Before I volunteered for Samrong I took a TEFL (Teaching English as Foreign Language) course, as I wanted to be able to plan some of my time at Samrong.

It is not necessary to have qualifications as it is very hands on and the English ranges from nothing to conversational. Any help is help. One thing to remember is that English is fast becoming the international language of Cambodia. Business and service industries rely on and expect English language for communication.

When I was sitting in the relaxing area by myself, when the kids were at school, with not a lot to do, did I feel it was worth it?
I realised it was, because I wanted to do so much for these guys, so making my plan came into action. I made individual goals for some of the children and when speaking to Dr Sam, asked for the next lot of volunteers to try and keep it up.

It was hard to motivate some of them, they come back from school and needed to rest, eat, play and socialise. Having a lesson or two is not always in their plans. But, over a two week period I saw real progress and would explain why a simple thing such as speaking English would help their future.

There were 7 Samrong students at the University and they were so pleased to have someone to help with their conversation and English language skills.

Yes, it was worth it!