General education Archives - Page 5 of 5

Another school year comes to an end at the Bayon School…

by ecoledubayon | 2 Dec 2019 | Agroecology training, Bakery and pastry school, Coffee Shop, General education, Health, hygiene and food, Primary school, Secondary school support, Social and families support, Sustainable agriculture and environment, Vocational training

Another school year comes to an end at the Bayon School… and before we know it, another group of students has joined the pastry school whilst nineteen new little ones fill the empty benches in the Kindergarten class. Such is the life of a school: some move on, leaving the space open for others to integrate our classes. There is always a lot happening, which is how it should be! Initiatives come to light, ideas abound, things take shape, the teams get on board and new projects come to life…

The 2018/2019 school year started at the primary school with an overhaul of the teaching system, following recommendations made by Rodrigo and Anaïs, after their audit of our pedagogical set-up.• A new primary head has been recruited and the teaching team has been renewed, giving preference to full-time contracts, which allows us to put in place extra support classes for children who may be struggling.
• Two new buildings have opened their doors; a computer classroom for the pupils of Grades 5 & 6, as well as a library with over 400 books in Khmer.
• A brand-new canteen and water management system have been inaugurated.

These investments have only been made possible through the generous support of our sponsors and donators. Without them, we would not be able to achieve so much. An enormous THANK YOU!

Our secondary students participated in the monthly careers events with professionals who came to present their jobs. A jewelry designer, HR in a travel agency, accountant in an NGO, manager of a hotel: very diverse worlds come together to talk to our students, allowing them to project themselves into a professional future which is not really that far away after all. This year, they were also lucky to be able to participate in an intercultural exchange with students from the Lycée Français of Singapore, which was rich in emotion.
The vegetable gardens have never produced as much as this year; it really was a bumper crop! 80% of the canteen’s vegetables were grown locally and ecologically in the plots of the 8 families involved in the Green Project. Every day at daybreak, 25 Kg of vegetables arrive by motorbike, tuktuk or even bicycle to allow our cooks to prepare the meals for our 250 pupils, who start lunch at 11 o’clock for the youngest amongst them. It is quite a marathon to keep the families motivated as market gardening really is a daily enterprise with no time for rest. This year, we have been able to equip each family with an automatic irrigation system, allowing them time for other activities such as weeding, harvesting, pest control, etc.

At the pastry school, 21 young women graduated at the end of August. With their diploma under their arm, they set off towards a secure professional future in the hotels in Siem Reap or Phnom Penh and/or in the bakeries looking for qualified labour. These students, who joined us in September 2018, were unrecognisable when they left; shy, reserved and unsure of themselves at the beginning, they left us brimming with self-confidence and armed with a trade that they can and must promote. We are astounded by their capacity to learn and absorb so much in only 12 months.

The new students who arrived in August 2019 have already taken their first steps in the pristine Bakery Lab, which we have just inaugurated and which will enable us to train more students in better conditions.

The Bayon School is moving forward – thanks to its teams and numerous loyal donators who believe in its project. Let’s continue together!

Please find attached the Activity Report for the year 2018/2019 for further details on what we do.

Holidays in Angkor Temples…

by ecoledubayon | 24 Sep 2019 | General education, Primary school

The AuVert’gnats, a group from the Puy-de-Dôme area in France composed of four girls and four boys, proposed a rich and detailed candidature, which motivated our choice. Coming out of a two week experience in the Alpes where they helped a cow farmer with milking and other activities linked with alpine pasture, the team started uniting through strong values of solidarity and mutual aid; values they used during their month at Bayon School.
The August 2019 summer camp took another direction because this year, we associated the scouts and the bursary students of the association. Bayon School hopes to support some students after Grade 12 by offering them a study bursary.

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To start with, the two groups met up to exchange over ideas, organize themselves and build a common calendar. One week was more reserved for Khmer games and the next to French games, the other nationality discovering the specificities of entertainment in each culture.
The scouts offered games that the Khmer children did not know. Their preferences turned towards group and sportive games such as “balle au prisonnier”, chicken-viper-fox (the vipers catch the foxes, who catch the chicken who eat the vipers!) or the planets game. They alternated between the sportive activities and the creative activities (collage, decoration, painting…) in order to make small groups. Between 50 and 80 children were present each morning and afternoon. The summer camp was open for Grade 2 and older.

