In my last post, I explained the history of the school Salaamom, a school that my husband and I started in Cambodia, where we lived for ten years.
This month I have been able to go back to the school and spend time with the teachers and with the director of the school Mrs Vannear Khoek.
I was very moved to hear from some teachers who have been there from the beginning of the school; they thanked me again for giving them a vision and a heart for the Khmer children. They said our love for Khmer children started a fire in their heart and I know they have worked very hard to make a difference themselves. During our first years in Cambodia, my husband and I spent much time struggling to learn to speak khmer fluently. But now, it is easy to communicate with my Cambodian friends. One of my main goals in going to Salaamom this time, was to simply come along side these friends and encourage them by helping them to see the impact they are making on these children and their families.
We spoke about the beginnings of the school, and the struggles we had to do even the simplest things, like going to the local markets to have desks made, or struggling through government bureaucracy to get permission to even start the school. We spoke about the trainings we did for the teachers, and their early struggles to change their approach to education. Before being a software engineer, I was a math teacher, so education was and is something I value very much.
Education is transformative, and nowhere can we see this better than in the life of the director of the school herself, the very amazing Mrs Vannear Khoek!
When we first met Vannear, she was selling soap at the market. She had missed many years of education due to the wars in Cambodia, but had gone on to study to be a teacher. Unable to survive on the $20 a month salary of a teacher at that time, she decided to sell soap instead. We saw something in her and spent a lot of time with her. She started as a teacher the first year, then became the director of the school. She furthered her education while directing the school and now has a masters in Education. She also persisted in developing a good relationship with the Ministry of Education, and has a positive influence in other schools throughout Cambodia. She is doing an amazing job leading the school itself, which now has over 500 students. She and her husband are very dedicated to the school and to helping their people.
I spent many hours with Vannear, the director of the school. It was wonderful to hear about the progress of the school and also how students are blossoming.
We talked together about some challenges and different solutions. Sometimes, we need someone to brainstorm with, and I’m happy to simply serve in that role.
When I think about all the problems generated by the wars of Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge, the Vietnamese invasion, the coup d’état, it can be overwhelming to consider all the misery and suffering the people of Cambodia have endured. In the book ‘What’s so amazing about grace,’ Philip Yancey talks about the prevalence of “ungrace” in the world. But in Salaamom, and the lives of the people who have been touched by it, while challenges remain, I see grace, an island of hope for a better way, and a vision of new beginnings where the impossible becomes possible again.
With the teachers of Salaamom school