Srey Leak and Srey Jane are both students and teachers at SCAO. Srey Leak is Mr. Sameth’s (Founder) daughter and Srey Jane and her sister Lakana have moved to Khan Russey to live with Mr. Sameth and his family so that they can get a better education. Both girls have been involved with SCAO for several years now, Srey Leak has attended SCAO since it opened in 2007, Srey Jane has been attending SCAO for five years now. Both girls began teaching at SCAO six months ago. Srey Leak takes ABC Advanced while Srey Jane takes ABC beginners. Teaching is a great opportunity for the girls as it means that they have an income for themselves, but they are saving it all until they need it for university.
Srey Leak:
“The best part about SCAO is that we get to meet so many new people from different countries all around the world.” Srey Leak also thinks that SCAO has provided her and many other students with great opportunities, like learning how to use Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel. The worst part for her has to say goodbye all the time. Both Srey Leak and Jane agree that it is nice to have the long term volunteers that come for 6 months or more, but that only makes saying goodbye harder for them because they have really become friends with the volunteers. Srey Leak plans to finish high school and go to university in Phnom Penh to study IT and accounting. After she finishes university in Phnom Penh, she would like to travel to Canada or America to continue to study there. “But right now if I had the chance to travel, I would go to South Korea. That’s where my idol Kwan Ji Yong lives.”
Srey Jane:
“For me, I love to learn about the new cultures and languages. I also love making new friends and SCAO has given me that opportunity, to have friends that come from all over the world. I am also learning to play guitar now, which I really love.” Srey Jane thinks that SCAO has really improved the level of English among students. Now that she teaches her own class she loves seeing how her students are improving every day. She thinks the worst part about SCAO is having to say goodbye to people all the time, she doesn’t like to get close to people and then have to say goodbye because she doesn’t know when or even if she will see them again. After high school Srey Jane would like to study at university in Phnom Penh. She would like to become a banker. “If I could travel now I would like to go to Germany, because many of the volunteers come from there and I would like to see them all again.” She would also like to study in Australia if given the chance but for her she thinks that she must stay at home to help support her family after university. “In year 1 or 2 of university I will begin to work and study as a banker, it will take 4 years until I finish university. I want to be able to support my family and that is why I will go to university to get a good job.”
When the girls aren’t at school or SCAO during the school months, they help out at home. Every day they make dinner together for the whole family. Also when they can, they help out with lunch, but it’s difficult for them to help at lunch because they must study and teach during that time. When they have holidays from school Srey Leak likes to stay up late and sleep in the next morning and also watch movies. Srey Jane likes to listen to music and sometimes watch movies with Srey Leak. When asked what would they change about SCAO, Srey Leak said that she would make the volunteers stay longer (preferably forever) and Srey Jane would like for SCAO to someday have a proper building for the first school. Both added at the end that sometimes when old volunteers come back to visit sometimes it can be awkward because they haven’t kept in contact that much and the girls and the old volunteers have both changed so much, so they feel shy again, but after a few hours together it’s like the volunteers never left. Someday the girls would love the opportunity to travel and use the skills and English that SCAO has taught them
