Very soon, the Bayon School of Agroecology is due to open its doors. A one-year vocational training program, its purpose will be to train technicians in agroecology, who will also be able to undertake and carry the values of sustainable development into their future profession. The 2 professors who will lead this program tell you more about it:
We have finally arrived at the end of the year 2020 and the Bayon School needs your help more than ever to face this complicated period that we are all going through. This is why we have concocted this list of the Top Ten reasons to support us at Christmas! Now it’s your turn to convince your friends to sponsor us!
Initiated in the 1990s by a monk who took in orphans from the war, the Bayon School has set itself the goal of providing quality education and medical support to underprivileged young people living in the Angkor temple region. Over the years, the association has diversified its activities to contribute to the economic and social development of the most vulnerable populations.
Although the country has only been slightly affected by COVID in terms of human loss, its consequences have been disastrous for the economy. In Siem Reap, 78% of the hotels have closed or ceased operations. The Angkor temples saw a 98.7% drop in foreign visitors in May 2020, compared to May 2019. As a result, many of our families suddenly lost their main sources of income.
Because health is a basic human right, the association is mobilizing its forces this year to provide the most fragile families with access to drinking water and dignified sanitary conditions, by installing sand filters and toilets.
Each year, the Bayon primary school welcomes 250 students and provides them with two balanced meals a day, school supplies and uniforms. More importantly, the school allows them to blossom, to contribute to their personal development and to learn in good conditions.
If quality education is vital to give children a chance to build a better future, it is at least as important to encourage their personal development through play, as well as cultural and sport activities. This is why, at Bayon, we want to continue to develop and improve the extracurricular activities that we offer them every week.
Because schooling does not stop at the end of primary school, we follow our students throughout their studies. They have access to social support, tutoring, a bicycle, a monthly scholarship as well as an annual forum dedicated to vocational training to guide them in their career orientation.
In January 2021, the Bayon agro-ecology school will open its doors. The one-year training program we are offering has a dual purpose: to provide practical and professional skills in agro-ecology, and to stimulate young people’s initiatives to create small farms and organic food businesses, connecting producers and consumers in the local market.
The Bayon is committed to providing the necessary tools and training to farmers so that they can grow organic vegetables that will be used primarily to supply the primary school canteen. Helping them to structure themselves as a cooperative means helping them to develop a network of outlets where they can sell large quantities of organic vegetables.
The Bayon Pastry School has been training tomorrow’s bakers and pastry chefs for 6 years now. Today, and more than ever in a job market made uncertain by the COVID crisis, we are striving to give them every chance to find a job.
Cambodia is a country that attracts many tourists because of its rich history and culture, and so it is essential for our students to speak a good level of English in order to get a job that will allow them to flourish and help their families.
Bayon team thanks you most sincerely for your generosity, which allows us each year to continue helping those who are the most in need; without you, nothing would be possible.
After launching our Green Project at the beginning of 2018, we would like to go further with our mission of sustainable nutrition and develop our professional training programme. This is why we have taken the decision to launch a new programme on agroecology in November 2020. Let’s take a closer look at what this would involve, as well as the short- and medium-term objectives of this innovative project which is a real investment for the future.
Cambodia’s population is essentially rural (76,6% in 2018), with one third of its inhabitants trying to survive with less that 1$ a day; the country is now facing the same problems European agriculture has been facing since the end of the last century.
The conventional, intensive farming that is currently being practised in Cambodia uses many chemical inputs. With the predominance of rice monoculture, the country is obliged to import the large majority of its vegetable produce (estimated at 80%). The combination of monoculture and extensive use of pesticides prevents the regeneration of the soil, causing a drop in the yields of agriculture production.
Today, there are few actors in Cambodia offering concrete solutions to these issues, such as awareness campaigns and training of the population in sustainable, environmentally friendly farming. At the Bayon School, we feel that transmitting the principles in agroecology could be a long-term solution.
Agroecology is based on applying ecological concepts and principles to optimize interactions between plants, animals, humans and the environment, while taking into consideration the social aspects that need to be addressed for a sustainable and fair food system ((source FAO.org). It is based primarily on enhancing biodiversity, waste recycling and crop rotation, making it possible to diversify crop production and remove the need for chemical input.
