PEPY’s ProgramsQuarterly UpdateOctober 1st –December 31st, 2011 Community Development Program / Supplemental Program / Sahakoom Apeewaht Sala (SAS) Program

Thank you for your continued support!

Statistics in target areas: Child-to-Child The Community Development Program consists of both Child-to-Child and Young Leader Clubs

Child-to-ChildUsing an active learning approach, the Child-to-Child (CtC) initiative encourages children to identify the most pressing problems in their communities, by working with other members of their Child Club. Currently, there are 6 Youth, and 5 educators to facilitate these clubs.

Through topic-based problem solving around health, environmental, and human rights subjects, the Child Clubs learn about important issues while aiming to build life skills such as leadership, communication, teamwork, critical thinking, and decision-making.

By building these critical skills among children in Chanleas Dai, we hope to further PEPY’s general mission: expanding the opportunities available for Cambodian youth by working with young people, and investing time and resources to connect them with the skills, systems,

and inspiration necessary to achieve their goals, raise standards of living, and improve the quality of education in their communities.

Child-to-Child activities This year, both students and facilitators in Child Clubs have been focusing on the importance of water cleanliness, hair and oral hygiene, and clean clothes to improve health. The facilitators saw steady improvements over the quarter as the children practiced what they learned.

Club members also encouraged other students to practice healthy habits as well. This particular project is now moving into the fifth and sixth stages of the Child-to-Child methodology. The students have shown initiative in speaking with community members and encouraging them to practice hygienic techniques to prevent illness.

Care and maintenance of community signboardsThe Child Clubs have also decided to fix or replace all of the broken signboards in

each village. These boards are essential for sharing and distributing information about health and human rights within rural communities with little access to the Internet and/or newspapers. This project was completed in November, and educators have been monitoring the information on the boards and contributing health information to link to topics being covered in Child Clubs.

Young Leader ClubThe Young Leader program was initiated in 2011, and supports clubs in rural Cambodia for youths aged 15-25 years old. The clubs are voluntary action-based groups, where young people seek to identify, learn about, and solve tangible problems in their own communities, thus building life skills, leadership, and self-confidence.

The purpose behind the project is to provide a youth development model appropriate for young adults, based on the success of PEPY’s Child-to-Child initiative. Currently, there are 6 Youth, and 5 educators to facilitate these clubs.

Commune Village # of Children per Club

Club Educator

Chanleas Dai Run 34 Hem SalyPreah Lean 15 Riem BonRolom Svay 15 Riem BonKhnar Joh 20 Khean SakDamreay Slap 24 Seurng SinathKoukpouch 7 Seurng SinathChanleas Dai 8 Yong MaryDon Kais 15 Yong MaryTram Kong 20 Chok Srey MaoKok Tnaut 7 Chok Srey MaoKok Tnaut 15 Chok Srey MaoChuk Rath 20 Chork SreyVounTram Kong 20 Chork SreyVounKambor 15 Ry RomdosTahmeak 10 Ry Romdos

Snoul Sam Rowng 16 Ry Romdos2 communes 14 villages 261 children 8 facilitators

Statistics in target areas: Young LeadersCommune Village # of Youths per

ClubClub Educator

Chanleas Dai Run 18 Hem SalyPreah Lean 7 Riem BonChanleas Dai 12 Khean SakTram Kong 13 Chok Srey MaoTahmeak 2 Chok Srey Mao

Snoul Sam Rowng 15 Chum Lout2 communes 6 villages 67 youths 5 facilitators

COMMuniTY DEVELOPMEnT PROgRAM

Fourth quarter updates During this quarter, some of the major challenges faced by our staff involved the logistics of harvest season. Some of our students were required to stay home and help in the fields rather than go to school, which has impacted attendance rates.

Other students have migrated to Thailand for work, and this has also negatively affected attendance rates. As a result, participation in some Child-to-Child and Youth Leadership Clubs has decreased, and one club had to be disbanded due to a lack of students.

Child-to-Child methodologyAfter many trials, assessments, and evaluations, our CtC educators developed 6 steps to help children easily identify and resolve the most pressing issues in their communities.

1/ Discuss and identify the most prominent issues plaguing the community via a Town Hall meeting.

2/ Investigate the factors and causes of the problem: CtC students and educators work together to identify and understand who or what is involved in the problem.

