The world of color, named after the village where it is located, is only fifteen minutes away from PSE´s Headquarters. Phum Russei –bamboo village in Khmer- works as a kindergarten throughout the year and turns into a paradise for kids during the holidays. Around 150 children from ages 2-15 come here every day from Monday to Friday to attend the School Continuity Programme. Fourteen Khmer and six European instructors, plus one coordinator from each nationality are making this Project, one to remember.
It was originally called Paillote Two –French term for Hut Two- for being the second Community Service Center (CSC)- after the Central building- created by PSE. Today it is the oldest CSC. The looks of the place do not give out the image of “old”, on the contrary, once you go beyond its doors, you enter into a world of color. All the buildings around the notoriously big yard are decorated with colorful paintings.
“You can see the children are happy to be here, which means we are happy too”
marion
The objective of PSE Projects is to show that affection is as an efficient means to education. Therefore, besides educating the kids, the instructors are here to make them have a great time during their holidays. “You can see the children are happy to be here, which means we are happy too”, says Marion, a European volunteer.
Like in most of the Projects, children arrive in the morning and take their typical Khmer breakfast: rice accompanied by a protein -usually fish-. When they have finished, they pick up a Krama -Khmer scarf- and wrap it around themselves to take a shower. After all of this is done, they line up and dance with the volunteers, in order to get active and ready for the activities, while being checked for attendance. Kids love to dance and quickly learn all the steps that the instructors perform daily. Before the activities start, they all take part in the flag ceremony, a very moving moment of the day.
On a regular day, the children are divided into Kroms –teams- and rotate around the different activities that have been planned by the volunteers. However, Fridays are a very special event in PSE as it is Olympics Day. The kids are divided into teams, different from the ones on a regular day, in order to mix up their ages. There are around six activities to be played between two teams. The krom that wins gets certain points and in the afternoon, will be able to pick first the present that they want to take home. It is always a quest. “The fact that some children receive better presents than others does not make them angry, if anything they are motivated to do better next Friday”, affirms Clau, the European coordinator. Phum Russei children are grateful and very respectful with their friends and instructors.
A gift, however small it may be, is exceptional and exciting for them.
These presents that are handed out to all the children from the Projects on Fridays, are brought from home by all the volunteers with so much excitement. It is incredible seeing how The Present Room, which at first is full of donation of European enterprises, gets emptier every week. The kids love the Olympics because competing motivates them and because receiving a gift, however small it may be, is exceptional and exciting for them.
Some activities that the children compete are: bag race, obstacle course, basketball, penalties, krama race, the tug of war game, dance battle, etc. Two teams play against each other and when the activity is completed, they rotate to the next one. “The objective of having them compete is to teach them about effort and reward”, explains Varo, a European instructor. Children enjoy the competitiveness of the atmosphere, but it is important that the instructors remind them not to step on each other. Instead of booing for the opposite team, the children are encouraged to cheer for their own team. They like to yell “Krom pi chineas chineas!” –Khmer for “team two win win!”.
Before leaving to go home, a daily tradition in this Project is the “Cleaning Game”. When you enter Phum Russei it is notable that it is a very clean space. The children are given garbage bags by groups and urged to fill them with as much trash as they can. The volunteers will decide who wins by calculating which bag weighs more. The kids love this game even though, as Khmer Coordinator MeyMey said, “we are not giving them anything in exchange, they just really like to clean”.
The air breathed in Phum Russei is of pure happiness.
The fact that the number of children attending this Project is not very high -considering the number of volunteers- has a very positive effect on the children. “We get to create a very nice bond with the kids”, points out Marion. “The politeness of the children contributes to this Project being so easy going”, adds MeyMey. And this is obvious to see when you enter the installations of the CSC, they are like a family. The air breathed in Phum Russei is of pure happiness.
