Right in the heart of PSE, the Central School Continuity Programme welcomes around 450 kids each day. With children from around the area, plus six buses from further away, the PSE Central entrance becomes a party every morning. This Project takes place in Stung Meanchey, one of the poorest districts in Phnom Penh. By attending the School Continuity Programme, children receive all their meals, except for dinner as they go home.
More than sixty Khmer instructors and fifteen Europeans, plus coordinators make PSE the safest place for these children. The kids arrive at PSE through a corridor of cheers and music that the volunteers sing and dance to in two rows to welcome the kids in the jolliest way possible. The infection of smiles does not fade throughout the day. Later on, they eat breakfast and take showers as they arrive, in their own time, because, as you will see, PSE Central follows its own rhythm. Children learn, play and have a great time with their friends and “get the opportunity of exchanging cultures and languages with the European volunteers, something very enriching for these kids”, considers Sok Chan, a Khmer volunteer.
“The biggest challenge is learning to not have control”
Paloma
“There are kids everywhere”, says Clemence, a European instructor. And although it is a challenge for the volunteers to handle such a big number of children, they are amazed by how well these kids behave when placed in a group. “The biggest challenge is learning to not have control”, jokes Paloma, a European volunteer. She claims that PSE Central is chaos, but at the same time, order. This means that, even though they are good kids, and there is a structure, there are some things that are out of reach for the volunteers. That is the personality, the character and the spontaneity of these children. “The more flexible you become, the easier it will be to solve the problem”, adds Thida, a Khmer volunteer. If you have the chance to peek into PSE Central, you will see that there is magic in this chaos.
Volunteers aim to educate these kids in passion and effort. They teach them that teamwork is the base for success. “We need to tell them how valuable they are, it is our duty to help them pick up good habits that will make them the future of this country”, suggests Menlong, a Khmer instructor. According to their ages -ranging from six to fourteen years old-, children are divided into twenty kroms –teams-. The Khmer instructors have great hand handling the kroms, as they have the advantage of communication. They handle the children and help them adjust their behaviors according to the situation. These groups, when dispersed, manage to fill the huge space that is facilitated to this Programme. Volunteers have a wide range of possibilities to prepare activities for the children, as the installations are never-ending.
The activities are planned in a way that the groups with the smallest children will participate in certain ones and the eldest ones, in others. “This way we can maximize the outcomes according to their attention span”, points out Ángela, a European coordinator. Some of them are beginning to have thoughts about their future, while others have only just started school. The older kids participate in activities that have continuity, meaning that one is linked to the next one and so on. They take place both indoors and outdoors and follow a certain theme, as it has been proven that they engage more with this method. As for the little ones, the activities are of shorter duration, considering their lack of concentration at certain times. The English language is introduced to these kids through the game. In addition, the Medical and Dental Team join the Project from time to time to give medical assistance if needed and workshops regarding different matters.
Like a gear chain.
The logistics in this Project is something worth of admiration. Like many things in Central, logistics works like a gear chain where everybody contributes with their own tasks to the well-functioning of the process. The Service Team -rotating daily- takes care of getting the breakfast, lunch and goûte -snack- spots ready and permanently clean, as well as helping out in anything possibly needed. They not only contribute to PSE Central, but also prepare the meals for other Projects. There is also a specific person that takes care of the material for the activities during the whole day. Even though the activities prepared in this Project require a low quantity of material -in order to economize- there is still an average of twenty activities per day. This requires a lot of supplies and organization.
Energetic bodies eager to participate in whatever is next.
The visual image of the Central Project is similar to an anthill, with its messy parts and snake lines crossing each other. The chuas are perfect lines with energetic bodies eager to participate in whatever is next. They are smart kids who know that, the sooner they do what they are being told to do, the sooner they will skip to the good part. They are patient and wait in an orderly manner to get their meals. They are grateful for everything that is given to them and, on Olympiques Day, they are euphoric when they receive even the smallest of the presents. “They are competitive, they play until the end and encourage their teammates to win”, remarks Clo, a European volunteer. “They want to play constantly and are incombustible”, explains Gonzalo, a European coordinator. The only silence heard in Central comes during meditation and nap time. The list of descriptions for these kids is as endless as their energy.
All part of a big puzzle.
In conclusion, the well-functioning of this Project is due to the great cooperation between Khmer and European volunteers who, working as one, aim to make the best out of these weeks for the children. “We are all in the same boat”, states Clo. Menglong, a Khmer instructor, claims that these children are easy to read because they do not know how to hide their emotions. This makes it easy for the volunteers to address their needs. Khmer coordinator, Sopanuth, remarks that if the Project is working it is thanks to the volunteers who know exactly what they need to do, and to the kids, who are obedient and vastly happy to be here. Everybody has their own place in Central but, at the same time, are all part of a big puzzle with one single objective: destroying misery.
