Around a one hour drive away from PSE Central and in the midst of nature, there is a province called Kean Svay. With that same name, a Community Service Center (CSC) was built in 2018 by PSE volunteers during the summer. Four years later, this small but beautiful place welcomes approximately 120 kids each day for the School Continuity Programme. 

“Very loving and energetic, a little bit like monkeys in the jungle”

During the school year, like a few others, this CSC does the job of a kindergarten. However, many other kids from around the area join the Project during the holidays. This means that the ages of the children are very diverse. Kean Svay kids are described by the volunteers as “very loving and energetic, a little bit like monkeys in the jungle”. Entering the CSC it is noticeable that these children are very happy to be in the Programme, and as kids they are, like to laugh around with their friends. 

A day in Kean Svay starts with breakfast, showers, tooth brushing and aerobics. This last part is used to encourage the kids to let off steam. “During these thirty minutes we manage to take a little bit of energy out of our kids”, laughs Lili, a European volunteer. This energy is a positive feature, but sometimes during the activities, volunteers struggle to keep the children calm. For these reasons, the instructors have learnt to improvise. “Some days, I find that the children are a bit tired and want to do other activities”, explains Maelle, a European instructor. 

“Our objective is to make the kids happy and to help them learn, relax and to feel secure”

david

Carmen, the European coordinator, affirms that, due to the fact that the children have diverse family backgrounds, it is sometimes difficult to understand how they are feeling. “But they are kids and if you give them a hug and speak to them with love -even if it is in a different language from theirs-, they will calm down”, she adds. However, a week after the beginning of the Project, Khmer coordinator David reveals that the children are becoming more understandable, as they are starting to trust. “Since the first day, our objective is to make the kids happy and to help them learn, relax and to feel secure”, maintains David. 

This CSC has only three rooms, but they are big enough to fit a big group of kids. Most of the activities here take place indoors, as it is easier to get the children’s attention. Activities like Bingo, making bracelets, spoon games, passing the Krama, or face painting are examples of these. Volunteers in charge of planning the activities coincide with the fact that children like to engage. They are very lively and have the need to take part actively in the activities. If the activity is face painting, it will be the kids that paint each other. “This way they also learn to play together and to trust each other”, points out Lili. 

“A beautiful mess”

maelle

When the activities take place outdoors, they are usually sport related. The space is not too big, but when it comes to playing, children will enjoy themselves anyways. These activities also seem to be very attractive to Kean Svay kids as they are very good team players. All in all, “they love simple games”, remarks Sengkeang, a Khmer instructor. A very special touch added to Kean Svay is the swimming pool that is filled up every Thursday. Children look forward to this day and love the Water Party that the instructors prepare for them. Water runs everywhere and children can cut loose. Maelle defines this activity as a “beautiful mess”. 

“It is like a family here, small and cosy”

florette

At lunch time, due to the long distance between PSE´s headquarters and the CSC, the food that comes along with the volunteers in the pick-up has not yet been cooked. It is the cook that works in the kindergarten who prepares the breakfast and lunch for the children during this School Continuity Programme. She believes that the food should be recently cooked in order for the kids to perform well during the day. “A happy kid comes with a full stomach”, she affirms. One of her kids attends the Project and it somehow feels like she is the mother of all of the children. This is not too far from what the volunteers think about this CSC: “It is like a family here, small and cosy”, says Florette, a European volunteer. 

After lunch, like in all Projects, the children take a nap. It is challenging to get them to sleep at first, but when nap time is over, they are deeply asleep. Following the nap, it was planned by the volunteers to play board games or activities like reading or drawing. Due to the excitement of Kean Svay kids at all times, this was reformulated. Therefore, at this time, kids have the possibility to take a second shower. It is not mandatory like the one in the morning, but most of the children take it, as they are used to doing so in school. It is the eldest children that normally skip it, since they are usually allowed to take a walk outside the CSC during nap time. 

