The Cambodia Rural School Project
The Reiko and Seiichi Kanise School
Mean Chanly, a fifth grade student
Mean Chanly is 17 years old is in the fifth grade at The Reiko and Seiichi Kanise School. [although 17 years old may seem old for a fifth grade student, many children in Cambodia do not have regular access to schooling. Mean Chanly’s age, though high, is not unusual for fifth grade students in Cambodia.]
| on her siblings: | “There are nine children in my family. I am the eighth child. I have seven sisters and one brother. My oldest sister is 32 years old, and my youngest sister is 13 years old. My four older sisters are married. My fifth sister stopped studying at school a long time ago because she is sick. My sister who is 20 years old and my brother who is 18 years old stopped studying because there wasn’t enough money. My younger sister is 13 years old, and she studies here in the new school with me. She is in the third grade.”
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| on her parents: | “My father is Mean Tan and his 66 years old. My mother is Reun Ram, and she is 56 years old. They are both farmers.”
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| on the new building: | “I like the new building because it is very beautiful. It is 300 meters from my house, and I walk to school every day.”
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| on her class: | “In my fifth grade class, there are 36 students. I am ranked tenth in my class.”
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| on her favorite subject: | “My favorite subject in school is Khmer. I love to read stories and learn about the history of Cambodia. Learning about my country’s history is very important to me. |
