A little can go so far

By Samantha Sdrigotti.

Samantha visited and taught at the Schools for Children Cambodia (SCC) in the summer of 2006, one of the chosen charities for 2007. This is an account of her experiences there and shows how much difference we can make. Samantha rode the L2P 2004 and will be a part of the Support Crew for 2007.

This account  won’t give you any miracle training techniques to get you through L2P, or advise you on the best fake tan to smear over your legs in  June…I believe it’s St.Tropez by the way!  What I do hope it will achieve, is to give you the inspiration and impetuous to get out there and get as much sponsorship as you possibly can for the deserving charities we will be cycling for. There are many reasons and challenges to be found in cycling the L2P and one of the biggest for me is raising as much money as possible for the charities we sponsor. I hope reading this will help make raising as much as possible one of your goals and give you something to think about as you pedal away in training in the run up to June.

SCC Children wish riders for 2007 a "bonne route" and a young boy shows how popular cycling is!

For some time I had wanted to volunteer for a charity, so I jumped at the chance to go to Cambodia and teach English for Schools with Children of Cambodia. In June 2006 I exchanged my all mod-cons apartment in the French Alps for a bamboo hut in the dusty town of Siem Reap. If only I had known about the local animals that would visit me during the night I might have filled my rucksack with a few cans of bug spray!

Nothing can really prepare someone for the extremes of poverty and wealth in Cambodia. There is a substantial number of incredibly luxurious hotels to house the increasing number of international visitors who flock to Cambodia, especially to Siem Reap. The temples of Angkor Wat draw the masses, which marvel at the spectacular beauty, majesty and shear engineering feat. Yet amongst all this are the humble Khmer people to whom these temples hold the history of their ancestors. Unfortunately it is not these people that profit from the huge international interest the area attracts, but foreign investors. The majority of the Khmer people live still in simple huts with no electricity or running water. I had never been to South East Asia so there was a huge amount to take in during the first few days, not least these extreme differences between the 'haves' and the 'have nots'.

There are other poignant images that spring to mind including; red dust, (Lots of it!) and thousands of bicycles in a land where pedal power still rules, but the most enduring of all is the smiling faces of the eager, wee pupils in my classes, earnestly looking up at me, desperate to learn as much as they possibly could. This will be the most enduring image of all.

Boys will be boys!

I have taught English as a foreign language for about 10 years in France and have never come across more enthusiastic students, EVER!  Attendance tended to be pretty high for the two classes a day that I taught, sometimes there could be as many as 50 kids squashed into the classroom!  Amazingly they were incredibly well behaved, not once did I have to ask them to listen, or to be quiet, or to behave. They were there for one thing and one thing only: To learn.

These children are the lucky ones. They are able to come to a school that is clean, well looked after, to be taught by keen teachers using the latest exercise books and most importantly they can attend at no cost. A typical teacher’s wage in Cambodia is around US$35 per month and as it is so little, the tendency amongst teachers is to levy a charge from each pupil to supplement their income.

Unfortunately, in a country where the majority have so little, schooling can come rather low on the list of family priorities. Many children are instead sent at a young age to beg, or sell postcards and books to help support their families. This can leave them very vulnerable to glue sniffing and other addictions. Many of the children I taught wore ripped, ill fitting clothing, stained with age. Some didn’t even have shoes to wear. Yet amidst what could appear from the outside to be utter misery and appalling standards of living, those children shone.

They were happy, content, polite, little children full of laughter and joy. I will never forget the excitement in the classroom the day we painted and decorated images of fish to stick on the freshly painted classroom walls. There was already a hum of contentment as the kids busied themselves painting big, colourful fish and cutting them out but it positively exploded when the glitter and pipe cleaners came out! They had never seen such things before and had an absolute ball, sticking glitter to their fish and to themselves!

Painting Fish!

Some of the children were incredibly talented and bright and with the free education the SCC provides they have a fighting chance to go out into the world and find a job that earns money rather than ending up in the fields or begging.

The money you raise puts an extra US$25 into every SCC teacher's pay packet thus making it free for the children to attend school. It provides exercise books, paint and building supplies to keep the schools clean and safe. It pays for the building and repair of water wells in the schools which in turn are used by the surrounding communities. It also supplies volunteers to teach English and to build and paint the schools.

Schools for Children Cambodia currently supports 6 schools in the Siem Reap region and hopes to expand. Whilst Cambodia’s struggle to succeed economically continues to be supported by assorted N.G.O’s and other forms of outside help, the future is bright for a self sustainable economic existence and these children, with their new found English language skills, will be well placed to participate in their country’s ongoing development and future prosperity.

I am indebted to these wonderful children and the beautiful people of Cambodia who gave and taught me so much. We really can make such a massive difference at a fundamental and life changing level.

So the next time you’re out there on a cold, dark  morning or wondering what the hell you’re doing killing yourself on the turbo trainer, just spare a thought for the children of Cambodia who will no doubt be riding to school, 2 or 3 to a bike!

The money you will raise in sponsorship gives them the opportunity to choose what sort of life they will lead.