Blue Bird Education Cambodia
Activities 2024
★ The latest article will be listed below.
Thank you for your willingness and sincerity.
January
We have to translate the words and writings of the children that we received through foster care support last December. So we gathered willful students who have been expressing their interest in volunteering and held a translation cafe meeting.
I think people work in different ways. Sometimes if one takes on a lot of translations at once, he/she might feel pressured or depressing. So we set up a casual meeting where people can work on the translation while enjoying cafe.
Some students are fluent in English, while others are not proficient yet but would like to improve their English by increasing a chance to touch English. They can actually teach each other in the meeting. In that sense, it was also an opportunity for the students to gain experience.
Group 1
Cloudy with a bit of rain, unfortunately.
Group 1
March
Cooperating with Royal School of Administration in Cambodia, we assisted to conduct a Global Leadership Training program in Japan for Cambodian officers. The purpose is to see how public administration and citizens overseas make effort to solve social problems as well as to develop their society in better ways.
This was the 1st GLT course this year, starting from Kyoto and traveling across Yamaguch, Shimonoseki, and Kitakyusyu cities for 6 days.
How to take advantage of local attractions, how to achieve coexistence between industry and the natural environment... Resources, issues, and approaches vary from region to region. We hope that the delegation will be able to use this information obtained in Japan as a reference for the better development of the areas they are responsible for in their home country.
Group 2
Group 2
April
The 2nd group of government officials from Cambodia visited Japan and successfully completed the Global Leadership Training program course.
The 2nd group started their program from Flower Expo Memorial Park in Osaka and traveled to Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Yamaguchi, observing the efforts to enrich people's lives and industries in the midst of nature as well as the efforts to convert local characteristics into traditional crafts and tourism industries while preserving their culture.
At the Peace Memorial Museum and Park, the delegation prayed for world peace. Especially in Hiroshima and Shimonoseki, we were able to consider the mindset and viewpoint as a leader from various angles.
on a given theme.
on a given theme.
May
This spring in Cambodia is very hot. It is normal for April to May to be the hottest in the year here, though. And this year, the first rain has already fallen in early May. The weather is strange.
During this visit to foster children, we had presentation practice. Schools in city areas may be different, but in junior high schools and below in rural areas there are no such opportunities in class. We aimed to let children practice to summarize and deepen their thoughts on a theme, and to convey what they want to convey to the listener in an easy-to-understand manner.
The idea is, in small groups, students ask each other questions and exchange opinions, and everyone completes a presentation on a given theme. This should be good to develop their social skills.
Here is the harvested corn field.
Here is the harvested corn field.
September
The Mekong River has risen it water level during this rainy season and some of the island's fields have been flooded. But corns had been already harvested, fortunately.
This time, children made pen holders by assembling triangle prisms. The shapes and difficulty levels are different for primary, secondary and high school students, but they all worked hard to draw a geometry net and create crafts from it. We were amazed to see that children came up with alternative ways to complete the work even if they made mistakes.
In our art-and-craft programs, we can often see them taking pride in their work and feeling a sense of accomplishment. It's so precious.
November
We took our foster children in Kratie to a field trip to Angkor Wat archeological park. Targeted at high school students. Although the number of students was small this time as several students gave up participating the trip warrying about car sickness, it was a valuable experience for those who were actually able to participate.
On the 1st day, we arrived in Siem Reap in the afternoon, so we entered the ruins until sunset and strolled around the souvenir streets in the downtown in the evening. I thought ethnic souvenirs were for foreigners, but just like the kids last time, the kids this time seemed to find such fashion culture interesting as well.
On the 2nd day, we spent the entire day learning about the history in detail with a tour guide. We believe that not only did they learn about history in surface, but they also learned about what ancient dynasties or people cherished, their pride, and sometimes their mistakes, which gave them a stronger sense of their own country.
December (1)
We started supporting students in a new area in September.
On our 2nd visit to them this year, students made greeting cards. Introducing the foreign culture of sending greetings and caring for each other, we asked them to write messages, draw pictures, and make a simple Christmas tree with colored papers.
These were simple tasks, but since they were unfamiliar with everything, the program resulted in many discoveries for them.
December (2)
Island children in Kratie also made greeting cards this month. Since there is a wide age range here, we changed the types of crafts for each grade. Depending on the grade, students made 1-2 types of trees using ribbon or color papers. We wanted to show that there are many different ways to express something.
In Kratie, too, children don't have the habit or opportunity to do paper crafts, so it seems that just folding and cutting the paper was somewhat difficult. We once again realized that this kind of play from an early age gradually cultivates dexterity and spatial awareness.
We are glad that they had fun trying things they weren't used to, and that they gained another new sense of accomplishment.