“The children of Kean Svay might not have a lot, yet they exude a tremendous joy of life”, reports Brieux, a European instructor. This is clear when it is time to leave the CSC. Children wave goodbye to the five European and thirteen Khmer instructors, plus their respective coordinators, before going home. They wear huge smiles and carry the same energy they had in the morning. The volunteers agree that these kids are a shot of happiness and love and that, although they require a lot of work, it is completely worth it. 

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.

The Pensionnaires are the NGO´s most vulnerable beneficiaries. Children whose environment is not conducive to them, whose families live too far away to send them to school, or who were simply found alone. Around 200 kids reside in the Center of PSE throughout the whole year. During school holidays, some of them go back to their homes but around 70 of them join the School Continuity Programme.

After three years without the Programme, now turned into a Winter Programme due to the Government´s change in Cambodian holidays, the children finally have the opportunity to enjoy a four-week Pensionnaires’ Project. This Project is special because as the Pensionnaires live in PSE, have been waiting all year for this magical month. “I have been in PSE for a long time. I am really looking forward to this Project as I always stay at PSE during my holidays”, says Rithy Sreynoch, a 14 year old Pensionnaire.

“A time for them to enjoy and be the kids they are”

bea and andrea

The PSE Staff and specially the mamies –women that work closely with the Pensionnaires and assume the role of their mothers – have an amazing hand with the children and make them feel at home. Bea and Andrea, European Coordinators agree that “in the Project, not only will they continue working on the values that they learn at school, but it will serve as a desired breather after the school year and a time for them to enjoy and be the kids they are”.

European and Khmer volunteers help the children create a deeper bond with one another

A unique touch to the Pensionnaires´ Project is the fact, as explained, that they have the same children during the whole month. This is an advantage for the activities that can be implemented as 6 European and 17 Khmer instructors help the children create a deeper bond with one another. For this reason, some of the activities they undertaken are different than the ones that take place in other Projects. Throughout the whole month, the instructors along with the Coordinators have planned an emotional intelligence training workshop to be carried out once a week. “These kids have had the most complicated background during their upbringing”, says Andrea. The objective is to help them think, speak about how they feel and deal with their emotions. “Everybody dreams and especially the kids, so we need to know and understand them”, says Khmer instructor Ly Fatriyah.”

“They reside in PSE so during their holidays it is enriching for them to see more of their country and learn about their culture”

naren

During the Project, Pensionnaires will take part in three activities per week outside the PSE Campus. “It is enriching for the kids to see more of their country and learn about their culture”, as Khmer coordinator Naren said. Some of the outings that will take place in the 2022 Pensionnaires’ Project are: the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, where they will learn about the tragic events that took place during the uprising of the Khmer Rouge; a 3 day trip to Kep to enjoy the beach, and for some kids, a chance to see the sea for the first time; Oudong, the ancient capital of Cambodia; the Tamao Zoo; the cinema and Tonle Bati, among others.

For this year’s Project opening, they took a trip to Tonle Bati, where they visited the Temples and spent the day in small huts on the lake playing activities and swimming in the water. “It is a good spot to go to because they get to be in contact with nature and spend a fun day in a calm place”, says Capucine, a European volunteer.

Tonle Baty is a popular place in Takéo Province, 30 kilometers to the south of the capital, and a one-hour drive from PSE Center in Phnom Penh. Tonle means lake and it is a big lake full of bamboo huts where Khmer people like to go and relax. Some enjoy swimming, fishing, some visit the temple that is next to it and others just enjoy the picnic and hammocks that hang in the huts.

The bond that exists between the volunteers and Pensionnaires is something exceptional. 

The heat of the sun was eased off with the fresh water where the kids played for around two hours. The laughs and cheers of the instructors to the children showed the happiness that the beginning of the Project brought to Pensionnaires. After a nice meal to retrieve energy and a quiet nap, they were divided into groups to make bracelets that will later be used to make the krom -teams-. 

With some music on a speaker, and a few rolls of colored string, Tonle Bati turned into a relaxed and fun scene, perfect to end the day. You could see that the bond between volunteers and Pensionnaires is something exceptional.

