Joe and his friends' volunteering experience

Kids enjoying books and fruits donated by Joe and his friends

My name is Joe and I am from Sydney Australia. I came to volunteer at the Riverkids project to help teach and care for children in February/March 2010 for 4 weeks.

At first I didn’t know what to expect and was feeling a little nervous. I had completed a teaching course with little teaching experience and had no idea what kind of responsibility I was going to take on. However, the moment I stepped into the classroom on my first day, the children stood up and greeted me very warmly and very loudly! They were a joy! They love learning anything and everything and were all very eager to answer questions I asked. They were very well behaved (but a little cheeky at times) and absorbed information like a sponge.

The students in my morning and afternoon classes are all 10-13 years old. There were lots of fun to teach as they were all very energetic and keen to learn English and new skills like typing on the computer and new games. Their English skills were quite basic, so it is quite difficult to communicate with them at times.

However, I was fortunate enough to have the helping hand of a Khmer translator. Some of the things we learnt over the next few days and weeks included basic phrases, animals, body parts, clothing, objects and nouns. We played many different games in the classroom and I tried to make their learning more exciting and interactive. On Fridays, we had games where students get to have a day off from the classroom and played sports, games, puzzles, drew and did art.

Riverkids greatly appreciates volunteers donating resources for the classrooms and for their library. The children needed some new books and resources, so I went to a local bookstore with a staff from Riverkids called Ritthy. He showed me some Khmer story books and English books which I thought would be excellent resources for the students and teachers. When I came to the project I brought crayons, books, paper, pencils and many other resources from home. This was a good idea as Riverkids needs much more resources.

Despite the face that the students came from difficult backgrounds, they all have a great attitude to learning in the classroom and with a bit of hard work, their English skills will improve markedly over the coming months. Without the Riverkids Project and each of its dedicated staff, the children may not have a very bright future. I have made some good friends during my time here and when I go home I will keep in contact with the organization and the staff, and do some fundraising.

Contributed by: Joe