3/ Gather information and reach an understanding: Our educators help empower the students to teach each other about their circumstances and how they can make a positive change.

4/ Work together to find the best and most simple way to address the problem.

5/ Execute the resolution: CtC educators help students understand the pros and cons of each proposed solution; then the children create a plan to inform

and involve the community. In the past, students have used presentations, plays, and campaigns.

6/ Evaluate the process to make sure the problem has been resolved, and identify steps to mitigate the problem in the future.

Collaboration with Child Rights ngOThis quarter, the PEPY team had a chance to share the Child-to-Child six-step approach with Child Rights, an NGO currently working in Phnom Penh. The two organizations met in Siem Reap, and discussed the success PEPY has seen through Child-to-Child work in sanitation and hygiene.

However, due to logistics and scheduling, we were unable to show first hand the work that we are doing with CtC in Chanleas Dai. Child educators hope to take Child Rights on site to observe program work first-hand at a later date.

Attendance and participation challengesAs with our Child-to-Child clubs, keeping participation and attendance has been one of the main challenges facing the YLP this academic year. Unfortunately, the Tahmeak YLP club, which was originally founded with only five members, had to be disbanded this quarter. Gradually, week after week, Tahmeak club members stopped participating in lessons and were often absent on Sundays.

In order to assess potential causes of declining participation rates, an assessment was conducted to determine what youth in this community need, would like to learn, and what they disliked about past YLP programming. However after conducting the club for one more month after this assessment, club members were still reluctant to participate, so the club was disbanded.

Assessment and evaluationThe educators spent a great deal of time this quarter creating evaluation tools in order to further improve the effectiveness of the lessons we teach our Young Leaders participants.

In doing so we hope to measure how well they understand the lessons taught and if the lessons are being applied in their daily lives. These assessment tools will also help us get a sense of what the kids like to learn, and the methods that help them retain information the best.

Home visits to prioritize educationIn addition to assessing the efficacy of lessons taught in YLP clubs, the staff has been making home visits in each of the villages. The purpose of these visits is to create relationships with the parents, so that we can help them encourage their children to attend school, as well as Youth Leadership clubs.

Already we have received a positive response, and the YLP team has started to build relationships and trust within

YOuTH LEADERSHiP PROgRAM (YLP) uPDATES

these communities. Parents are friendlier and more willing to work with the YLP team. The YLP team has not yet reached all of the families in the target areas, but progress is steadily being made.

Developing presentation skillsDuring this quarter, Youth Leadership members in Chanleas Dai exchanged ideas with students from an international school in Kuala Lumpur on youth-based leadership in their respective communities. In order to give some insight into the projects and works that the clubs do, the YLP members created presentations. This opportunity inspired educators and the Young Leader Clubs to work on their presentation skills.

Developing these skills allows the club members to share their knowledge and experiences with others in a comprehensive format. After a workshop on how to give an effective presentation, many students demonstrated an increased aptitude for this type of talk and better understood the value it has for their professional development.

wE HOPE TO FuRTHER PEPY’S gEnERAL MiSSiOn: ExPAnDing THE OPPORTuniTiES AVAiLABLE FOR CAMBODiAn YOuTH BY wORKing wiTH YOung PEOPLE

PEPY’s Supplemental Programs are designed to enhance the Cambodian government curriculum by providing extra learning opportunities for students as well as teacher training in Khmer Literacy and English.

PEPY’s Creative Learning Classes, Engineering Club, English Classes, Exam Support, and Dream Management sessions are resources available to Chanleas Dai Junior High School students. In addition, primary school teachers working in our target area can receive Literacy and English teacher training with our Library and Travelling Teacher Support programs.

Creative Learning ClassesAt the beginning of the school year, the staff advertised our Creative Learning Classes and left applications for the students to take home in order to get consent from their parents. Our team then started to collect all of the names of prospective applicants and enter the data into a computer.

As part of our policy, we also held meetings with all of the students and parents to clearly explain our CLC standards regarding participation and attendance.

The following are a selection of this quarter’s CLC activities:

grade 7– Students used the Paint function on

the XO laptops, which enabled them to brainstorm creative ideas, draw them, and present their artwork to the class. This activity allowed students to practice using the XO laptops and become familiar with the XO software. As an extension of this activity, students created and presented family tree diagrams to show their classmates.