An afternoon nap on the bus ride back was necessary for some of the kmeng, after a long day of activities, but served as a time for the older ones to sing and show their happy energy as an end to a great day. After they arrived, they received the goûter -french term for snack generally used in the PSE School Continuity Programme, just before saying goodbye to all the Khmer and European monitors.

The kids are given freedom to suggest different activities.

Throughout the Project, it is normally the instructors who plan all the activities for the children. However, this is different with Pensionnaires. The kids are given freedom to suggest different activities. They chose all sorts of games, from a traditional race to typical Khmer games such as Leak Kon Saeng -a game where a scarf is hidden, and the children chase each other-. Specifically, on Thursdays, Pensionnaires play together in activities like photo gymkhanas, water parties, board games or painting.

“It is obvious that these kids, rather than friends, have become a family”, concludes Capucine.

The Dental Team is an essential part of the PSE School Continuity Programme. Along with some Khmer Dentistry degree students and some PSE dentists, the European volunteers work hard to make children happier by improving their smiles. Along with treatments, they offer workshops to teach the kids about dental hygiene and good food habits. 

Before the children from the different Projects take their morning showers, they are given a toothbrush. This way they learn that it is part of their personal hygiene to brush their teeth as well as their body. After the shower, the kids make lines and await the Dental Team to check their mouths and divide them into two categories. Given the scarce time that the European volunteers have in the few weeks of the Projects, they can only directly work on the mouths of those who have urgent issues. 

The two categories are: delayable and non-delayable. The two European dentist volunteers mark the children’s hands with a heart if it is the first case, or with a circle if it is the second. The circle-marked kids receive a dental intervention, while the heart marked ones will be placed for later care. “It is funny, because all the kids try to get a circle drawn on their hand as if they want to be taken to the dentist immediately”, notices Lili, a European volunteer from Kean Svay CSC. 

For some of the kids in the Camps, this is the first time seeing a dentist 

The criteria used by the Team to determine whether it is urgent or not to get into action with a child is if they have pain or if there is an infection. They ask the kids “Chhu?”, which means “pain” in Khmer. The volunteers carry their mobile unit for these actions. For some of the kids in Khean Svay, this is the first time seeing a dentist. This means that most of them have some sort of infection or issue, as it is not part of their daily routine to brush their teeth.

“Rather than a hygiene issue, we are talking about a nutrition problem”

Another problem that leads to the bad condition of the children’s teeth is the lack of access to foods that contribute to good oral hygiene. “Rather than a hygiene issue, we are talking about a nutrition problem”, states Ruth, a European specialized surgery dentist from the Dental Team. She has observed that the children eat at all times throughout the day. This means that they are constantly exposed to cavities, as they do not brush their teeth with regularity. “I believe it is a matter of lack of health education: these families do not know the effects of the food they ingest and the importance of their oral hygiene”, suggests Ruth.  

The Khmer dental students, who collaborate with the Team, offer workshops. These workshops are crucial to teach the kids about the effects of the food they intake, to give them hygiene techniques to maintain a healthy mouth, and to prove to them the relevance of taking on new habits. The objective is to let them know that proper buccal care is necessary in their lives. The children receive a toothbrush in their CSC, but what is more important is that they give it the use it is meant to have. Long Kimsuang, a Khmer dental student says that, after the workshops, at least she hopes that the kids remember to brush their teeth and when and how to do it. “I tried to give toothpaste to a kid who was holding his toothbrush upside down, he did not know how it worked”, describes Marta, a European pediatric dentist.

The focus of the actions being held by the Dental Team is not only short-termed

The focus of the actions being held by the Dental Team are not only short-termed. The purpose of the explorations is to keep track of all the kids from the different CSC in order to treat them later on. This is a task that dentists from PSE work on throughout the school year. For this reason, only some of the children from the CSC are being treated with urgency, while the rest will be looked at later on. 

The role of these volunteers is worthy of admiration. They have patience with the children, and help them understand that going through dental treatment will end the pain that they were having or were soon going to feel. PSE’s dentists work with determination.

