International Childrens Day in Cambodia goes Solar!!!

On Tuesday, June 1st, Cambodia celebrated International Children's Day.

"The main aim of Children's Day in Cambodia is to provide the basic necessities to the needy children of the kingdom and to protect them from any kind of abuse. The various NGOs take it as their responsibility to ensure that the children of Cambodia are given their basic human rights and are not exploited in any manner. Also, awareness among the citizens of Cambodia is created to prevent any such situations." (www.aglobalworld.com)

Early in the morning, Sustainable Cambodia staff headed out to Chanserey Village, located just outside of Kravanh, where I had been assigned to assist with English language instruction and other tasks.  I didn't know what to expect regarding the activities involved and was completely surprised when we arrived at the Bak Chen Chieng Commune, a Buddhist monastery.  We drove into the outdoor area where the celebration was taking place. Approximately 50 children from five years of age to maybe fourteen years were quietly seated at long rows of desks that were facing towards the Master of Ceremony.  Pei Yin (an SC volunteer) and I were asked to sit at the front of the class facing the children.  Formal introductions were made and then the children began to sing.  Here is where I about lost it!  The singing was so beautiful and to see all those tiny, bright faces singing so amazingly good was a bit overwhelming!  I wish I had an audio recording that I could post because the singing was so good!

I had my Solar Lab kit with me that day because I had volunteered to do a solar demonstration if the situation allowed.  Dimang, the country manager for the SC school in Kravanh, thought it would be a good idea to show the kids a simple solar demonstration.  Being that science of photovoltaics can get complicated really fast, I decided to set up a solar panel that was wired to a fan and a music box. I explained to Dimang in English the very basic process of energy from the sun making electricity to run the fan and music box.  Dimang translated my info in Khmer to the children and the demonstration was a hit!  The children loved blocking the sun with their hands to stop the fan, and then, again, allowed the sunlight to hit the solar panel, making the fan stop and start up again over and over... they were truly amazed, as so was I!

International Children's Day is all about games, such as flour sack races, musical chairs, balloon contests, etc;  But when I went to pack up my solar kit, I was immediately surrounded by children still wanting to know more about this strange new science.  They helped me pack everything up and fit all the pieces into the molded slots within the packaging.  My take-away for the day was that there is a lot of potential for the children of Chanserey Village!!