UR students spend May in Cambodia

Redlands Daily Facts
http://www.redlandsdailyfacts.com

CHANTAL M. LOVELL, Staff Writer

REDLANDS - For eight University of Redlands Students, the month of May was spent, teaching English and constructing a playground and garden in Cambodia.
"Our goal was to teach children, and to become better people," said Cassie Miles, who graduated from UR in May, with a degree in liberal studies.

The travel course was part of the Community Service Learning Department, and helped students meet the 80- hour community service graduation requirement.

"I had already completed my community service requirement," Miles said. "I went for the experience. I really wanted to feel what it was like to teach without any resources."

Prior to arriving in Siem Reap, Cambodia, where they spent most of their trip, the students and their professor, Lawry Finsen, visited Phnom Penh, Cambodia. During a three-day stay in the city, the students learned of the genocide that took place there in the late 1980s, they said.

"I'd say the thing that had the biggest impact on me was the land mine museums, and a place called `The Killing Field,"' said Sommer Disante, who was a UR junior during the trip. "Being there, seeing the pain the Cambodian people have gone through, put things in perspective- not where the kids (at the school where they volunteered) were coming from, but where their parents had come from, knowing what they value as important."

The group then traveled to Siem Reap, where they stayed for the remainder of their four-week trip. They arrived Sunday evening, and began working the following morning.
"We worked from 8:30 in the morning until 3 (p.m.) Monday through Friday," Miles said. "Some of us were teaching upstairs, with the 6- to 11-year-olds, some were teaching downstairs with the 12- to 17-year-olds, and some worked in the garden."

In the classrooms, the students expanded on the English lessons the children had been learning before they arrived, teaching the younger group about telling time and family members, and anatomy to the older group. For the more complex lessons, the students used a translator.

"Their capacity for English was very strong because they'd been working on it before we came," said Eric Davis, who just graduated from UR with a bachelor's degree in history.

In the school, there were between 30 and 80 children each day, Miles said.

"They were very transient," Miles said. "In order for children to go to this site, they have to be below the poverty line some of the families earn $15 a month."

Outside, the group created a playground and garden area. One feature of the garden area was a "labyrinth-maze," as Davis described it. The students also built a solar-powered fountain, created a picnic area, and planted bamboo and trees.

"Working for four hours, in 90-degree weather, with 89- percent humidity, in direct sunlight, we just kept telling ourselves `we're doing something good,"' Miles said. "We did it mostly to beautify the area. When something looks nice, you treat it better."

The students raised money to cover the cost of materials, which they purchased in Cambodia, to support the local economy.

While not working at the school, the students were able to do some sight-seeing, in the area Miles called "very touristy." Of the locations they visited, the temples were a highlight.

"Bantay Srei (a temple) was a lot of our favorite's because it is believed to have been built by women," Miles said. "Each stone has the most elaborate carvings."

Miles said the experiences she gained on the trip will follow her through the career she plans to pursue, teaching special education.

"Teaching the kids was frustrating at times because of the language barrier," Miles said. "It really taught me to be patient, and the kids were so appreciative."

"I left with the realization that I could do this anywhere," Davis said. "There's people in the same situation here."

The trip ended up being more than a service trip, or a month-long travel course. Disante said she was moved by how little the Cambodian people have in comparison to Americans, and how they remain content. Most agreed, the experience would remain with them for the rest of their lives.

"This really taught them about the world, gave them exposure," said parent Germaine Miles. "It really was eye-opening for them, to compare the children there to those here, and how they live."

E-mail Staff Writer Chantal M. Lovell at clovell@redlandsdailyfacts.com