Dated on June 16, 2002 Phnom Penh
/ Root for literacy classes /
A newly elected commune leader, Miss Chorine
Slim, who was a student of our literacy class,
said that she learned a lot from the class
about such things as the Civil War, the floods
which took place two years in a row, women's
situations and domestic violence; and now
she is determined to put her heart into building
a good community for all the people. Literacy
classes are aimed for people who lost the
chance of taking education during the War
so that they can realize their own society's
situations. It also gives them courage to
work on improving their lives themselves.
467 people escaped the darkness of illiteracy
this year (about 3000 people in the last
seven years). Though this kind of aid is
not as conspicuous as the construction of
schools, people who were left without the
opportunity for education including children
are dying to have the chance.
/ Infrastructure is making progress but what
about schools? /
The old Route 3, a national road, has made
a great change. Those endless pits along
the roads were all cleared away. Familiar
restaurants on the roadside were replaced
drastically. Cambodia is surely changing.
We see the wave of reform surging in the
field of education. Library education has
been incorporated into regular classes and
is spreading throughout the country. The
project of "priority for educational
activity" conducted by the Ministry
of Education came into action, and requests
for libraries are increasing. On the other
hand, there are problems to be solved, such
as the new registration system which stripped
the privilege of tax exemption from NGO's
and imposed consumption tax on them. The
Asian Development Bank, with some other help,
started projects to build schools with about
10,000 classrooms. But this is a project
based on loans and the money should absolutely
be paid back. Will villages and governments
be able to pay back the money? I have heard
earnest voices pleading for the NGO's to
build schools. We just wish to create the
environment where children can study without
anxiety. Even though the range of our business
has expanded, I never forget about the time
when we first started. I suppose the tour
participants, who saw the old school houses,
which can collapse at any time, understand
the problems.