Striking when the iron is hot

Simorn enjoying counting

Ly and Savon work tirelessly to enrich their five-year-old daughter with important life information and knowledge, and they serve as a great example of striking while the iron is hot, educationally speaking.

Despite their limited educational backgrounds and a restricted amount of time they have on their hands since they must earn a living, they still dedicate what available time they do have in order to teach the youngster important lessons at an age when she is able to readily absorb them.
 
“I don’t know how to read or write at all,” said Savon, a 28-year-old mother who grins as she speaks. “But my husband used to go to school for some time when he was young and we both understand the importance of early teaching for our child, and once we were taught how to do it, we decided to try to teach her what we could. My daughter asks us many questions every day, though, and sometimes we get stuck, and don’t know how to respond to her.”
 
The couple lives in Angkor Chum, a Plan targeted district – an area where the level of early childhood education, both informal and formal, has traditionally been non-existent, resulting in a high illiteracy rate among the locals.
 
To address the issue, Plan Cambodia, in collaboration with the provincial Department of Education, introduced a so called home-based care project in ten villages of Angkor Chum in mid-2008 to primarily train and encourage parents to use appropriate everyday communication with their children to further their education. The goal is to create a safe environment where the children can subconsciously develop proper living habits and accumulate valuable information that is necessary to enhance their current and future mental and physical growth.
 
Savon and her husband have been part of the home-based care project and appreciate the noticeable improvements in the girl, ever since they have been making the effort to impart their acquired knowledge to her.

“Before, my daughter didn’t know how to count and could not name any colours,” Savon said. “Now she’s very confident with counting numbers and can tell the difference between different colours. Teaching her is not as difficult as I had thought. For example, as I cook rice, I can show and tell her what to add first and then I tell her about birds, trees and so on.”
 
To make ends meet, the couple still may spend weeks working in the rice fields, which is 30 kilometers from their house. But no matter where they are or how busy they may be, providing an education for their daughter is a priority to them.