– Our staff taught the students Scratch programming, to enable them to create more advanced projects for future lessons. The students have showed a voracious appetite for each new lesson and the new topics they learn.

SuPPLEMEnTAL PROgRAMS

– Engineering club welcomed 10 new students from Grade 7 this quarter. Their first project involves building and programming Lego “WeDo” Robots. So far students have been following the explicit instructions from a manual, but as the school year progresses, we hope to be able to encourage more creative freedom.

grades 8 and 9– Students used the XO laptops to learn

about the Solar System and present their findings to their peers.

– The students learned about Word- and Excel-based programs called Abiword and Spreadsheet, which have enabled them to create more comprehensive projects than before.

– All 22 participants of the Engineering Club are working with students in Grade 7 to build Lego “Wedo” Robots.

Our CLC staff was able to provide individual XO laptops for 80% of our CLC students, and the rest were able to share XO laptops with friends who live in the same community.

PEPY’S SuPPLEMEnTAL PROgRAMS ARE DESignED TO EnHAnCE THE CAMBODiAn gOVERnMEnT CuRRiCuLuM

grade Total in each class

Average % absence

# of students who dropped out

7 A 47 4.82 57 B 44 3.36 68 A 34 4.22 18 B 33 3.82 29 A 33 3.4 3Total 191 3.92 17

Statistics for CLC program

Many students are pulled out of school at this time of year to help their families during harvest season, to immigrate to Thailand in order to find work, or to attend weddings during the height of the wedding season.

in light of these challenges, the attendance of our students was about average for this time of year, when compared to last year’s attendance numbers.

English classes in Chanleas Dai Junior High SchoolWe’ve been promoting English classes at Chanleas Dai Junior High School for the 2011-2012. Our team interviewed all prospective applicants in Grades 8 and 9 to determine the availability and commitment to fully participate in English classes. Rules and expectations were then laid out for accepted students:

– Students who are absent more than 3 times in a month without an excuse are required to meet with the teachers.

– Six absences in a month results in a parent / teacher meeting.

Students who fail to adhere to these guidelines will be asked to leave the class. In order to establish a baseline for English skills, we did a pre-test for eachclass to measure how much English they already know. We will conduct another test at the end of the year to see how much progress the students have made.

Dream Management and Junior High School support The Dream Management program offers support to 9th graders and creates a space where they can take steps towards achieving their dreams and goals for the future, and discuss any challenges that may need to be overcome. The Dream Management team has been working to create tools and methods for recording each student’s dreams in an electronic format. The staff hopes that by compiling these profiles, they will have an archive of examples for future Dream Management programs.

Classroom LibraryThis quarter we worked closely with PEPY’s Literacy Technical Officer, Smin Soe, in order to prepare some training documents for new government teachers, involving how to incorporate the classroom libraries into daily lessons. Through this initiative, the teaching staff also came up with pre-test and post-test in order to better measure the progress of student literacy by the end of the year.

Traveling Teacher SupportSince it was the beginning of a new academic year in October, our staff made an effort to go to each school with Grades 5 and 6 to share our goals for this year with them. Our Teacher Training Staff conducted training for government teachers and established a baseline of their English abilities.

A pre-test was administered to students in Grades 1-6 in the beginning of October at Prasart Knar elementary, with plans to conduct pre-tests at all 8 schools in PEPY’s Classroom Library program.

Our staff also conducted a training session for teachers focused on the methodology of using books in order to improve students’ Khmer literacy. This training is designed to improve the capacity of our teachers as well as the quality of the lessons being taught. In addition, we conducted a training session on the methodology of facilitation.

This workshop was focused around teachers of Grade 6, and we were able to observe them apply the skills our staff taught them in actual classes. Teachers at 4 elementary schools participated in the skills observation: Chanleas Dai, Run, Prasat Knar, and Tram Kong.

Every other Thursday we provide training for the government teachers who are involved in our Traveling Teacher Support project. The PEPY team taught new classroom words and phrases in English and shared new lessons that teachers will be able to use with their students after the training sessions.

new This Quarter This quarter, PEPY piloted a Scholarship Program to offer access to further educational opportunities for students graduating from Kralanh district high schools. nine students graduated from the high school last academic year and were interested in a variety of options to further their education, including teacher training programs.

