essential theoretical and practical skills in the field of agroecology. In addition to teaching specific techniques, they will take courses in English, IT, professional and personal skills, as well as food processing, in line with the national curriculum.

Practical classes punctuate their week, but that’s not all! Every week, our students take part in cultural workshops such as locust breeding, mushroom cultivation and composting, enriching their practical experience.

At Bayon School, we firmly believe in learning in the field, because that’s where real expertise is built. This month, our future agroecology experts had the opportunity to meet six families who grow fruit and vegetables for the elementary school canteen. They were also given the opportunity to choose a project to develop on the farm, a project they will carry out throughout the year. To accompany them in this adventure, they will benefit from training sessions every Saturday, in groups of four, enriching their knowledge and practice.

We look forward to seeing our students grow and flourish in the exciting field of agroecology, and are proud to support them in their academic and professional journey in collaboration with PSE.

Creation of a practical garden at primary school

by ecoledubayon | 26 Dec 2023 | Primary school

In recent months at the primary school, a project to create educational, fun and ecological vegetable gardens has emerged in co-creation with teachers from the agroecology school.

This project aims to raise students’ awareness of ecology and the environment, while introducing them in a fun way to simple market gardening practices. Through these gardens and vegetable patches that children draw and design accompanied by their teachers, they can experiment, learn and express themselves at the same time.

Some educational spaces are designed geometrically and are accompanied by small signs giving the names of shapes in English and Khmer. Learning combines geometry, gardening and language learning, all in a fun way.

These vegetable gardens also aim to supply part of the canteen’s needs. The children therefore find on their plates the vegetables that they have planted, seen growing and harvested. The soups are composed of eggplants, beans, salads, rice, aromatic herbs and a mushroom greenhouse, enough to offer healthy and balanced meals during meals.

End of school year for the Agroecology & Pastry School

by ecoledubayon | 26 Dec 2023 | Non classé

After a year of learning agroecology and pastry skills, and a 4-month internship, our students are heading into the professional world.
Looking back, from September to mid-December, students did practical internships to apply what they learned. This gave them valuable skills for their future jobs.

Students explored different areas – some worked on farms with animals, while others focused on growing peppers or gardening. Pastry students did internships in hotels and restaurants.

Many students chose to do their internships in places like Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Battambang, and Kampot, broadening their horizons.

“I’m Loeu Sameng, 20, from Rotanah Kiri, a third-year student at the School of Agroecology at Bayon Education and Development.
In my one-year study, I learned food processing, breeding, and husbandry. My 3-month internship on a cattle farm in Kandal gave me new skills in working with cows, teamwork, leadership, and marketing. Thanks to the School of Agroecology and Bayon Education Development!”

After the internship, students presented reports to a jury of teachers and professionals. Then, at the diploma ceremony, 20 students from the class of 2023 proudly received their agroecology and pastry diplomas.

We wish them all the best in their next adventure!

Jean Pierre & Michèle

Say hello to our fantastic 10th graduating class !

Discover our young talents from the class of 2024 !

Creation of a practical garden at primary school

End of school year for the Agroecology & Pastry School

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