Whenever I am asked what group do I teach, I always say, "Me, I teach the teachers.." The first time I had this sort of encounter, I stopped and asked myself, "What does this make me exactly?", and the best answer came from an unnamed source. "That makes you a Super-Teacher!!"
Being a Super-Teacher has it's moments, and not a day has gone by, that I don't end the lesson with a smile on my face. This usually happens after I am blessed with the apparently local, yet extremely unusual, parting words "May you have a nice dream". (The source of this mysterious phrase has yet to be understood :-) )
These teachers are all a group of young men in their mid-twenties, who come from different provinces in Cambodia, and have been sent to Chi-Phat for a 3 year adventure in a remote village. Most of these teachers live in a "Teacher-House" (In the school itself!!), and spend their days, teaching, studying (they study English three times a day!), playing Volleyball.. and of course drinking impressive amounts of the local rice wine.
Me, I have the easiest job of all the volunteers, I get to spend an hour a day, getting these guys to speak English. ( Their knowledge of English is mysteriously limited only to reading and writing) Together we read articles from "The Cambodia Daily" (A national newspaper published in English), and discuss the current events. My favourite part is when they open up, and tell me about themselves, their lives, their dreams and hopes. (Getting married seems to be #1 on the wish list.. I guess some things are just cross-cultural :-) )
The best moment so far has been when they decided to join the bonfire and disco that we had arranged for the children in the village. I will probably never live down the fact that they were witnesses to me teaching all the village children the "Hokey Pokey" (You put you buttocks in, You take your buttocks out.. :-) ) Dancing with the teachers the traditional Khmer dance, and seeing their first encounter with a burnt marshmellow, all are experiences that I will never forget as a Super-Teacher.
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