The Cambodia Rural School Project
The Kome Hyappyo School
(100 Sacks of Rice)
Mr. Van Neun, 31-years-old, is the director of Kome Hyappyo School.
(August, 2001)
Mr. Van Neun is 31 years old and the director of the school. He has been a teacher since 1986, and has three children studying at the Kome Hyappyo (100 Sacks of Rice) School.
In Their Own Words
| On his teaching history: | “I graduated from the regional teacher training school in the provincial capital of Kompong Cham in 1986. At the start, I was working in the Tambe district of this province for two years, and then I was switched to this school. It was then called the Pha Av Primary School, and was located 3 km away from the present location. I was appointed as the school director in 1999, when the Kome Hyappyo School was built and we moved to the new location.”
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| On the Pol Pot time: | “During Pol Pot regime, I was young and lived in a camp for children in Kompong Cham province. The Pol Pot men killed my father because they suspected him as a high-ranking officer and government official. My father was tall, had light skin, and was handsome. He looked like a government official, but of course he was a simple farmer.”
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| On the work of teaching: | “Most of the members of my family and my relatives are teachers. I liked this career so I decided to be a teacher. My father-in-law is also a former teacher. He taught at a primary school in the northwestern province of Battambang before the civil war.”
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| On his family: | “Three of my children study at the Kome Hyappyo School and I am happy to work at the same school where my children are studying. I am happy because it is easy to follow up their study and I also get time to help them if they face some difficulties in studying. I was married in 1989. Now I have four children, 2 girls and 2 boys. My wife is a farmer and a housewife. We own a small rice field, but it doesn’t produce enough rice to feed my family for a full year.
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| On school subjects: | “Most of the children at this school prefer three of the four subjects. First they like mathematics, second social studies and the third Khmer. They do not like applied sciences because our teachers have no teaching materials to show them while teaching.”
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| Message for the Donor: | I would like to wish all the members of the Tokyo Shishinokai group good health, happiness and prosperity. I would also like to pass on a ‘Hello’ from the children of Kome Hyappyo.” |
