It seems a very long time between updates but at the same time not a lot has really changed with the way things plod along with the little monks and their English classes.
We continue to teach whoever is present at the time and with the morning timeslot we now have, there is better attendance, but there are still lessons when only 5 boys are present and others when as many as 19 appear! At least we now get visitors at our house to tell us when the entire group is required somewhere else and a lesson must be cancelled or rescheduled. The indomitable Duan, who is vocal and confident in class, is usually the bearer of this news and he always arrives with moral support on the back of a motorcycle but then stands silently staring at his feet and we must question him extensively to get him to offer up any information. Usually Google translate is required to clarify exactly what the plan is, then he is all smiles and back to his usual exuberance.
We try to accommodate whoever is present and assess what language skills they may have but experience has taught us that new arrivals may stay only one or a few lessons and then disappear again. Currently we have a twenty-five-year-old, Kem, enthusiastically participating but he too may decide to stop or simply move on. This morning we started with just three then discovered that there were three more still in their sleeping quarters and forty minutes into an hour and a half class, two more arrived bearing steamed sweet potatoes from their alms walk in the local vicinity. As we were leaving one more returned and then cycling home we spotted three more on the back of a motorcycle obviously hoping to return in time for lunch! That just left two AWOL! Just keeping track of them can keep us on our toes.
As is always the case, flexibility is the key and ploughing on to see how it evolves is really our only option. We still have at least five of the original group and others who have arrived in at least 3 different batches are currently part of the class. It continues to be the case that a few disappear and some return so there is an ever-widening gap between those who have mastered the basics and those who are constantly trying to catch up or have indeed given up trying and focus on learning the new material as it is presented to them. Lots of repetition, physical activities, hands-on tasks and constantly changing materials, topics and strategies is the usual order of the day.
Having seen the boys frolicking in the water at the fishing village nearest to where they live, we thought they might enjoy an outing to nearby Rabbit Island and proposed it to them in one class in November. Once again it was Yary, who was instrumental in actually pulling it off and we were very appreciative of her far superior understanding of the protocol and her capacity to accomplish the many diverse logistics required. She willingly negotiated with the Abbot on our behalf and provided an extravagant banquet for them on the day.
Once approval had been given it came to selecting a date and we were actually pushed into action on that account by 12-year-old Duan, who came calling at our house with three of the other boys one afternoon. Only after he returned to the temple and a flurry of phone calls between the Abbot and Yary and us ensued, did we all understand that he had conveyed that the trip would take place two days later! It didn’t, but we all learned they were impatient to go and set a date and got it organised. Duan is ever the mover and shaker of the group.
On the day it was a real team effort with Yary and her staff preparing and bringing food and we called in the assistance of a couple of young volunteers to help us supervise the water activities. We needed to be cautious with twelve over excited boys in water known to have rips and swells, so we thought four swimmers were essential and we had no trouble convincing the Project Trust girls to join us. The Abbot facilitated transporting all the boys and himself to the ferry pier and they arrived in batches on motorbikes, in Tuk Tuks and even in a car.
The December Sunday we chose was perfect. The weather co-operated and luckily there were almost no other tourists on the beach so we could spread out and capitalise on the waterfront shaded zones as well as the best swimming spots. We needn’t have worried about their water safety as many of them are fishermen’s sons and were very confident in the water and those who weren’t competent swimmers were more than happy to stick to the shallows and avail of all the equipment and water toys left on the beach.
Overall the day was an outstanding success and I don’t really know who was more thrilled with the outcome: the boatmen who ferried us across to the island grinning from ear to ear and even offering a refund for the unrequired extra boat, the boys who spent almost every moment playing in the water, only emerging briefly to eat before rushing back in, the Abbot who sat in the shade chuckling and smiling at how happy the boys were, Yary, who was wide eyed with delight at their antics and appreciation for all she had provided, our volunteers who constantly exclaimed “They’re so cute,” and tried to engage them in both water activities and conversations or us who watched our idea play out and evolve into such a joyous occasion. It certainly cemented the relationship between us all and confirmed the ongoing care and concern we all have for these adorable little monks.
About mid-January as we were cycling up to the temple we noticed there was no longer any roof. By the time we reached our destination it was obvious that there was actually no longer any temple! It had been demolished and the area in which we had been teaching up until that point, housed all the Buddha statues from the main building, all the eating tables and the school desks. It has been a construction site ever since and ever so slowly a new and elaborate temple is emerging from the rubble.
The configuration of the only covered space is ever evolving but the desks have now been removed and for lessons we make do with the low tables just as we did when we first started eighteen months ago. Our battered whiteboard is propped up as best it can be and we compete with the noise and distraction of so many entertaining activities going on right next door, throughout the classes. Distractions include devotees arriving for blessings and to make offerings, assistants preparing meals for the boys and workers, electric saws, concrete mixers and even the occasional excavator and truck.
It is also not unusual for elaborate banquets to be laid out before the eyes of very hungry boys and this of course demands that class be completely abandoned. The bonus for us is that the uprights have now been erected and a dedicated teaching space is also a part of the elaborate upgrade the temple is undertaking. We all have our fingers crossed that by about November we might be once again be in a classroom and even possibly one with new desks, a whiteboard, a blackboard and some storage space so we don’t have to cycle all our resources back and forth twice a week. We shall see what the actual time frame for completion is, eventually.
Spurred on by our first swimming excursion success, when a local retreat approached us about a collaboration we agreed. They offered to give the boys the opportunity to have a few yoga classes in exchange for us providing a couple of their young volunteers with an opportunity to interact with the boys during lessons. We took them up on the offer and organised two outings to Vagabond Temple and their volunteers attended 4 classes over a 3-month period.
We tried to utilise the volunteers to do something that was manageable for us and didn’t impact too negatively on the boys' learning. By using these sessions to review, we could facilitate a series of engaging, small-group activities better suited to the individual levels of the various groups within the class.
As a bonus we also did another swimming session with the volunteers and this was a real highlight for all concerned. This time it was held in Yary’s pool and she once again provided a sumptuous breakfast poolside, while the Abbot provided transport and we did the supervision of boys in the water with assistance from the two volunteers. The excitement levels went through the roof and though we toyed with the idea of regular sessions in the pool with smaller groups to teach them all to swim, we have not YET followed up on that.
Over the break for Khmer New Year in April, we were informed that the boys would not be able to have classes and assumed that it was because of the religious duties they would be required to perform. This assumption was confirmed when we attended a ceremony for a dear friend’s recently departed brother. We were astounded to see that our now well-known Abbot and more than half the class of little monks we know and love, were present to perform the rituals. They were as surprised and excited to see us as we were to see them. Before their official duties commenced we were treated to displays of them utilising their English language skills and demonstrating their proficiency and understanding. One of the youngest pointed out a nest in one of the trees in the garden and another counted the lotus flowers I was arranging for the altar, when they arrived, and they all called out greetings and farewells to us. We were equally thrilled to see them serious and devout in their performance of the rituals required, as this is a side of them we are rarely privileged enough to see.
Things have calmed down to a more consistent academic approach in the last few weeks and as the wet season is just beginning again it would appear that they will all be once again confined to the temple grounds very soon and outings will have to wait until the weather proves more agreeable. In the eighteen months since we began with them we have all become firm friends and there is no longer any doubt that both the boys and the Abbot are keen for this little project to continue. And continue we shall!
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