The Cambodia Rural School Project
The Nayoro Keiryo School
Mrs. Dy Pharany is the director of the Nayoro Keiryo School. (August, 2001)
Dy Pharany is 44 years old. She was married in 1977 and now she has four daughters and four sons. Three of them come to study at the Nayoro Keiryo School. Her husband is a police officer, working in the provincial capital of Kompong Cham. After the ousting of the Khmer Rouge in 1979, she became a teacher at this school. Last year she was officially appointed as the School Director.
In Their Own Words
| On the new building: | “I am very happy with the new building. With the old wooden building, I was afraid that it might collapse and kill our children. The students were particularly afraid to come when it rained. Now that we have a new concrete building, it is safe for our children. The children are very happy, too, and attendance has improved.”
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| On her personal history: | “During the Pol Pot regime, I was living in this village with my sister. When Pol Pot’s men killed my sister, I had to take care of her four children. It was a big burden to feed my four nieces and nephews from 1979 until 1987. Now they all are married and have left the house.”
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| On why she became a teacher: | “During the Pol Pot time, they killed intellectuals, educated people and students. There were no teachers in this area, so I volunteered to teach the children because I felt sorry for them and wanted them to be able to get an education.”
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| On school subjects: | “Most of the children are strong in Khmer and weak in mathematics. Now they are interested in studying the English language. Though it is a long way from the village to the nearest private English school, children are trying to go to learn anyway.”
“I like teaching Khmer, mathematics and social studies, but I don’t like teaching applied sciences. The school has no teaching materials to show or display the children during that class.”
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| Message for the donor: | “I would like to thank the members of Hokkaido Nayoro Keiryo for giving the children in this village a new school. I wish them good health, longevity and prosperity.” |
