Adventures in Phomn Penh, Cambodia

COUNTRY: Cambodia
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Teaching
WRITTEN BY: UniBreak Volunteers


Our time here in Phnom Penh is going so quickly- we all can’t believe that we are already half way through our teaching placement! Everyone has been learning students’ names and trying to make lessons interactive and engaging. We have been covering topics including colours, weather, seasons, clothing and household objects, and have tried incorporating visuals, flash cards, songs and games in our teaching.

The children at the school are all so willing to learn and are always smiling and excited to see us each day. During break times students are always asking us to play games, particularly the kindergarten students who swarm Christina and Bella in the classroom next door. Stickers and stamps are also a bit hit, with students competing for the highest amount collected. This can be quite overwhelming for us at times when the whole class swarms us with their workbooks at the end of each activity for stickers and stamps.

Temperatures in Phnom Penh have been quite hot, making teaching quite tiring some days. Catering for students’ varying abilities in each class has also been quite challenging due to language barriers. We have tried to overcome this by working with students one-on-one and by collaborating with the classroom teachers.

Apart from teaching we have been exploring the local restaurants, shops and markets. During our weekend we also travelled Kep to explore Rabbit Island. This involved catching at bus a 4 hour bus to Kep from from Phnom Penh and then a 30 minute boat across to Rabbit Island. We spent the weekend swimming, exploring the island, eating seafood and relaxing.

We are spending this weekend here in Phnom Penh to explore local shops, markets and museums. We shall keep you posted on all our teaching and upcoming adventures.

Jess Harris and the November Team