PEPY proposed supporting the studies of one or two candidates through provision of laptops, bicycles, and financial support. unfortunately none of the students passed the necessary exams or met the requirements for teacher training programs or other university study. As such, PEPY has realized that more comprehensive support must be given earlier in the year to high school students who are interested in pursuing higher education.

As a result, this year PEPY did not offer scholarships to any students and has instead decided to revise the Scholarship Program. As part of this program redevelopment, we have offered an internship to one of the Kralanh High School graduates to assist our staff in conducting a needs assessment of the young people at the school.

Our intern will be working with PEPY staff to develop the Scholarship Program for the next academic year and ensure that it is designed to better meet the needs of graduating students.

LibraryOur head librarian met with all teachers in Chanleas Dai Primary School and involved the principal about this year’s agenda for library/literacy programs. Trainings planned for the coming year include:

– Teaching all of our librarians about proper procedures for working in the library

– Training teachers in each grade how to facilitate activities with their students when they come to the library. This takes some of the workload off our only librarian and also enables the teachers to lead activities.

We have created schedules for each of the classes in Chanleas Dai Primary School, so that each class is able to visit the library everyday. Our library staff has started working with the government librarian and is currently sharing information about the Chanleas Dai library policies and procedures. All librarians take one hour every day to work with the government library and share our methodologies.

Our library staff provides many activities to keep the students engaged, including book reports, quizzes, story telling, story reading, poster making, alphabet games, matching games, reading corners, and story ordering. Students have the opportunity to learn different lessons every time they come into our library. This quarter 3,326 books were borrowed by 443 students, with an average of 7.5 books/student read over the past 3 months.

We also set up check-out cards for each student, so that each time a student borrows a book from the library, they write the book name on the card. Each card can hold about 20 book titles, and when a student completes a card they receive a prize recognizing their achievement.

The reward system provides incentives for students to read books, which in turn adds to their vocabulary, comprehension, and writing skills.

THiS QuARTER 3326 BOOKS wERE BORROwED BY 443 STuDEnTS

Sahakoom Apeewaht Sala (SAS) – literally translated to “communities developing schools” – is a holistic approach to providing and improving access to a quality education through community engagement. SAS empowers communities to develop sustainable schools that provide all children with a quality education. The SAS team and the School Support Committees (SSCs) of Chanleas Dai, Prasat Knar, and Run Primary Schools bring you these latest updates from Cambodia. This year SSCs, school heads, teachers, and the SAS team worked together to make development plans that promote more transparency, in which each school also agrees to have only one school development plan.

This means not only that school heads will be able to gather information on government budgeting plans and send them to the District Education Office for approval, but also that activities arranged as part of PEPY’s SAS program will be included in these plans and not form separate documentation.

The District Office of Education has now officially approved school development plans for three schools, Chanleas Dai, Prasat Knar, and Run Primary Schools, for the upcoming 2011-2012 school year. Currently each activity in the plan has one person to over see its implementation and take responsibility for its completion.

Sahakoom Apeewaht Sala (SAS) Chanleas Dai Primary School updatesSchool snapshot– Student enrollment: 508 – Grade levels: Kindergarten

to Grade 6 (10 classes)– Teachers/administrators: 10– School Support Committee

members: 9

Latest activities: 1/ Sustainable enterprise –Mushroom Spore Production One of SAS’s goals is to support SSCs in the implementation of projects that will generate a source of income to sustain the development of their school. This quarter, Chanleas Dai Primary School has decided to try growing mushrooms again, despite previous challenges they have faced in this pursuit. SSC members are now working on growing spores as a stepping-stone to mushroom production. By learning from previous mistakes and pursuing additional agricultural knowledge and plant nursery skills, they hope to successfully cultivate mushrooms.

2/ FundraisingChanleas Dai Primary School conducted a fundraising activity this quarter along with teachers and the SSC team. The group went door-to-door to raise both funds and support from the community. This was an important step towards maintaining the school, as well as renewing support from students’ parents to encourage the education of their children.

The total amount raised was 500,000Riel (Approx. US$125). The SSC has used 303,700Riel (Approx. US$75) to reimburse PEPY for supporting previous SSC activities, and the rest will be use to fund the school development plan.

