Kok Chark Pagoda.

12/12/2007

Went back to the Togh’s school in the morning, we talked about buying school supplies as I had promised $200 from Project Enlighten! We talked about his teachers and training they needed, I expressed our interest in wanting to support the teachers with continued training and development. I also shared our desire for Togh to spread the word among staff and students for our upcoming scholarship. Togh was very excited when I described our expectations. He stated almost instantly who he thought would be perfect. I won’t give anything away yet, but I look forward to Olivia, Matt, Riva, Gwen and Brian showing up and sharing in this process.
I went with Togh to visit his fellow monks at the Kok Chark Pagoda; this was a 5-minute walk from Togh’s current school, very nice and peaceful walk to get to the Pagoda. I met with several of the monks who teach English to 20 poor children. On the Pagoda’s grounds you will find at least 30 families who were so poor they had no were to live, this Pagoda helped them build simple shelter on the Pagodas land in which this impoverished families call home. So I spoke with Sithon and Daro about what they envision for the future. There problem was simple really, the current classroom is on low ground, thus it floods in the rainy season. They have watched the number of children increase due to the fact they have more poor families building on their land. Their dream is to build a 3-room classroom on the other side of the Pagoda where the ground is high and won’t flood in the rainy season. I shared with them the idea of recycling what we could from Togh’s old school, with was made mostly of wood. They had not thought of that, but liked the idea of not wasting anything, I tell you a recycling plant and ethos would go far in Siem Reap!
I told Sithon and Daro I would visit later in the week, and wanted them to draw up some simple plans for the school on paper and give some idea on project costs. The first number was $200 based on 3-classrooms, I asked do you want a library? Would you like an office? How about a concrete floor? We adjusted our number now to $500. I shared with them that we would not build the entire school, that they would have to assist with the labor. It is very important to Project Enlighten that we share in the construction of the building and in turn the Pagoda will share in the vested ownership of this task!
I shared with them my pleasure in seeing their compassion towards to poor families and wanting to improve their current classroom. I shared with them that I was committed to seeing Togh’s school been built, plus various team members are coming over and want to share their ideas with them as well. I look forward to the possibility of working with the Kok Chark Pagoda.