The Cambodia Rural School Project
The O Koki Kandal School
Lek Sal is the director of the O Koki Kandal School.
| On himself: | I am fifty years old. I have five children, and one of my daughters is studying at this school. I farm rice to supplement my income, but I don’t have enough farmland to feed my whole family. Because of the thick jungle, it is difficult to find good land. So I also plant watermelons, cucumbers, pumpkins, and gourds.
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| On the new building: | We never had any school here. The children of this village had to go to other places for school. Some children visited a school two kilometers away, but others had to go all the way to Anlong Veng, five kilometers away from this village. When the new school was built we were very glad, because now our children can become educated. This is the first school this village has ever had, and it is very good for the students to study at. The building is strong and very nice. We won’t need to worry about the rain in this school.
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| On his teaching history: | I have lived here since 1990. Before then I lived in a Khmer Rouge-controlled area at the Thai border and worked as a Khmer Rouge soldier. I moved to this village in 1990 to be a teacher at Anlong Veng Primary School. At that time students were still taught in a manner characteristic of the Khmer Rouge. But now we follow the guidelines set by the Ministry of Education. I became the director of this school in 1999. I decided to become a teacher because I knew that the people here lacked education and thought I can help them out. |
