| Syazwani Hj Rosli |
A TEAM of four volunteer teachers from the Society for Community Outreach and Training (SCOT) Education left for Cambodia last Saturday to teach English to children in the Cambodian villages for 13 days from December 15-27.
The team comprised SCOT Education teachers Ahmad Syauqie bin Haji Satia and Nur Diyana Nasriah binti Suhaili, SCOT Religious Officer Muhd Akmal Salihin bin Haji Zakir and SCOT Education Director Aspadiyah Mohd Sah, head of the delegation.
Aspadiyah said the team’s Cambodia trip this year, a programme organised in collaboration with the Organization for Building Community Resources (OBCR) in Cambodia, is not a follow-up to a similar trip to the country last year.
While in Cambodia, three of the SCOT Education teachers will cycle 12km daily to teach English at a pagoda and one class at the OBCR to a group of local students aged between 10 and 15 in Kompong Speu. The classes will run from Monday to Friday.
On the weekend, the teachers will explore the village on their bicycles and interact with local residents. The exercise is meant to allow the teachers to get to know and better understand the students and their families so that they can better help them in the classroom.
Activities will vary from hanging out with the students’ family members to helping them with their harvest.
SCOT Education will also conduct a teacher training at a school located two hours from where the teachers are staying. The training will see collaboration between SCOT Education and Creativate, a startup run by a young, passionate trio who strive to nurture young minds to think and act creatively through creative programmes. Creativate co-founder Chai Roslin, also a SCOT member, will join the team in the second week of the programme.
The team will also be teaming up with the Charitable Association of Cambodian Islamic Graduates (CACIG) to conduct activities ranging from visits to villages that have received aid from SCOT and CACIG such as bicycles, well pumps and qurban meat, to staying at a Tahfiz institution.
On December 23, the team will organise a kenduri (gathering) for 150 Muslims in Kampong Chhnang. Speaking to the Bulletin before leaving Brunei, Ahmad Syauqie said he is looking forward to working with the OBCR children and bringing the knowledge he has gained throughout the year at SCOT Education.
“I look forward to using this knowledge with the Cambodian students,” he said. “Besides that, it’s going to be great to meet the Muslim community there and to do what I can to help my Muslim brothers and sisters in a country where Islam is not the majority religion. In addition to this, I simply want to enjoy the different culture and community that I will experience in Cambodia.”
For Nur Diyana Nasriah, the Cambodia visit will be her first volunteering trip to the country. “My biggest anticipation for this first time trip would be the teaching experience with the children as well as the cultural immersion at the village,” she said. “The SCOT Education programme has provided me a platform on which I can leverage on my skills and passion to contribute to the communities. Working with the local communities I believe can help broaden my perspectives on poverty issues in Cambodia.
“Education has always been key to improving the quality of life, and if the children are educated and empowered at an early stage, they would be able to escape poverty.
“For this programme, we are focussing on teaching English and encouraging character development for the underprivileged children. We hope that by the end of the programme the children will improve their communication skills and confidence, allowing them to be more engaged in public speaking.”
Muhd Akmal Salihin meanwhile noted that he is just grateful to be part of the team and to experience Cambodia with SCOT Education.
“This is an achievement for me and the team as well. This is part of my contribution to the Muslim community, and actually I’ve been planning for years to help others in need outside of Brunei, and now I’ve been given the opportunity to do it,” he said.
“As I was a Tahfiz student before and that we will be going to a Tahfiz school in Cambodia, maybe my fellow teachers and I can learn from the students there and help to motivate each other.”