Some sets of teeth checked by the European volunteers are almost completely ruined. As said before, in certain areas the access to medical attention is weaker. This means that in some CSCs, families have less access to resources than others. Unfortunately, poverty plays a determining role in the health of PSE´s children. The diseases often originate in their mouths and only with a good treatment, can they be stopped from spreading to other parts of the body. Some kids live in pain due to these kinds of problems, and it becomes part of their lives. The focus of the Dental Team is to ease up the children’s lives by improving the quality of their dental health. “We will leave Cambodia having helped kids that can not afford to go to the dentist or to have access to good nutrition, but the work here is not done”, clarifies Marta.

In addition to this, an excessive ingestion of flour during the creation of the teeth varnish can lead to a decreased quality of the same. “This, together with the constant intake of starch present in the rice that they eat every day, produces a significant increase of cavities of the population of Cambodia”, explains Ruth. 

Sok Danin, one of the head dentists from the PSE Dental Team, believes that although changing the kids’ habits is necessary, it is complicated if they do not start when they are young. “We have been doing workshops with them for many years, we explain to them that they should not eat too many sweets and that brushing their teeth is essential”, she adds, “but the families should also be teaching their kids these sorts of things”. Danin considers that there should be more seminars aimed at the families, to have them be an example to their children by keeping up a good dental hygiene. 

One word: satisfaction

marta

“Some kids had their four teeth quadrants in need of attention”, claims Marta. “We can only do so much for now but it is a tough job that the PSE Dental Team will have to keep working on”, she adds. Ruth concludes by adding that cooperation from the parents is necessary and that, if treated on time, the children will improve their oral health considerably. Helping children by improving their mouths is something that Marta does on a daily basis. However, she describes this role in the School Continuity Programme with one word: “satisfaction”. 

Fourteen kilometers away from PSE headquarters, you can find Sen Sok village. This winter, the Community Service Center (CSC) that is used throughout the year as a nursery school turns into a Project for children aged 2 to 16. A very special additional aspect to the work of the fourteen Khmer and seven European volunteers -who get to the site on a pick-up truck-, is the collaboration of the teachers that, after a full year of working with the children, opt to continue working with “their kids” during the Project.

Sen Sok village is not the richest of the Cambodian capital, however the smiles of the children suggest otherwise. Welcomed every morning by the instructors and coordinators with music and dances, the kids start the day off with a joyful attitude. Once everybody is in the Sen Sok, they raise the flag and sing the Cambodian anthem, a very special moment for the European volunteers.The breakfast served by the teachers and instructors is the typical Khmer rice and fish. Starting with the little ones, they line up in chuas -Khmer term for rows-; in an orderly manner, they take their meal to their assigned room, eat, and wash their dishes and spoons on their own. “It is amazing how independent the two-year-olds are, they know exactly how to do their chores”, adds Marta, a European volunteer. 

After breakfast and singing some songs about the importance of hygiene, all of them take showers, covered with the typical krama -Cambodian scarf with multiple utilities-. This is a must in all PSE Projects, as “for some of the children it is the only resource to cleanliness on a daily basis”, mentions Iñaki, a European volunteer who has been coordinating PSE Projects for five years. This allows the kids to start the day off feeling fresh and clean and to pick up the habit of personal hygiene. 

The Project offers the children a time to enjoy their holidays, to play and relax

After this, activities commence. Depending on the day of the week, the schedule varies, celebrating special activities like Fairs, Gymkhanas and Olympics. A regular day in the Project consists of different activities shaped according to the range of age. These activities are mainly ludic. Even though the purpose of the Project is to continue with the values and education learnt in school, the Project offers the children a time to enjoy their holidays, to play, and to relax.

As this CSC works as a school during the year, there is a loud bell that announces the change of classes. This is how, during the Project, the kids are informed about the beginning or the end of an activity. Each group participates in an activity prepared by the instructors in a different bamboo room. These involve drawing, dancing, running, hiding and seeking, and some traditional Khmer games such as Domderm Slerk Cher – the Handkerchief Game with some modifications-. When the bell rings again, by chuas, the eight teams rotate to the next room to try out a different activity. 

