While shopping around the markets in Siem Reap, I came across a relatively young shop owner selling paintings of Angkor Wat, monks, and other pictures to display the Khmer life. As I looked around and bought something, she politely asked why I was in Cambodia. I shared that I was teaching English and her face lit up with delight. She quickly explained how much she loves school and how deeply she wants to better know English. Due to her family’s situation, she was working to keep her siblings in school and did not have the time or finances to continue going to school herself. Yet, she spoke of the hope that within the next few years it would be her turn to finish school.
This is the real picture of the Khmer life. I have never seen an entire people so hungry to know. Education is a privilege that many in Cambodia have to fight to obtain. There is a chasm between desire and ability when it comes to education, yet God’s heart is one that does not forget or look away.
“…Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. God saw the people of Israel and God knew.” Exodus 2: 23,25
The PCL Learning Center is bringing hope and building a bridge for all students in Siem Reap. Education is now more available and within reach. English classes are offered all day with multiple levels, but the deeper lesson is one of capability and worth. They are given the language skills to achieve higher positions, better wages, and more opportunities. If you could visit the Learning Center around 5 one evening, you would see over a hundred motos and bicycles parked in rows on the volleyball court. In 7 full classrooms, you would see students with their backpacks tucked neatly behind them, notebooks open, pens writing, and white out markers being passed around as they do education with pride. What you would really be seeing is lives being changed.
What you really see is hope.
By Michala Jenkins
