PROJECT OVERVIEW
You'll teach children in a school situated in Sihanoukville, on the road between the centre of town and the beach. The school is very conveniently located about 15 minutes away from your accommodation. This is a private school and thus slightly better off than the other local schools, but it is still very basic and different to Western schools. Education in Cambodia is generally very behind at all levels from the rest of the world.

The schools are very different to schools in Western countries and the children have a hunger to learn, particularly from native speakers. You'll soon find that Cambodia feels like a second home. All of the children and teachers are incredibly welcoming and friendly! Cambodian children have a cultural and moral obligation to help and provide financial support to their parents once they grow up, so they are often forced to leave home (particularly those in villages) in order to seek a better education and ultimately a way to financially support their parents. This often proves exceptionally challenging and, unfortunately, many of the children resort to easier, more drastic measures such as factory work, drug trafficking, theft, prostitution.

Your Placement provides FREE Education to Disadvantaged Children!
In Sihanoukville, there is a local project that provides the opportunity to underprivileged children to develop skills through artistic expression and to have a safe place to play, learn and dream. The artwork that the children produce is then sold to tourists. The children they help commonly come from struggling homes, even abusive, uncaring parents, living in extremely impoverished households, lacking regular access to food, clean drinking water and medical care. The children come from the beaches in the local area, collecting cans and bottles for a money or selling bracelets and such to tourists.

Travellers has affiliated with the school and with this project. The result is that for every three volunteers who do a placement at the school, the school will provide free education to 10 children for one year. We are very pleased at having the opportunity to potentially provide free education for dozens of children who would not have access to any type of education. These opportunities will make a huge difference to their lives and the lives of their families.

WORK CONTENT:

WORKING HOURS:
There are three teaching sessions in a day and these take place in the morning (starting at 7.30), in the afternoons and in the early evenings (finishing at 7.30). The are breaks between 10.00 a.m. and 2.00 pm, and between 4.00 and 5.30 p.m. You'll generally teach up to six-and-a-half hours per day, Monday to Friday, and you can use the breaks between teaching sessions to either explore the town or prepare your lessons. However, you can do less or more, should you wish. Initially, you'll act as an assistant to the English teacher, helping take small groups and practice conversational English. Once your confidence grows and if you're good enough, you may be put in charge of the class and you may also be asked to help within other areas, such as sport or drama, if you have an interest in these.

SCHOOL HOLIDAYS IN CAMBODIA:
School holidays can differ quite widely. However, at this school classes take place all year round, apart from National holidays, so you will be able to do your placement at any time through the year.

QUALIFICATIONS
Don't worry about not having special qualifications. The whole idea of Travellers is to provide any help possible, whether it is merely enabling children to hear English pronunciation from native English speakers, or providing additional help with other academic subjects or showing them how to use a computer - anything you can offer is very much appreciated and everyone knows you're not a qualified teacher. The emphasis is on much-needed language development, additional learning and cultural contact. It gives your pupils valuable experience.

We provide you with a Teaching Guide and suggestions on inexpensive resources to take with you. Children are always fascinated with volunteers and want to learn as much as possible about you. They love to hear stories about you, your family and where you are from so it is ideal to take pictures, maps, magazine articles and photos of your family and friends with you. You can also use these as excellent resources for a lesson to promote discussion and interest.