Bayon school – Dealing with COVID-19

by | 16 Sep 2020 | Agroecology training, Bakery and pastry school, Coffee Shop, General education, Health, hygiene and food, Primary school, Secondary school support, Social and families support, Sustainable agriculture and environment, Vocational training

It has now been close to four months that COVID-19 has spread across the planet. Even if Cambodia has officially registered very few cases and no deaths, the country has not been spared and its population is suffering from the loss of jobs and the lack of tourist activity. Bayon School is doing their best to help the families during this unprecedented crisis.

Support the families – The first urgency

Since mid-March, no tourist has been allowed to enter the country and the large majority of the hotels, restaurants and spas have closed, leaving thousands of workers with no jobs and no compensation from the Cambodian government. Many of our families have been affected, losing their primary source of income which allowed them to meet the basic needs of 8-10 people. Furthermore, the children who used to go to school were being fed breakfast and lunch at the canteen, one thing less for the parents or grandparents to provide. Now they are at home and need feeding by their families, adding an additional charge.

Faced with this critical situation, Bayon School reacted quickly. From Week 1, all the vegetables grown by the famers invested in the Green Project were bought by the NGO and then distributed free of charge to the parents of our pupils. This guaranteed a salary for these women farmers and the insurance that the children would continue to eat healthy vegetables. In addition, our social teams studied the families very closely and we started distributing rice to those in desperate need from the second week after the school closure. Special thanks to our donors and the company AMRU Rice for their precious support, which allowed us to finance the rice and vegetables.

Closure of the Pastry School and Coffee Shop – What happens next?

At the Pastry School, we had to send our 26 students back to their families and, as a result and out of obligation, close the shop. The Coffee Shop of the Bayon Pastry School, opened more than 4 years ago, covers 50 % of the budget required for the pastry/baking training programme. Its closure means a significant loss of income for the NGO, which we have been able, in part, to compensate through the generosity of our donors. After two weeks of adjustment and holidays for the catering staff, we put in place several projects in preparation for the re-opening: inventory, storage, planting in the gardens, painting the walls, Spring cleaning, … In the end, the team was very busy. In addition, Sokhouern and Sokly developed a brand-new range of bread with no fewer than 10 new references for sale in our future bakery. They had the time to test new recipes to ensure a wide range of products that we will be able to offer the hotels and restaurants once they can re-open. Finally, since the end of April, the teachers have put in place online lessons for our students, who, each day, receive videos and telephone calls to keep them up to date and help them revise their lessons.

Social follow-up, survey and report

Our social teams have been very committed during this period. They worked firstly on identifying the families with the most difficulties in order to help them in the best way possible. This crisis has also given us the possibility to take a big step back and analyse the impact of our actions on the children and their education. A further study was led with the alumni of the Pastry School, with the aim of updating the details of our former students, analyzing their career paths and reviewing their situation one to five years after graduating.

And our communication?

We have launched the huge undertaking of redoing the website for Bayon School. It will be revealed soon! And we are trying, as best we can, to stay in touch with all the friends of Bayon School, who, we know, stand by our side. An enormous thank you for your help which has allowed us to manage this crisis and help our families as much as possible. We hope to reopen the schools very soon and see again the happy, smiling faces of our pupils as they play outside.

