Hello readers! My name is Sotheavy. I am a student at pedagogy school and my major subject is Physics. Besides, my studying, I also spend my Saturday mornings working as a volunteer with the children at RiverKids Foundation. I would like to share the experience I have with these kids.

Every Saturday morning, my friends and I go to the RiverKids Community slum to help the children play and have fun with their friends. Two of my friends teach at Steven House and I teach at the Kindergarten children. It has given us all so much experience! Because we didn't know how to make the class active and fun, Jolene, who works at RiverKids and who is very skillful at Art, prepared some activities and materials for the volunteers to use in the class. We enjoyed together with children in class with more active and fun. We thoroughly enjoyed teaching those activities that make the class so exciting. We help the children draw animals made from their finger prints. We play games, sang songs, played with toys, blew babbles for them to catch and many more activities.

Sotheavy, a local volunteer, with the children from RiverKids.

A masterpiece from one of our budding child artists.

While we were having fun we met a few problems, which had to be solved. I have to admit that sometimes those children drove me crazy. Some of them did not smell so good because their parents neglect them or do not have time to take care of their kids, so they come to school in dirty clothes. They use bad words to each other and sometimes fought with the toys. It was difficult and to gain their attention so we actually teach them. I had to tell myself that I need to be more patient with them, they live in a difficult environment they cannot do good thing like other children who live in a good environment so it is not as easy for them as those kids who live in a privileged environment. However, I can see their beauty inside.

Children are given snack by RiverKids Foundation. I usually saw some children who did not eat their snack but kept it in their bags. I asked them to eat not to keep it. One boy told me, “I don't eat this snack I keep it for my young sister.” The other child said, “I keep it for my mother." You see what beautiful heart they have! What I heard touch my heart so much.

In the future I want to see those children grow up with good things that we provide them and help them to change their neighborhood into a good memory. So come on and let’s all help them together.