It's been a few weeks since our two-month stay in Cambodia concluded, and we're back to working remotely from Japan.
The most rewarding parts of our stay in Cambodia were being able to actually see the new office and improve it to a more comfortable working space, meeting teachers we hadn't yet met in person during workshops, doing follow-up visits, and seeing the school in action. Above all, working with the staff again, eating meals, and going on trips together were the biggest benefits!
As one of our voluntukers, Roberta, agreed when she came for the 2nd time, TukTuk is a place where you feel as if you have always been together from the moment you meet, even if you haven't seen each other for years. Much like family and friends.
We strive to continue performing well and upholding this homey atmosphere. 🥰.
Adrian & Mayu & Milly 🦘👘 👶🏻
LAST YEAR'S ACTIVITY WAS COMMENDED ✨
TukTuk attended a meeting of Pursat's educational non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and district education officials to discuss the outcome of the previous year's efforts.
TukTuk, despite being a small organization in comparison to others, is gradually gaining the trust of provincial education officers because it is the only organization that has supported preschool education in Pursat for many years.
We discovered that teachers outside of our target schools are using TukTuk resources and that many of them are familiar with TukTuk because of the worksheets.
We believe that our daily efforts have been recognized as a result of the teachers and voluntukers who participate in and cooperate with us, as well as our TuKrousah members who continue to support us.
We'd like to express our gratitude to everyone who has assisted TukTuk and ask for your ongoing support!
TA-DAH! A NEW TUKBOOK!🏫
Since the beginning of this year, our team has been hard at work creating this storybook and its accompanying resource package, and they are now both completed! "Being Good" is the seventh original book by TukTuk.
Phaney, our musician at TukTuk, was the one who initially conceived this story.
The original Khmer text was written in a rhythmic style, allowing it to be read in rhyme. Phaney stated, "When I'm writing a song, I'm able to focus on a single central idea, but writing this book was a challenge for me since not only did I have to consider a wide range of ideas, but also find words that rhymed within the context of the text. But I'm pleased and overjoyed the book is now available to the public! I hope that through this storybook we will grasp the value of cooperation regardless of whether we are adults or children, and the necessity of respecting each other instead of judging or discriminating against others based on their appearance."
Please take a peek at this Tukbook with the hope that you share the same sentiments! 😊
THE 3RD WORKSHOP OF THIS YEAR 👩🏽🏫
The major goal of this workshop was to introduce the free educational resource site, "Digital Library," and to deliver tablets to the target classes. Since TukTuk began assisting preschools, we have now achieved our goal of developing a website that would make it easier for teachers to obtain instructional resources.
While using it in the workshop, the teachers claimed to appreciate being able to filter their search for workshop materials by subject, type of activity, lesson theme, etc. For this project, we gave tablets to all participating teachers so that this platform could be utilized to disseminate further our TukTuk educational materials.
Roberta, a volunteer who has been assisting us, also explained why it's beneficial to read the storybooks to children. Because she is an experienced preschool teacher like them, they listened carefully and took notes.
Since the website is still very new, we are hopeful that its growth will be fostered gradually by the participating teachers in the initiative.
KHMER OF THE MONTH
Khmer Word: Dauch Knea
You may have noticed in the workshop photos👆 that everyone is wearing the new TukTuk shirt, which is a bright yellow shirt with the back featuring Jack and other well-known TukTuk characters! We believe we all wore "Dauch Knea (same)" polo shirts with the teachers who participated in the workshop that day, thus uniting us together. 😊
Khmer Food: Liea hal (Seasoned Small Shellfish) 👇
ACCESSBOX FINALLY SET UP FOR SCHOOLS📱
Following the workshop, we also visited ten target schools for follow-up. This time, we installed the "AccessBox," a WiFi hotspot to allow access to the Digital Library! (See the Voluntuker spotlight below for more information on this development. ♪)
Since most of the target schools don't have WiFi and it's difficult to get a stable internet connection, the AccessBox will allow teachers to use their computers, tablets, or mobile phones to connect directly to the website to search and view our resources.
Although the concept of using AccessBox to connect to the website was first developed in 2017, it proved challenging to utilize when several teachers put it to the test in 2018. As a result, we looked into websites that were simpler to use with the help of one of our voluntukers. We realized that websites such as Facebook and YouTube, where content can be viewed by scrolling, are more user-friendly, so we decided to redesign our Digital Library in the same way.
The AccessBox is currently under development, and we have further adjustments in the works to ensure that it connects to WiFi consistently even in schools with erratic electricity.
THE LONG-AWAITED "NICE TO MEET YOU!" 🌏
For 5 days at the beginning of August, 4 voluntukers from The Philippines and Bosnia-Herzegovina joined us! Some of them have been TukTuk's online supporters for years, and after COVID's restrictions were lifted, we were finally able to meet them!
Although their stay was short, we were able to visit our target preschools together where the kids had fun with balloons shaped into animals, swords, and flowers!🎈We also met Aubrey, a wonderful photographer and video editor whom we introduced here before. She gave us tips on how to take better pictures and conducted personal interviews with each staff on camera. We'll see how the interviews turn out in the near future... 😉
VOLUNTUKER SPOTLIGHT | TIM
Tim is a budding entrepreneur who has recently spent the past 2 years working on an ed-tech project as a developer. He was very excited to work on a project that is already set to be implemented in the field and drawing from his previous experience, he had some great ideas for some improvements that we could make.
Living in rural Japan, he loves gardening and studying as well as other development projects. He is also interested to come and visit Cambodia and see the AccessBox in action. We hope to all meet him here soon! 😊
We are currently looking for volunteers with the following skillsets to help TukTuk bring educational resources to Cambodia;
Google Ads
Fundraising
If you want to get involved or know someone with skills that could help us spread positive education in Cambodia, hit that link below and say hi (we're friendly, we promise). 😉