“SBEK THOM”, KHMER SHADOW THEATRE

“SBEK THOM”, KHMER SHADOW THEATRE

by | 12 Dec 2019 | General education, Primary school

Sbek Thom is Khmer shadow theatre featuring two-metre high, non-articulated puppets made of chiselled leather. Dating from before the Angkorian period, Sbek Thom, along with the Royal Ballet and mask theatre, is considered sacred. Dedicated to the divinities, performances could only take place on specific occasions three or four times a year, such as the Khmer New Year, the King’s birthday or the veneration of famous people. After the fall of Angkor in the fifteenth century, shadow theatre evolved beyond a ritualistic activity to become an artistic form, while retaining its ceremonial dimension. Since 2008, it has been inscribed by UNESCO on the list of Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
(source : unesdoc.unesco.org).
At the Bayon School, we believe it essential to carry on with this tradition and including it in our programme of extra-curricular activities is an integral part of this process. After developing our lessons of sport, arts & crafts and Apsara dance, the introduction of lessons of Khmer puppetry allows us to link history, creativity & teamwork.
WEB-IMG_1464
Before all else, we would like to introduce Tob Leang, our new puppet teacher at the Bayon School. Tob Leang studied the history and creation of puppets for three years at the Bambu Stage, a social entreprise based in Siem Reap, which aims to highlight young talent through crafts and traditional Khmer culture. He joins the Bayon team today in the hope of passing on his knowledge to the pupils at our primary school.
Our project is ambitious as we want to put on our first Khmer shadow theatre presentation at the Bayon School at the end of the first semester. There are of course numerous steps to integrate beforehand:
WEB-IMG_1451
• First learning step: hold and learn to use the tools required to make the puppets as chiselling the leather is a complex technique to master. All our pupils will learn to select the tool, which is best adapted to obtain the desired shape of the puppet.
• Once this step has been mastered, it is time to make the actual puppets. Using a small chisel and a hammer, the children learn step-by-step how to trace straight lines, before moving on to making their first samples. Taking into account the dexterity required by the pupils, the team at Bayon have decided to start the puppet-making lessons in Grade 2 (7-8 years old)
WEB-IMG_0092
• Once the little puppets have been made, there remains one essential step, and not the easiest! Memorising g the scenario and learning how to bring the puppets to life to ensure a successful presentation.
Tob Leang spent a long time working on this scenario before arriving at Bayon; it requires a great deal of attention and concentration from the children, as you can see from the photos!
WEB-IMG_1512
At the time of writing this article, the children have made tremendous progress and most of the puppets have already been made. For news on the presentation at the end of the semester, you will have to wait until the next newsletter at the end of March!A very big thank you to Fondation Insolite Bâtisseur – Philippe Romero, which finance this project and enable them to set up this new complementary class.

Another school year comes to an end at the Bayon School…

by | 2 Dec 2019 | Agroecology training, Bakery and pastry school, Coffee Shop, General education, Health, hygiene and food, Primary school, Secondary school support, Social and families support, Sustainable agriculture and environment, Vocational training

Another school year comes to an end at the Bayon School… and before we know it, another group of students has joined the pastry school whilst nineteen new little ones fill the empty benches in the Kindergarten class. Such is the life of a school: some move on, leaving the space open for others to integrate our classes. There is always a lot happening, which is how it should be! Initiatives come to light, ideas abound, things take shape, the teams get on board and new projects come to life…

Maternelle-groupe
The 2018/2019 school year started at the primary school with an overhaul of the teaching system, following recommendations made by Rodrigo and Anaïs, after their audit of our pedagogical set-up.• A new primary head has been recruited and the teaching team has been renewed, giving preference to full-time contracts, which allows us to put in place extra support classes for children who may be struggling.
• Two new buildings have opened their doors; a computer classroom for the pupils of Grades 5 & 6, as well as a library with over 400 books in Khmer.
• A brand-new canteen and water management system have been inaugurated.

These investments have only been made possible through the generous support of our sponsors and donators. Without them, we would not be able to achieve so much. An enormous THANK YOU!

Anais-et-Rodrigo
Our secondary students participated in the monthly careers events with professionals who came to present their jobs. A jewelry designer, HR in a travel agency, accountant in an NGO, manager of a hotel: very diverse worlds come together to talk to our students, allowing them to project themselves into a professional future which is not really that far away after all. This year, they were also lucky to be able to participate in an intercultural exchange with students from the Lycée Français of Singapore, which was rich in emotion.
The vegetable gardens have never produced as much as this year; it really was a bumper crop! 80% of the canteen’s vegetables were grown locally and ecologically in the plots of the 8 families involved in the Green Project. Every day at daybreak, 25 Kg of vegetables arrive by motorbike, tuktuk or even bicycle to allow our cooks to prepare the meals for our 250 pupils, who start lunch at 11 o’clock for the youngest amongst them. It is quite a marathon to keep the families motivated as market gardening really is a daily enterprise with no time for rest. This year, we have been able to equip each family with an automatic irrigation system, allowing them time for other activities such as weeding, harvesting, pest control, etc.

