Education, Leadership and Sustainability
February 14th, 2009 - Chrauk Tiek Village, Cambodia
My three day meeting with the School Supporting Committee went very well. The three keys to our model are Education, Leadership and Sustainability. We spent a day on each topic. Though the communication is a challenge at times, Yoen’s skill at facilitating discussion through asking questions rather than telling people what to do is getting better. It was kind of nice that school was off for two days for a Buddhist holiday, so we could use a classroom, chalkboard and focus our time.
Day 1 we discussed the Education Program. We asked the committee to envision the future, what do they want their village to look like? We asked questions like, what do you think will make the best school? The blank stares indicated that the ability to even conceive of a future is a stretch. It is hard for them to think beyond food necessities for the next day. It is also hard for them to believe that if they do step out on a limb and dream, that the support to achieve that dream will be there. That is why we make a 10 year commitment to sustainability. Together we established the needs of the Education program, teachers salaries for Khmer, English, Library and Music, scholarship needs and school supply needs. We established a budget for the Education Program and agreed to fund it for 5 years under this schedule: 100% for the first 2 years, 75% in year 3, 50% in year 4, 25% in year 5. The committee will fund the Education 100% starting in year 6, while SSI continues in an advisory role for another 5 years. We are trying to work ourselves out of a job.
Our goal is to empower the community to support their own school and to make their education system accountable to the local community needs. So the question is, how will they generate the income to pay for the Education program by year 6?
Day 2 we discussed Leadership. We asked questions such as, what makes a good leader? Heated discussion about the meaning of Trust, Respect, Honesty, Duty and Transparency ensued and ultimately we ended up with a list of Core Values to guide participation on the committee. To make the point clear, I told them that Cambodia has a terrible government that is not accountable to its people, if you want that to change you have to start here. You can’t change the people who are oppressing you but you can change yourself. The kind of leadership that you show running this school is what these 500 children will learn about leadership. If you show good leadership, then when they grow up they will know the difference, and that generation may make the bigger change in the government. I told the story of America’s journey from Martin Luther King to Barrack Obama. Cambodia needs it’s Gandhi, who knows if one of our students will be that person. We all agreed we would have grey hair by the time this is finished, but I said it would be worth it because the children will have better jobs and be able to care for us in our old age.
Day 3 the children were back in school and we squished into the small space of the English/computer class to discuss Sustainability and money. We explained the framework of having a Vision and a Goal, of building Consensus, and of creating a Plan of Action. In order to access the money in our sustainability budget for projects to support the Education program, they will work with Yoen to create a Plan of Action proposal complete with a budget. Each budget must include a 10% community contribution in time, materials or money. I drew 3 circles on the board and explained how to analyze a project in terms of whether it is positive or negative for the Environment, Economy and Society – where the 3 circles overlap is Sustainability. I was surprised to see how much interest the committee showed in truly understanding this concept. In the end they decided to focus their goal on #1 That All Students can achieve a high school education. We currently have 2 attending High School out of a potential 500. This is going to be a long journey.
But I have great faith because of the progress I have seen so far. The Grady Grossman School is like this little island of vibrancy and joy in an ocean of miserable poverty and environmental destruction. The teachers are using more animated teaching methods and kids are out of their seat and solving problems more. We are achieving outstanding attendance records, with nearly 500 attending, by comparison, neighboring schools of similar population have less than 200 and classrooms are closed most of the time. The teachers really appreciate our support, and I like the fact that they are becoming more accountable to the local community.
We have a new English teacher and new Khmer early reader phonics books coming, plus a volunteer American expat working on teacher training for these tools. She may also be able to email us directly from the school with our GPRS phone. More to come my meetings with the women in each village and the future of the Smart Choice Fuel briquette program….stay tuned.
