Library success!
A few months ago I took on the task to bring a great library to
the secondary school near my village and with mounds of help, just before the
school year ended, the library was finished and filled with books. I
couldn't be happier with the results.
The library is located in a room set aside at the school for
books. It held a small display shelf and a desk, littered with paper and
dust. Before I began this project the school director showed me the room.
He and my tutor who helped connect me with the school agreed, "The
books are the most important part." I wholeheartedly agree, but I thought
that maybe we could do something about fixing up the room as well. I had
asked where the students would sit (oftentimes, Khmer people will lay out a
rice mat and have meetings and hang out on the floor, it's pretty normal).
“What about some tiles on the floor?” I asked. Another teacher got
my attention, “Can we repaint the room?” he asked me, and I nodded. We
were on our way.
With the help of students, staff, and the Poor Handmaids of Jesus
Christ, I was able to purchase for the school computers, printers, bookshelves,
pens, notebooks, and books. We also added
some benches to the outside, tiled the floor, painted the walls and windows,
and installed not only electricity and a light, but a fan in the room as
well!!!
Check out the new and improved Library of *insert school name here*
(cannot insert school name for security purposes, Peace Corps tells me).
When the room was finished and supplies purchased, the school
director informed me that it was time for a blessing ceremony. In Cambodia, when new buildings are built or
refinished or dedicated, the monks must perform a blessing. Since my brother and sister were coming to
visit two weeks later, I asked him if we could wait for them to arrive. He agreed. We waited and planned.
While completing the project we also accounted for sporting
equipment, so that the library would be available to all students regardless of
their interests. During this process, a
family donated some logs by which were made two goals placed in the front of
the school. I was told soon after that
because the school had goals, instead of shoes to mark the place, the Muslim
boys were heading to the school after class hours to play soccer with the Khmer
boys. New friendships were forming, and
it was something the community agreed was a good thing.
One day, while planning for my brother and sister to arrive (they
spent a night in my village) my host mom asked me what they would eat. She suggested curry because, she said, it was
the only thing she knew that people could eat with either bread (for
foreigners) or rice (for Khmer). I told
her that was a fine idea. Later than day
I went to visit with the school director to answer some questions. He said that after the ceremony we would have
something to eat and what did my siblings like to eat? Did they like curry
(because curry can be eaten with both bread and rice)? I assured him that they
did.
On my way home I thought, Curry,
where has all of this curry been for the last two years? I’ve never gotten
curry!
They arrived, as did the ceremony day.
A few weeks after, I was wrapping things up with my tutor and he
told me about a student who was so inspired by the dedication of the Sisters
that she wrote a poem. In it, she
describes the things that the new library holds, including “more books than I
can read” as well as changes made to the room and other purchases. She, like many of her students and teachers,
can see the promise books hold for her future and is excited to get it
started. 
Xo
Amanda
Special thanks to the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ for donating the
money, Ms. Ali Bickel for donating so many books, Mrs. Debbie for support and good librarian vibes, Dad and Mom for wit and help, and about a hundred other people for various amounts of support and positive energy.
