One person [from Australia] can make a difference

Immersion experience: School and orphanage founder Svay Savong (left) welcomed Brisbane teacher Susan Bentley as a volunteer

Published: 29 January 2012
The Catholic Leader, Brisbane
By: Robin Williams

Teaching has taken on a new dimension for Susan Bentley and her students at All Hallows' School, Brisbane, since she organised her own immersion experience at an orphanage and high school in Cambodia. ROBIN WILLIAMS reports

WHEN All Hallows' School English and history teacher Susan Bentley tells her students they can make a difference, they believe her.

Susan completed a solo immersion in Cambodia late in 2011 as her own way of giving something back to the world community.

As a teacher of 30 years Susan's decision to be "a living example of the All Hallows' ethos that social justice is the responsibility of every member of the school" began planning her trip in early 2011.

"I wanted to demonstrate to my students that one person can make a difference," she said.

"Part of the ethos of our school is that social justice is our responsibility, and that was actually one of the qualities of this school that attracted me to All Hallows' in the first place.

"I've been here eight years now and I wanted to bring that lived experience to my classroom because I thought that would make a difference to my girls in the quality of what I was able to teach."

Susan said she chose Savong's orphanage and high school, outside Siem Reap, Cambodia, as her destination because she also wanted to learn more about Asian history.

"(In) my academic background, my major was in Asian History and I'm very interested in the curriculum mapping that is taking place at All Hallows' in the history department with the national curriculum guidelines because there is now an Asian cross-curricular priority embedded in the national curriculum," she said.

Susan said it wasn't an easy process to organise the solo immersion, with many family and friends expressing their concern about her travelling alone.

She said the trip was an overwhelming success and she now has a few hints for others planning similar experiences.

"The first step is to research your destination," she said.

"I read extensively everything I could find about other people's immersion programs, overseas teacher training programs and about Cambodian people and their experiences particularly during the Khmer Rouge (years).

"I had to do a lot of research on the Net in terms of finding the school."

Susan said it also took much research to find the right place.

"I knew I wanted to teach English in a high school and I knew I wanted to work in an orphanage," she said.

"Savong orphanage and high school was founded by a 32-year-old (Svay Savong)in 2005. There are 30 children aged between three and 17 years in the orphanage, and 600 students from 10 to 18 at the high school."

Susan said once she knew her destination she began to plan in earnest.

"(I had to organise) practical things like where was I going to stay (and) how was I going to be transported to the school because I couldn't stay on site as there is only three bedrooms and 10 children in each room," she said.

Susan said her visit in September also coincided with the wet season, and that brought its own challenges.

"The entire exercise took a lot of time but I learnt a lot along the way," she said.

"I had to get my teaching documentation sent over to the founder so he could see I was a legitimate teacher and my teacher registration and criminal checks were current."

Susan said when planning an immersion it was important to research the cultural traditions and history of your destination.

"Modes of behaviour - things like when a teacher goes into a classroom in Cambodia you never touch a child on the head. You never point; you have to use the palm of your hand," she said.

She said it was also important to understand you could be in for some shocks, but to enjoy the trip regardless.

"The orphanage was located about 25 kilometres outside Siem Reap," she said.

"I was teaching in the orphanage in the morning (from 8am to 1pm) and I had all 30 children in my classroom.

"The facilities are quite shocking. There is one toilet, three bedrooms, the children have two sets of clothes each, the washing is done in a bucket, there is no power, and there is no fridge.

"In the morning I would fish with the children. They had a catfish farm that had been donated by an American family and the children stand next to the kitchen table, throw their string out, catch the catfish, turn around, pop it in a bucket, boil it up, boil the rice and that's lunch seven days a week."

In the afternoons, Susan headed next door to the high school where she taught from 1.30-7pm.

"Every hour there was a different group such as the 12-13-year-olds, the 14-15-year-olds, etcetera," she said.

"The founder is able to provide all his students with free English lessons as a result of donations because there is no government funding."

Susan said during her stay, two 22-year-old women from Sydney also arrived to donate their time.

"One of their grandmas was in Rotary and she had collected some funds and they asked Savong what he really needed.

"He said a roof over the kitchen because it had no roof and it was the wet season, so they handed over the money and he put them in the (orphanage's) truck with the boys and we all went to the hardware store.

"We bought the timber, we bought the corrugated iron ... and the kids constructed the roof right in front of us.

"To be able to come back and tell my students that first hand is really powerful."

Susan said that wasn't the only first-hand accounts of people and their generosity she was able to relay to her All Hallows' students.

"They could see the ripple effect of how one person can make a difference," she said.

"Where I was staying, a tourist group came in from the Gippsland (region) in Victoria and they asked me where I was going each morning.

"I told them briefly and they did a whip around and went out and bought three to five-kilo bags of rice and food for the children, along with Textas and colouring books and I was able to take those out to the children. That would never have happened if I hadn't been there."

While in Cambodia, Susan also visited several craft and artisan groups who earn a "fair wage" and was able to bring their stories back to All Hallows'.

"The aim of these places is to revitalise and regenerate a generation of crafts that has been lost due to the Pol Pot terror and also I suppose to promote repopulating real Cambodia," she said.

Susan said before she went to Cambodia, her Year 10 students made picture and story activity books, bookmarks and friendship bracelets that she took with her.

"When the girls saw a photo of their book with a young Cambodian reading it and doing the activities, that really moved them," she said.

Susan said although she travelled to Cambodia on her own, her classes were with her all the way.

"They weren't there with me but they knew what I was doing to get ready for it, and they knew when I was leaving and they knew when I got back and they were all very eager to hear about it which was wonderful," she said.

She said, as with any immersion experience, you had to be prepared to step out of your comfort zone.

"I had to wade through knee to thigh-deep water to get to the tuk-tuk (transportation) each day, and the day I took 40 kids out on an excursion the orphanage flooded," she said.

"The whole time I was there I didn't feel like an intruder. I was made welcome, but to be transported from a society where we live in Brisbane and have everything at our fingertips to then just be beamed down into this little village where they have absolutely nothing is extraordinary."

Student feedback since her return has convinced Susan the trip was more than worthwhile.

"What the girls wrote made it all worthwhile because what you want to do is reach the children in your class," she said.

"You want to make a difference; you want to have an impact on them in a positive way."

Some of her students' reflections include: "The experience of my teacher has really impacted on my knowledge of Asia because while she teaches us about social justice she didn't just tell us what we have to do; she went out and did it herself. She is an inspiration".

"Listening to the first-hand experiences and visual aids helped me to understand that the situations are real and not just on the Internet or in a book."

"... made it seem as if it is actually possible to make a difference."

Susan is planning to use some of her accumulated long-service leave to return to Savong's orphanage and high school in February.

"When I go back I know what I want to do," she said.

"The orphans are housed in three bedrooms each sleeping 10 and the kids have got their clothes in baskets and I thought if I just put two little shelves up they could each have a little section of the shelf and that would make a difference to their day-to-day life."

Susan said each person had much within themselves to give and should always remember that "there, but for the grace of God" it could be them in a similar situation.

"And we have a responsibility to give," she said.

"It could have been us living in the orphanage.

"All of us can choose one thing, one area that we can give back and, for me, it's the ability to teach English and the skills to teach English but it's also the mother in me who wants to nurture other children and make a difference so it's a personal contribution as well."