Stories of the great Angkor civilization reflect a nation rich in natural resources but decades of war and internal conflict have left it as one of the world's poorest countries with a legacy of strife that includes social and economic scars.
Like their Maoist counterparts in China, during the Khmer Rouge regime (1975-1979) the KR leaders emphasized manual labor and political correctness over knowledge. They claimed "rice fields were books, and hoes were pencils." As such, Cambodia did not need an educational system. The Khmer Rouge leaders deliberately destroyed the foundations of a modern education. People with higher education such as doctors, lawyers, teachers, professors, and former college students were killed or forced to work in labor camps. The KR also engaged in the physical destruction of institutional infrastructure for higher education such as books, buildings, and other educational resources. It is estimated that by the end of the Khmer Rouge time, between 75 - 80% of Cambodian educators either were killed, died of overwork, or left the country. At least half of the written material available in the Khmer language was destroyed.
What was left behind is a generation of illiterate adults today, a majority of whom live in the rural area and whose only occupation is farming.
Today Cambodia's poor people number almost 4.8 million and 90% of them are in rural areas. In recent years, development has boomed all over Cambodia especially along National Road 5 and 6 from Siem Reap to the border town of Poipet which was recently converted into a modern highway riddance of giant potholes and mud tracks. Tall concrete poles carrying power lines from the Thai border can only mean an influx of development including construction of an 18-hole golf course, modern rice mills, banks, shops and new modern houses invested by an affluent population at the expense of rural farmlands owned by illiterate and greedy farmers but sold at a fraction of what they are worth today creating an even wider income gap between the rural poor and the urban rich. The victims are not the former farmers who struck temporary wealth but their families who eventually have to seek a new life in the cities without proper education and financial security. Adopting a new home further from the mainstream, they are forced to rebuild their lives poorer and harsher than before. Once the wealth runs out, families re enter poverty and are either forced to resettle further away from mainstream development or go homeless in the streets! The impacts on the children in poverty affect every facet of a child's life.
Like in any school, a child initially saw school as a place to learn for learning's sake and said that making friends, meeting friends, playing and "having fun" were the best things about school. But as they grow, the child will realise the disadvantages that poor children were not going to get the same quality of schooling, or the same outcomes, as better-off children. In addition,
Like in any school, a child initially saw school as a place to learn for learning's sake and said that making friends, meeting friends, playing and "having fun" were the best things about school. But as they grow, the child will realise the disadvantages that poor children were not going to get the same quality of schooling, or the same outcomes, as better-off children. In addition,
• Together with their parents, they identified the main costs of school as uniform (including shoes), lunches (often going without) and travel expense (such as a bicycle).
• The experiences of school were narrower and less rich. For example, they had practically no access to music, art and out-of-school activities that others generally took for granted.
• While they agree that education was important, more likely with parents' encouragement, they view education as a way of avoiding problems in the future.
• Boys as young as nine were disenchanted with school and starting to disengage. They are being particularly failed by the education system due to the interaction of:
o educational disadvantage faced by children growing up in poverty;
o the difficulties faced by teachers who lack basic teaching materials
As a result, these children are not motivated and mooted by poverty, at least 30% dropped out after Grade 6 (source: WFP) despite the government's effort to provide lower secondary education in rural areas. So how can our volunteers lend a long term helping hand to encourage these children so that they will stay in school and complete at least Grade 9?
With a lack of proficiency in the local language, it is almost impossible for any non Khmer volunteer to launch into effective teaching to local children unless a close friendship with the children can be seriously developed. As verbal communication is absent, an effective channel would be through art.
For many people art is the most meaningful part of life and a highly esteemed value, and almost everyone enjoys some form of art, if only for occasional relaxation. Art serves as communication for the improvement of social relationships through greater understanding of human experience. Art is society's great cultural university that is open to all. Art also serves as a channel of expression to release, elevate, and understand our inner conflicts, fears, and tensions as well as our aspirations, hopes, and ideals. This sublimation may occur both in the creating artist and the sympathetic audience. By employing Art Communications, volunteers and children can overcome barrier of communications and create sharing of common expressions. This creates a platform of sharing and learning. The result is a bonding friendship that can spark motivation, encouragement, confidence and determination for a brighter future for both the volunteer and child.
Requirements of Art Communications
