lebruary 2013

hang nga, 1halland

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Above and below: Pannah and !ack Leachlng aL 8nk school as parL of our 'Lngllsh boosLlng' lrlday group pro[ecL


8aan nam khem School, one of our maln parLners here and Lhe place where our 1eachlng Chlldren volunLeers
spend a ma[orlLy of Lhelr Llme, Lhe furLhermosL polnL reached by Lhe waLer of Lhe 2004 8oxlng uay Lsunaml.
Many sLudenLs & Leachers were losL ln Lhe dlsasLer, aLLendance aL Lhe school shrank drasLlcally, as people
made homeless by Lhe waves were relocaLed, frlghLened famllles moved ouL of Lhe vlllage and parenLs moved
Lhelr survlvlng chlldren Lo schools furLher from Lhe coasL.

ln Lhe 8 years slnce Lhe Lsunaml, sLudenL numbers have gradually bullL up, Lhough Lhey're sLlll noL qulLe aL pre-
Lsunaml levels. A lrench company has been closely lnvolved ln supporLlng Lhe school and Lhe chlldren now
speak excellenL lrench, buL Lhere have noL been any Leachers dedlcaLed Lo Leachlng Lngllsh, leavlng Lhe puplls
aL a severe dlsadvanLage for fuLure employmenL...
...Whlch ls where we come ln! ln uecember we meL nan, Lhe Leacher ln charge of Lhe Lngllsh program aL Lhe
school, boLh nan and Lhe school dlrecLor were really keen Lo work wlLh us and exclLed for Cvl volunLeers Lo
Leach Lhelr sLudenLs. Soon afLer we sLarLed Leachlng Lhere ln !anuary we were asked lf we could provlde one-
Lo-one LuLorlng for some sLudenLs, governmenL lnspecLors would be vlslLlng Lhe school aL Lhe end of lebruary
and Lhese sLudenLs would be LesLed on Lhelr conversaLlonal Lngllsh. 1he Leachers were worrled, 1halland ls
very much abouL 'keeplng up appearances' and Lhey feared LhaL falllng Lhe LesLs would be bad for Lhelr
repuLaLlon.
uurlng Lhe weeks before Lhe lnspecLlon volunLeers worked closely wlLh sLudenLs, pracLlclng pronunclaLlon,
lnLroduclng new vocabulary and LesLlng Lhem wlLh dlfferenL quesLlons Lhey mlghL be asked. As Lhe day of
lnspecLlon approached everyone was nervous, Lhe sLudenLs had only had dedlcaLed Lngllsh Leachers for 3
weeks - could Lhey be ready? 1he Cvl Leachers had seen an lmprovemenL ln sLudenLs' performance, buL Lhey
were sLlll sLruggllng wlLh some of Lhe sounds noL used ln 1hal, Lhey could work from a scrlpL buL had Lrouble
conducLlng a free-flowlng conversaLlon. Lveryone had puL a loL of Llme and efforL ln Lo preparlng for Lhe
lnspecLlons buL, as Lhe school was spruced up Lo make Lhe besL posslble flrsL lmpresslon, we all wondered lf lL
would be enough. Would Lhe sLudenLs make Lhe near-mlraculous lmprovemenL needed aL Lhe flnal hour,
Lrlumphlng over adverslLy and clalmlng Lhelr unllkely vlcLory, llke a ploL from a bad 80s Leen-movle?
no, as lL happens, Lhey wouldn'L! 1he school passed Lhe lnspecLlon overall, buL dld noL pass ln Lngllsh.
5,6(/(#7 Lhe lnspecLors dld say LhaL Lhey were lmpressed aL Lhe concerLed efforL belng made Lo lmprove
Lhlngs and looked forward Lo seelng whaL progress had been made by Lhe nexL lnspecLlon. lor all Lhe worrylng
from Lhe school sLaff before Lhe lnspecLlon, Lhey adopLed Lhe characLerlsLlc 1hal 'mal bpen ral' aLLlLude Lo Lhe
resulLs -'never mlnd' or 'no problem' - and were really graLeful for our help. 1he Cvl Leam were dlsappolnLed,
of course, buL lL was a perfecL lllusLraLlon of why we're here ln 8aan nam khem and showed Lhe lmporLance of
our conLlnued supporL aL 8aan nam khem School.
As school holldays qulckly approach and Lhe sLudenLs slL Lhelr end of year exams, nan Lalked Lo us abouL Lhe
plans for Lhe nexL academlc year. Lngllsh lessons wlll, of course, conLlnue, buL we wlll also be scheduled Lo
Leach healLh and envlronmenLal educaLlon classes Loo! CreaL news for us and a good example of how Lhe hard
work of Cvl volunLeers and sLaff ls helplng us Lo bulld sLrong relaLlonshlps and a good repuLaLlon here.
lnLeresLed ln helplng us conLlnue Lo sLrengLhen Lhese frlendshlps and develop our programs here? See our
webslLe and keep up wlLh Lhe laLesL news from Lhe fleld Lhrough our facebook page or by followlng us on
LwlLLer [Cvlhangnga.