Since 2018, the Bayon School has been running a sustainable agricultural project by training some of the families of our pupils in agroecology. By planting vegetable gardens on their plots, they are now able to bring in extra income by supplying the canteen at the primary school with locally grown, pesticide-free vegetables.
This project is currently improving the living conditions of 11 families of the primary school, as they produce close to 30 kg of vegetables each day.
In order to go further in our mission of raising awareness and educating, we would like to create a new professional training programme in agroecology. We are currently working on setting up this school with the association Vivre de sa Terre, which already has some experience in agro-ecological professional training in Battambang. Vivre de sa Terre is helping us create the pedagogical content of our programme as well as training our future teachers, En and Sreyleak, who are currently learning how to improve their teaching skills and learning techniques, management and entrepreneurship, sales, marketing and accounting.
After studyingclosely the training experience of Vivre de sa Terre, we have decided to create a short, one-year programme, including several months of internship, the aim of this programme being to allow our students to be rapidly employable. We would like to open this new programme to 10 youths aged 17-20 years living in and around Siem Reap. The programme will allow us to train agro-ecological technicians, who would also be capable of creating projects and putting into practise the values of sustainable development in their future careers.
The teaching content of the programme will need to meet these two criteria, which are essential to the success of the project. In the space of one year, our future students will have gained both technical skills (how to restore the soil’s fertility, protect crops, transform and recycle production, etc.) as well as entrepreneurial know-how (communication, sales and income management, how to work together and innovate, development of soft skills, etc.).
Our medium- and long-term ambition is to promote awareness and the value of more responsible farming practises in Cambodia. To achieve this goal, our first intake of students will need to become the ambassadors of agroecology in Cambodia, where the market for organic produce is still a niche market just waiting to develop. It is a real investment for the future.
Gilles and our volunteers had been thinking about new projects which could, this time, be durable over time: this year’s programme includes a striking mural fresco on the wall of the infirmary, customisation of our new shoe cabinets as well as a green wall using only recycled materials. Let’s looks them more closely:1. Mural fresco for the infirmary
2. Decoration of the Shoe Racks
With dozens of small shoes discarded in front of the classrooms, the primary school looked a little chaotic and so we thought it was time to install shoe racks in front of each class. These were then brought to life by Gilles and his little helpers!
3. Green wall with recycled materials:
Last but not least, volunteers and staff joined forces to collect all sorts of recycled materials, producing an interesting mix of bicycle and car tyres, coconuts, plastic bottles and wooden planks. A touch of DIY here and a coat of paint there… and our green wall was born.
Everybody of all ages took part in the project and enjoyed themselves immensely. It was with emotion and stars in his eyes that Gilles left the school and the children. We have an inkling that, once settled in his seat, he was already thinking about the projects he could organise next year.
Thank you Gilles!
In 2015, Bayon Pastry School’s Coffee Shop opened its doors. The objective was to self-finance a part of our pastry vocational training. Pastries, viennoiseries and all kinds of breads are produced every day. The recipes are carefully elaborated by our Khmer chef Sokhoeurn Morn, also pastry school director. Her creations are then cooked by the production team mainly composed of former students of the school.The students, on the other hand, receive daily instruction in our two lab: pastry and bakery. They also learn, through the coffee shop, the basics of waitressing. Since its opening, the coffee shop has grown steadily and can now accommodate 30 people. It is now one of the most famous coffee place in Siem Reap city for its pastries but above all, for its quiet environment. This “corner of heaven” is sheltered from the hubbub of Siem Reap and its famous noisy “pub street”. To allow a good service, the coffee shop now counts 3 waitresses and 3 young girls work in the kitchen.
The pastry school also receives orders from restaurants, hotels and spas of Siem Reap. With a dozen regular customers, we are currently able to deliver different varieties of breads and pastries every day across the city. Among them are Bodia Spa, hotels Mémoire, Maison Polanka or even Sala Lodges and restaurants Bakong, Georges Rhumerie or Le Bel Air.
In summary, from 3 years, the coffee shop sales has been enabling us to self-finance 47% of the budget of the pastry school. This last year 2018/2019, we even reached a rate of more than 50% of contribution. And 23 students benefit from our baking and pastry training for free thanks to the Coffee Shop incomes!
Another great way to get involved with our association, another way of giving : a good cake for a good cause !