Sem-Chum-potager
At the pastry school, 21 young women graduated at the end of August. With their diploma under their arm, they set off towards a secure professional future in the hotels in Siem Reap or Phnom Penh and/or in the bakeries looking for qualified labour. These students, who joined us in September 2018, were unrecognisable when they left; shy, reserved and unsure of themselves at the beginning, they left us brimming with self-confidence and armed with a trade that they can and must promote. We are astounded by their capacity to learn and absorb so much in only 12 months.

Intake-5-graduated
The new students who arrived in August 2019 have already taken their first steps in the pristine Bakery Lab, which we have just inaugurated and which will enable us to train more students in better conditions.

The Bayon School is moving forward – thanks to its teams and numerous loyal donators who believe in its project. Let’s continue together!

Please find attached the Activity Report for the year 2018/2019 for further details on what we do.

School uniforms made by Bayon’s mums

School uniforms made by Bayon’s mums

by | 25 Sep 2019 | Primary school, Social and families support

WEB-IMG_1008Normally purchased from an external provider, we have, many times, been disappointed by the quality of the uniforms we bought: issues with delivery, bad quality… Aside from these problems, we also felt it was the opportunity that represented this project that helped us set it up.
On the same model as the green gardens project that was installed in the families to provide food for the school canteen, the main idea was to give an extra salary to the family, and therefore improve their quality of living.
For this launch year, we decided to produce only the uniforms of the primary school and to buy the ones for the secondary school and pastry school from an external provider. The objective is, for next year, to produce all the uniforms.WEB-IMG_1004

The first step for this project was to recruit the “sewer” mothers. In order to accomplish this, I asked for help from the person who knows the families best: Soky, our social officer at the primary school. She helped me identify families who most needed this extra income and amongst these, 3 mothers had sewing skills: Sokheng, Mom and Mai.
Sokheng lives in a small house made of metal in a village opposite Angkor Wat with her husband and her two children. Her daughter Panha, is 6 years old and will be entering Grade 2 in October. Her son is only 4 months old, and it is very difficult for her to feed him correctly as she has no income.

WEB-69103280_2618484784882395_6742295491540680704_n

Mom lives in a big house on the side of the river that goes through the temples’ enclosure. She lives with her four nephews and nieces. They are enrolled in Bayon. She is the only person in the household to have a form of income. She is therefore in charge of buying the food and to provide for the needs of her family.
Mai has 3 children: her two daughters are enrolled in Bayon primary school, Sopheak in Grade 5 and Sreyka in Grade 4, and her son, Kvan, aged 3 is for now too young to join the benches of school.
These three women all live in very precarious conditions and did not hesitate to seize the opportunity of an income. When we visited their homes to offer the chance to participate in the production of the uniforms, they all accepted without hesitation. However, their skills were insufficient, we had to ask help from Lan, a professional sewer.

WEB-IMG_1011

The purchase of the fabric and accessories was done at the market, the cut of the fabric to the right size and especially the training of the mothers for the sewing of the pieces, Lan is an essential member of this chain of production for this first year. Also living in precarious conditions, she also benefitted from this project. Next year, we will make sure the mothers take charge of the whole chain of production.
To start the conception, we needed to invest in new equipment: a sewing machine, 3 irons, a special machine to sew the buttons… Luckily, the donators supported us!
At this date in early September, the production continues: we are finishing the uniforms for Grades 3, 4, 5, and 6 and we are going to start soon the uniforms for Kindergarten, Grades 1 and 2. Objective: 490 uniforms for the 1rst of October!
Phorn, the director of the primary school and Jeanne, our fundraising officer, bring me essential help for the tracking of the production. We visit the 4 women invested in the project 2 times a week to make sure they are not missing anything and to collect the uniforms that have been produced already. It is very encouraging!
We are impatient to see the students in their uniforms produced by the mothers of Bayon.

