I never completely liked my placement at HERO school mainlydue to its lack of organisation. I found this very difficult to deal with, as it made planning ahead for lessons almost impossible and also resulted in several wasted days through their not informing us we would not be needed. The school is a nice idea, but the director is so focused on the future of the school that he does not bother about the present situation, and that is teaching the children English. The classes were frequently disrupted for extra curricular activities, which is kind of odd seeing as the whole purpose of the school is to provide English teaching. I missed a week of school due to my trip to Koh Chang, but when I returned the next Monday we were told that all English lessons were cancelled in order to prepare for an exhibition. The following week, after the exhibition, we were told that the teachers were too tired to teach and then the next day that the school was being repainted by a group of Korean university volunteers and so there could be no classes. This Monday we were again told that the Korean volunteers were painting the school and so there would be no school, and it just seemed like they had forgotten about us volunteers who were there to teach English in favour of the ones who were merely there to paint the school. Whatever the reason, excluding the week of Koh Chang, this was the beginning of the third week that they had cancelled lessons and so our volunteer organisation pulled us out.

On Tuesday we were placed at an existing volunteer placement, a pagoda school that runs from 4-6pm. However during the second week of no school I had looked into organising my own second placement and by Tuesday I had found one. It is an NGO children's orphanage called COFCO (Cambodia Orphan Family Children Organisation, http://orphanagecofco.wordpress.com/cofco-history) and every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday they perform a dance show in the evening in order to raise funds. I persuaded a couple of my friends to go along with me, and I can speak for all three of us when I say it was one of the most heartwarming and entertaining shows we have ever been to. The show started off with some traditional aspara dancing, and then the little ones joined in with some freestyle hip-hop afterwards. At the end the children grabbed our hands and pulled us up to dance and play with them. I immediately felt a lot more welcomed than I had ever felt at HERO, and decided to go back the following morning to see what I could do to help.

On Wednesday morning I cycled to the orphanage about 10am and met a guy who was in his 4th day of volunteering. The organisation is very relaxed, like everything in Cambodia, but the children are friendly and happy, and even if things aren't punctual, they still happen. The routine for the children is different to most volunteer schools, mainly because it is an orphanage and so everything they do happens on site. While half of the children are at public school in the morning, the other half have an English lesson at the orphanage from 8 to somewhere between 9 and 10. Lunch is at 11.30am and then when the second half of the children go to public school in the afternoon, the ones who went in the morning have an English class from 2-3pm. The rest of the day is filled with chores, practising for their thrice weekly shows and playing.

On Wednesday I got a feel of the school rhythm but it was on Thursday that I started to get involved. I arrived at the school at 8am (those that know me will know this was no easy feat) and observed the other volunteer teaching whilst helping the students if they were having any difficulties. The first class is quite advanced, and their lesson focused on conversational skills, asking questions and giving reasons for answers. After the lesson I stayed at the school playing with them until 11.30 when they had lunch. I came back in the afternoon to spend some time with them before the second lesson at 2, and I had my hair brushed by a little girl and practised reading with another. The afternoon class is much more elementary and we focused on 5 letters of the alphabet and then played a game. Even after 2 days at the school I already like it a million times more than HERO and so I am going to get the most out of my last 5 weeks in Siem Reap there!

P.S. I will take photos soon!