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The scouts really appreciated having the bursary students at their side. They considered this partnership franc-Khmer as essential as it enabled them to better understand the culture and to have access to information they wouldn’t have understood otherwise. Some of the scouts visited a family and discovered the house of our students. They will remember moments full of emotions such as the songs and the dances with the children. They loved playing outside and be surprised by the rain season and even then, continuing to play outside under the rain! Their favorite moment is a swim with some of the older students (11 to 14 years old) in one of the basins of ponds of the Angkor temples…

They sometimes found the days a bit long, because animating for such a long time can be exhausting. With time, they organized themselves better and learned to know the children, their names, their personalities and rich and sincere exchanges came from it. When we ask them what was their greatest difficulty, some answered: “hunger!”. The canteen of the school serves rice and soup of vegetables/meat every lunchtime. A bit repetitive for the French appetite.
The group of scouts was very professional and courageous (20km of biking every day to go to the school). They led their activities with enthusiasm and respect. We thank they vividly for their engagement with Bayon School!

THE ASSOCIATION « LE RÊVE D’ELO »

by ecoledubayon | 18 Sep 2019 | General education, Health, hygiene and food, Primary school

Following an accident 20th April 2014 in Cambodia, Elodie died at the age of 27. She was the project coordinator at Bayon School.
The project that was the most important to her was the creation of a canteen inside the school. Elodie wanted to provide lunch to the children so they benefited of at least one healthy and balanced meal per day and to avoid them going back and forth between the school and their village.
The project emerged in November 2014 under the name of “Elodie’s canteen”. In December 2014, our family created the association “Le Rêve d’Elo” with the aim of financially sustaining the good functioning of the canteen.

Today, we count 45 members (families and friends). Through this project, seven children have found godfathers.
Our association organises two events per year:
• In spring, a pedestrian walk followed by a barbecue with a sale of envelops with a prize for each, sale of backpacks and tee-shirts
This event enables the walkers to discover the commune that welcomes us, its heritage and new landscapes. (In 2019: 350 walkers and 400 meals).
• In autumn, a dinner party (300 guests) with a raffle which has great prizes offered by our partners.

The profits of these two events are increasing each year (2018: 17,000€, including 3,800€ of donations).
The city councils who welcome us offer their premises, often as a gesture and they give us technical support. We thank them dearly.
The regular attendees of our events are regularly informed of the projects of SEP Bayon and the payments we make.

We are very motivated by the memory of Elodie, for whom the joy and smile of the children was her greatest prize.
Important notice: the next dinner party will be on 19th October 2019.

SOKY and CHHEIN : 2 women engaged for the education of disadvantaged youths

by ecoledubayon | 20 Jun 2019 | Bakery and pastry school, General education, Social and families support, Vocational training

Chhein joined Bayon School in January 2018. She comes from Banteay Mean Chey, at the north east of Cambodia and grew up in a family of 7 children. Like many Khmer children, she took care of her younger siblings when she was still very young. This is probably what drove her towards working with the youth.

After high school, she completed a course to become a primary school teacher and taught in her home province for a year. Even though she enjoyed the role, she decided to go back to university to become a social worker, job that she found more stimulating and that offers a better wage.
After graduating with a management bachelor from Siem Reap University, she worked with Enfants du Mékong for 3 years, then for Japanese charity Kimonos. Her role with Kimonos consisted of empowering young women to become independent and responsible, through a social and personal development programme.

When she joined Bayon School, Chhein had an induction with her predecessor Tep, who had been social manager for the pastry school for a year and a half. He introduced her to her job description, which includes:
– Recruiting students;
– Assessing applicants’ families situation;
– Provide personal development sessions (job interview, resumes, etc.)
– Support the students with their life at the school and health;
– Seeking internships in restaurants and hotels;
– Seeking permanent roles after the training.

Chhein fast integrated into the team and was given a nickname – “Chhein Chhein”. What she most enjoys about her role is her relationship with the students. She works with them every day by providing essential information and support across many areas. She deeply wants to encourage them to become strong and independent women. She would like each of them to succeed in building a career that matches their interests.

When she was younger, Chhein would have loved to receive such support, but her family encouraged her to end her studies to help with farming work and get married. Despite the pressure, she stood for her values and worked in a primary school to fund her studies.
Today, Chhein is very proud of her background and how far she has come. She just gave birth to a beautiful little girl. Before going on maternity leave, she told us she would like to support her daughter in her education to become an independent woman.

Big thanks to Chhein for her involvement within the school and congratulations on her happy event!

Next Entries »

Another school year comes to an end at the Bayon School…

Holidays in Angkor Temples…

THE ASSOCIATION « LE RÊVE D’ELO »

SOKY and CHHEIN : 2 women engaged for the education of disadvantaged youths

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