Smile Village is a town that was built in 2015 by PSE to offer a home to families who had been evicted from Phnom Penh. More than 70 families live here and in the very center, the Community Service Center (CSC) is welcoming around 120 kids each day to join this year’s School Continuity Programme which have turned out to be much more than a “winter camp”.
The place that is used for the Programme is a CSC for children aged 3 to 6 throughout the year. It is directly surrounded by the houses of the Smile Village people, which appears as both an advantage and a handicap. The children await the volunteers with excitement at the door every day, as they are one step away from their homes. But, on the other hand, as Thomas, a European instructor says, “they can very easily go to their homes, take sweets, sleep or do whatever they want”. However, this freedom has proven to the volunteers the true desires of the kids. “The good part is that they always come back”, reveals Thomas.
“These children need reinforcement”
fer
During five weeks, five European and thirteen Khmer volunteers are being coordinated by Fer, Romain and Sophea to offer the children the best time possible. The objective of this Project is to offer the children activities that will be useful for their future as Smile Village is one the poorest areas of Phnom Penh. Adapting to the kids’ needs, volunteers educate them through affection, empathy and positive behaviors. The regular activities in this Project are, therefore, based on subjects like geography, math, English or emotional intelligence. “Most of the activities will be focused on education, because these children need reinforcement”, comments Fer. Nevertheless, the goal is to make the children happy, so teaching is carried out through games.
The facility of the Smile Village CSC is extensive. A large hall, plus four rooms and the small playground give the instructors plenty of space to plan the indoor activities. Additionally, the field that surrounds the school is more than enough for all the children to run around and play the Big Games or the Olympiques on Fridays. The volunteers have a wide range of possibilities to entertain the kids while teaching them values. Games like Tik Tak Toe or Hangman in a human size version engage the different Kroms -teams- in a joyful manner.
“Smile Village kids are full of energy, it is amazing”
romain
“Smile Village kids are full of energy, it is amazing”, states Romain. For this reason, they need to set off steam with activities that require a lot of movement. Before lunch, the kids take on a ten minute meditation. This relaxes them for Nham Bai time -eating rice time- and for the siesta that comes after. The difference that meditation makes on the kids is amazing. They go from screams and overstimulation to sleepy faces and silence.
Miguel, a European volunteer, points out that “these kids are happy to attend the School Continuity Programme, even though their situation at home is challenging”. Remi, a veteran, adds that even though they are now listening and responding in a great way, it was hard to connect with them at the beginning. This way, the days are playing out smoothly and, at the end of the day, both children and volunteers are content.
PSE supports the families that reside in this village but are expected to follow a set of rules in order to keep their right to live in these houses. There are families that have a hard time keeping stable jobs and some of them tend to fall back into habits not so positive for their children which at the end, impacts on the relationship with PSE. In addition, what does not help is that a prison was built next to the village.
“We are reconnecting with the families”
fer
At the beginning of the Project, the volunteers did not receive the warmest of the welcomes, due to the lack of trust from the people. This Project has been refocused to, not only keep the children in school and make them happy, but to recuperate the families of Smile Village. “We are reconnecting with the families by letting them know that we are here and that we came to help”, explains Fer. They are now listening and giving feedback. During the Talent Show that the instructors prepared for the kids, some families even made an appearance. Thanks to this Project, Social Services have been able to make a few appearances already, giving hope to the families and helping them find alternatives to their lifestyles.
The children need to be spoken with and listened to.
As for the kids, they are the main focus, and it is also a task for the volunteers to reconnect with them. The children need to be spoken with and listened to. The eldest kids of the Project started off with a challenging attitude but, after understanding the good will of the volunteers, things have changed. They are encouraged to help the instructors out with the little ones. This way, their motivation to attend the CSC keeps them focused and the help they lend to the volunteers is a win-win. Some children take longer to trust, but the sooner the eldest start speaking to them, the sooner they will begin to listen and get engaged.
Besides the games, the volunteers also impart workshops about drugs, alcohol and violence. “It is essential to talk to them about it so they see a different point of view from what they have grown up around”, suggests Suzanne. The children receive information about the consequences of these things and are asked questions such as “why do people use violence” or “how can I change a violent behavior”. “It is important to teach them about what is good and what is bad and to make them think and detect the difference”, proposes Thomas.
“Kids are like a blank piece of paper”
sophea
“On the first day I was hoping for the weekend to arrive, as it was tough and a lot of work, but when it did, I was wishing for Monday to come around”, confesses Jimena, a European volunteer. All volunteers agree on the fact that Smile Village children are somewhat wild, but it is noticeable that they just need love and affection. This School Continuity Programme is doing that for them, it is making an impact and Remi describes this as “something very fulfilling”. The mission is working, the families are reconnecting and realigning with PSE. “Kids are like a blank piece of paper and it is partly in our hands to paint it the right color”, concludes Sophea.
