INitiate (Cambodia)
Between October 2000 and September 2001 we worked with Project INitiate from Singapore to set up a training program in government schools in and around Phnom Penh. Logistical and financial backing was provided by a Singaporean-owned factory; the Cambodian Army provided local support.
Three schools were chosen for the first phase and twenty computers donated to each, along with forty to the Army HQ. Each school renovated and rewired a room ready to take the computers and then a youth team flew in from Singapore to help with the installation. Schools were allowed to choose their first batch of trainees; two elected to have one group of students and one group of teachers, whilst the third decided to concentrate on having teachers trained. The Army chose trainees from amongst its officers.
Although we were there to help and direct it was impossible to control many aspects of a project, so the results achieved are largely a reflection of how much effort the various centres put in and how well they heeded our advice. All three schools started teaching their own students soon after we finished the basic course, with varying degrees of commitment and success.
INitiate decided to go ahead with a second phase, and for this we personally "interviewed" two more schools and held long discussions with the directors and teachers to try and judge their commitment. One of them was a very poor secondary school about an hour's drive from the city; the other was a teacher training centre located in the suburbs where school leavers from the countryside receive two years of free teacher training.
Several
teachers from the phase one schools helped with the computer installation
and then we taught the basic course to a mixed class of teachers and students
in the new centres. At the same time we ran review sessions with teachers
from the phase one schools to improve their teaching.
As can be seen, this was (and still is) a fairly big project, with close to one hundred teachers being trained, as well as over sixty students and forty army officers. No new schools have been added recently, but a new volunteer is working hard with existing schools to make sure that they adhere to the project's philosophy of teaching the basics properly to build a firm foundation for improvement.
When looking back on a project it's useful to first list achievements rather dwelling on the things which drove you crazy...
- all five schools are now teaching their own students
- many poor students have been/will be given an opportunity to learn basic computing which they could otherwise not afford
- a significant interest in computing has been developed in many individual teachers and students
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computers have generally been treated well and there have been very few equipment failures
And here are a few of the things we learned while working on this project....
- select the schools yourself if possible and trust your first impressions
- nepotism is a way of life in developing countries so interview and select trainees too - or you may end up with half a class who don't speak English or don't even belong to the school
- supervise installation of the computer room and wiring closely and leave nothing to chance - insist on having an earth line, even if the only one in the district
- good teachers enjoy challenge and responsibility so ask the good ones to help you on the project
- but they still need time to absorb the basics, so put the school magazine and open day on the back burner during the first year
- insist on restricted access to the computer room and do not allow trainees to install programs or use floppy disks unless you enjoy reinstalling computers all the time
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Norton Ghost is the best program in the world :)
If you are interested in learning more about this project then please get in touch with us using the feedback form, then check out the INitiate web site to see the other projects they support. You can learn more about the trials and tribulations in the day-to-day life of a field volunteer by reading the on-line diary we kept in Cambodia. Snzzzzzz....