My story continues...................

As soon as I arrived in Kampot, I knew that 1 month wasn't going to be enough time, but visa restrictions and plans were going to keep it at that. The day after I arrived in town, I met the 5 teachers that I would be working with at a party that Neil the school advisor held at his house partly in my honour. They were all intent on getting me drunk which liberated my nervous aprehension and a good time was has by all, we went swimming in the river together and a mutual bond of friendship and respect was kindled.

Chumkriel Language School (CLS) is a part time English language school which is located in Chumkriel commune in Kampot province in the south of Cambodia. It was opened in November 2005 by my good friend Mr Thy to give the poorest kids in the area an English education and a future that doesn't depend on begging.

The kids enthusiasm to learn is humbling, they soak up every lesson like sponges and come back eager to learn more. Teaching these young people is one experience I will never forget. I also learned more about the English language than ever..... not to mention what I learned about children, levels of development and how simply you can make a difference to the lives and learning of others.

The school has 280 students, 6 teachers and 12 one hour classes each day from Monday to Saturday between 5pm and 8pm each evening. One of the classes is a scholarship programme that was funded with money from the UK via friends and relatives of my Scottish friend Neil. It costs only $23 (approx 15 quid) to sponsor a child for 1 year. Neil and Mr Thy visited 50 of the poorest rural families in the area and invited them to put one of their children into our English class, now we have a bunch of scruffy excitable ragamuffins learning English language from scratch with great ease and enthusiasm - this class was my favourite of all to teach, we had so much fun.

If any of you want to sponsor a child to learn English, let me know and I'll arrange for your money to go directly to the school :o) Or if any of you want to give some of your time to teach English in one of the poorest countries in the world, Cambodia really needs you - I can help arrange this too - no experience necessary!

At the time, I was the only volunteer English speaking teacher in the whole province, so was treated somewhat like a celebrity. I was honoured to attend a traditional Khmer wedding and learn about their weird cultural traditions (like pretending to cut hair), I was invited to a presentation for the International Red Cross and the Finnish delegation where I was treated to traditional Khmer dancing, singing and a roleplay about AIDS awareness performed by some of the local children. Got taken out around the countryside by Thy and friends, ate in the hidden away, local restaurants and generously welcomed by the whole community.

Kampot itself is a gorgeous riverside town that attracts a few tourists but is far from 'touristy'. I lived in a lovely little guesthouse which is right on the river and like sharing a family home with the Aussie and Khmer owners plus a few travellers and the local expat community that would stop by socially. The glorious river, a mix of salt and fresh water was a joy to live beside, with its many interesting & yummy fish, crabs and shrimps, local fishing boats passing by all day, and ahhhh the florescent phosphoressence in the water at night is like nothing I have ever seen before................

The guesthouse cook 'Art' became my very good friend although both of us spoke only the tiniest amount of the others language which just goes to show that communication runs much deeper that the spoken word.

On Saturdays I would go out into the remote countryside in the back of a truck with a bunch of other westerners to help a very special lady to tidy up an old NGO site that she wants to get up and running.

The Foundation to help th poor, used to be a training centre focusing on widdows and amputees from a very poor rural area. it taught them how to grow and maintain crops organically and sustainably, to farm pigs, poultry or fish, to care for orchards and take root stocks, grafts etc, even to maintain machinery and electronics. Once graduated the students could take their skills back to their villages with a little starter pack and the knowledge to at least feed their families but more often to create a small business and a better lifestyle. Unfortunately when my friend retired 4 years ago the project directors stole most of the assets and the school closed. now its all overgrown but with help from her friends doing some digging, weeding, planting, beautifying etc, Linda is determined to get it up and running again and soon will be making proposals for funding as a local NGO.

I had some very satisfying days of hard work and sweat, out in the open countryside in the baking heat (up near the 40's I'd say) with such clean air. To dig and toil cleanses the soul, no worries just the job in hand, everyone mucking in and the sense of community for a very good cause.

So my time in Kampot flew past and 1 month really wasn't long enough but my plans to return to another home from home in lovely Pai spurred me to climb aboard an overcrowded minibus with a couple of friends and make the 7+ hour journey along bumpy roads and many rivers into Thailand.