School Support Committee meetingsThis quarter, SSC meeting topics included:– Revisiting the school

development plan– Assigning ownership

for upcoming activities– Preparing for mushroom

spore growing – Brainstorming for future fundraising

activities

Run Primary School updatesSchool snapshot– Student enrollment: 352 – Grade levels: Kindergarten

to Grade 6 (6 classes)– Teachers/administrators: 4 – School Support Committee members: 12

Latest activities

1/ School mapping activityAs at Prasat Knar, Run Primary School also conducted a school-mapping project as part of a new Child Friendly Policy, which will be a useful tool for teachers to contact and connect with students’ families.

School Support Committee meetings:This quarter, SSC meeting topics included:– Plans to create a compost bin– Plans to invite parents to school to see the work

of our staff– Discussion of whether or not it is feasible to supply rice

to teachers from other provinces who work for Run school– Setting up a student council

SAHAKOOM APEEwAHT SALA (SAS) LiTERALLY TRAnSLATES TO “COMMuniTiES DEVELOPing SCHOOLS”

Prasat Knar Primary School updatesSchool snapshot– Student enrollment: 599 – Grade levels: Kindergarten to Grade

6 (12 classes)– Teachers/administrators: 10 – School Support Committee members:

Latest activities

1/ Fundraising – Back-to-School On October 1, 2011, the SAS team and the SSC hosted a “Back-to-School” event to reinforce the importance of education in the community. The event encouraged parents, teachers, and students to participate in school activities, and was also a good fundraising opportunity for the SSC. The SSC succeeded in raising 400,000Riels (Approx. US$100), and this money will be used for the school development plan.

2/ Fundraising – Bon Phakar Bon Phakar, a religious ceremony, is traditionally used to bring together members of a community to raise funds to support religious functions. However at Prasat Knar, the money from Bon Phakar went towards school and community related activities.

In December, parents, local authorities, teachers, and monks took this opportunity to share common ideas and goals to improve and support education in the community. The SSC raised 1,002,600Riel (Approx. US$250). The SSC plans to use this money to support school development plans.

3/ School improvements – garbage kiln and information board Prasat Knar has constructed a garbage kiln for managing the school’s waste. This activity was not included in the original school development plan for this year, but SSC members agreed that it was a necessary step to improve the school environment and make the area more hygienic.

In addition, the school headed a project to make an information board for the community. The board will be used to promote and provide increased access to information on Child Rights.

4/ School mapping activity Prasat Knar Primary School conducted a school-mapping project as part of a new Child Friendly Policy. Now students and community members have a comprehensive map of both the school and surrounding community. This is also a useful tool for the teachers as it shows

where the majority of students live in the surrounding area, so they can easily contact the children’s families.

School Support Committee meetingsThis quarter, SSC meeting topics included:– Strengthening SSC roles

and responsibilities– Community fundraising– Revisiting the school development plan – Monitoring finances – Planning additional fundraising

activities – Brainstorming creative ways to

share information with the school and community

– Building relationships with local authorities

Strengthening capacity: teacher training workshopsThe SAS team conducted Teacher Training Workshops in Mathematics, Literacy, and Effective Teaching and Learning (ETL) techniques for instructors of Grades 1-6 who work at SAS target schools. The workshop involved two sets of 2-day trainings: one focusing on math/literacy in mid-November (34 participants) and one focusing on literacy/ETL techniques in mid-December (31 participants). Participants came from the communities of Chanleas Dai, Run, Prasat Knar, Preah Lean, Kambor, and Tram Kong.

Mathematics trainingThis workshop focused on methods for teaching math that actively engage students and help them retain information. Participants honed their teaching methods for statistics, fractions, and geometry. The training also provided 606 textbooks for our teachers to use in classroom lessons.

Literacy trainingDuring this workshop, teachers focused on learning methods to help build relationships between individuals and the team, as well as students and teachers. Participants were instructed in how to use a child-centered methodology, in which one can make connections through the use of games as teaching and learning devices. Instructors also helped participants make comprehensive lesson plans to insure that teachers utilize class time efficiently while maximizing the effectiveness of their lessons. Effective Teaching and Learning (ETL) trainingThis training focused on professional standards for teachers, with a focus on:

– Classroom management

– Using the environment as a teaching resource

– Learning how to deal with outstanding behavior problems

The training also covered Teacher Professional Standard Topics, including knowledge of professional standards, standard professional operations, standard morals for profession, and learning games to help build relationships between teachers and students. In addition, instructors ran through classroom scenarios, and helped participants work through each situation as a lesson in classroom management.