“Sen Sok children sometimes feel like warriors”

The age mix between the kids is the biggest challenge for the instructors and coordinators. Teenagers and infants want different things. This is why the games and activities are adapted to each of the kroms –Khmer term for team-. Teenagers have a lot more energy than the younger children, and enjoy physical activities rather than relaxed ones. The teams cheer on each other but there is also a sense of competition, “nothing to worry about, they are just kids who are playing”, clarifies Monika, a Khmer instructor. “Sen Sok children sometimes feel like warriors”, notes Han Mesa, the Khmer coordinator, with a laugh. 

The Project offers the kids a goûter -French term used in the Project for snack- like a piece of fruit or a sandwich a couple of hours into the activities. This way they do not run out of energy before expected. In spite of this, they are always hungry at lunchtime and, in the same manner as at breakfast, the children line up to get their dishes of food. “Can team six eat first today?”, asked Somnang, a 7-year-old boy.  A nap afterwards is very necessary for most of them. The eldest of the CSC are allowed to take a walk for half an hour and come back to finish the day.

“Some of the teenagers that have joined this year´s Project are the little ones that were in Sen Sok six years ago”

The installations of Sen Sok CSC are almost brand new, as it was necessary to change the CSC location due to deterioration of the previous one. One of the things that has not changed is the colorful playground that used to live in the last Sen Sok CSC. The other aspect that remains is the protagonists. Iñaki affirms that “some of the teenagers that have joined this year´s Project are the little ones that were in Sen Sok six years ago”. 

The CSC receives around 250 kids per day, a considerable amount considering the size of the building. Even though it is new and beautiful with walls and doors made from bamboo sticks, the playground it harbors is not big. This means that the instructors need a double dose of patience and energy, but in the end, it all works out for everyone. “The 250 kids love playing in the park; although it’s not very big, they enjoy it a lot”, notices Marta. 

“The teachers are the main pillar of this Project”, points out Iñaki. They like to contribute to the education and wellbeing of the children they take care of during the school year. Sokunthea, a teacher that has been working in the school for two years, explains that this way they can help the instructors, as they already know the children that attend the Project, their families and the circumstances that surround them. “In a way, they are like my children”, she remarks.

Among the 250 kids that attend this CSC, there are some who do not go to PSE schools during the year. However, the NGO welcomes everyone. Given the popularity of the Project around the village, some children that study elsewhere like to join the School Continuity Programme with their neighborhood friends. After the Project is finished, some of them request to join PSE; our Social Services team takes care of this job, finding and taking requests from the families who are in need and placing them in our programmes. The fact that other kids from the area join the project, does not mean that it becomes more chaotic. The children listen and obey the instructors and teachers, and although sometimes it takes a bit of work, when Hong Hann (Khmer instructor) says “Sen Sok, please silence!”, all of the children stay quiet. 

After the nap, the instructors organize relaxing activities for the kids. Examples of these are reading, telling stories, or drawing. Before lowering of the flag, there is always a big game played between all of the children of the CSC. This allows them to play with kids from other teams that they may have not met throughout the day. Sometimes this big game involves water, as the heat in this country is constant and the children enjoy this sort of activity very much. 

A very special touch added to this Project in particular is the final part. The children carry the last goûter of the day in their hands as they leave, usually a piece of fruit and sometimes a Nom Pang Pate -a pâtè sandwich-.Some parents pick their kids up at the gate, but a lot of them walk home on their own. These are children who live around ten minutes away from the installations. The Camp instructors, wearing their green T-shirts, walk these ones to their homes and get sometimes invited in. It is a unique moment for the volunteers, as they get to meet the families of the children they work very closely with. 

“Sen Sok is a place full of love and energy, definitely an amazing reason to get up in the morning”, concludes Angèle, an European instructor.