The Get Ready! girls.

I walked into the Get Ready! classroom at the top of the Alexandra Family House and was astounded by how different the girls looked in a month. I last saw them at the slums where they were interviewed by Sophon and Dale.


The girls at the interview with Dale!

Their appearance now is neat; they spoke and smiled a lot more.
This time, I saw them concentrating on their lessons and listening to Sok Lee and Jolene.



That day's lesson was on budgeting their money for needs and wants. Poor Mr Rith had too many wants and needs for him to afford on his monthly earnings so the girls had to help him decide which item he had to buy.

Jolene had prepared English worksheets in advance, so the girls copied the translation written by Sok Lee (who understands and writes in both English and Khmer) off the board.



As most of our Get Ready! girls have little education, Sok Lee went about the classroom helping the girls who need help with their Khmer writing.



On the walls are words of encouragement from Northlight School in Singapore. Apart from the screaming of children in the street below, all was quiet except for the scribbling of pens.



I walked around the room looking at the walls. Pieces of paper telling each girl what their qualities are pasted to the wall to remind the girls that they mean something to their peers.



As I walked quietly away from the makeshift classroom, I could hear the noise beginning as the group discussions started (the girls were supposed to discuss Mr Rith's shopping list for the month in their groups). I was quite amused by the fact that people who want education do not have enough, and people who didn't want to go to school (like some students I know in Singapore) were forced to go to school.