Holidays in Angkor Temples…

Holidays in Angkor Temples…

by | 24 Sep 2019 | General education, Primary school

The AuVert’gnats, a group from the Puy-de-Dôme area in France composed of four girls and four boys, proposed a rich and detailed candidature, which motivated our choice. Coming out of a two week experience in the Alpes where they helped a cow farmer with milking and other activities linked with alpine pasture, the team started uniting through strong values of solidarity and mutual aid; values they used during their month at Bayon School.
The August 2019 summer camp took another direction because this year, we associated the scouts and the bursary students of the association. Bayon School hopes to support some students after Grade 12 by offering them a study bursary.WEB-67843393_376146466401765_8203761450917822464_n
To start with, the two groups met up to exchange over ideas, organize themselves and build a common calendar. One week was more reserved for Khmer games and the next to French games, the other nationality discovering the specificities of entertainment in each culture.
The scouts offered games that the Khmer children did not know. Their preferences turned towards group and sportive games such as “balle au prisonnier”, chicken-viper-fox (the vipers catch the foxes, who catch the chicken who eat the vipers!) or the planets game. They alternated between the sportive activities and the creative activities (collage, decoration, painting…) in order to make small groups. Between 50 and 80 children were present each morning and afternoon. The summer camp was open for Grade 2 and older.WEB-67825096_343013743250901_8164017524367687680_n
The scouts really appreciated having the bursary students at their side. They considered this partnership franc-Khmer as essential as it enabled them to better understand the culture and to have access to information they wouldn’t have understood otherwise. Some of the scouts visited a family and discovered the house of our students. They will remember moments full of emotions such as the songs and the dances with the children. They loved playing outside and be surprised by the rain season and even then, continuing to play outside under the rain! Their favorite moment is a swim with some of the older students (11 to 14 years old) in one of the basins of ponds of the Angkor temples…

WEB-68756693_533255270548222_6658928428273631232_n
They sometimes found the days a bit long, because animating for such a long time can be exhausting. With time, they organized themselves better and learned to know the children, their names, their personalities and rich and sincere exchanges came from it. When we ask them what was their greatest difficulty, some answered: “hunger!”. The canteen of the school serves rice and soup of vegetables/meat every lunchtime. A bit repetitive for the French appetite.
The group of scouts was very professional and courageous (20km of biking every day to go to the school). They led their activities with enthusiasm and respect. We thank they vividly for their engagement with Bayon School!

THE ASSOCIATION « LE RÊVE D’ELO »

by | 18 Sep 2019 | General education, Health, hygiene and food, Primary school

Following an accident 20th April 2014 in Cambodia, Elodie died at the age of 27. She was the project coordinator at Bayon School.
The project that was the most important to her was the creation of a canteen inside the school. Elodie wanted to provide lunch to the children so they benefited of at least one healthy and balanced meal per day and to avoid them going back and forth between the school and their village.
The project emerged in November 2014 under the name of “Elodie’s canteen”. In December 2014, our family created the association “Le Rêve d’Elo” with the aim of financially sustaining the good functioning of the canteen.
WEBP1200521
Today, we count 45 members (families and friends). Through this project, seven children have found godfathers.
Our association organises two events per year:
• In spring, a pedestrian walk followed by a barbecue with a sale of envelops with a prize for each, sale of backpacks and tee-shirts
This event enables the walkers to discover the commune that welcomes us, its heritage and new landscapes. (In 2019: 350 walkers and 400 meals).
• In autumn, a dinner party (300 guests) with a raffle which has great prizes offered by our partners.
WEB-P1190298
The profits of these two events are increasing each year (2018: 17,000€, including 3,800€ of donations).
The city councils who welcome us offer their premises, often as a gesture and they give us technical support. We thank them dearly.
The regular attendees of our events are regularly informed of the projects of SEP Bayon and the payments we make.
WEBDSC00148
We are very motivated by the memory of Elodie, for whom the joy and smile of the children was her greatest prize.
Important notice: the next dinner party will be on 19th October 2019.
Secret Link