Voluntukers' supports, the 5th workshop, new tuk-tuk

Volunteers helped before the storybook sale, teachers made computer worksheets at the 5th workshop, and the old red tuk-tuk was repainted light blue.

From the TukTuk team in Pursat, Cambodia

Happy International Women's Day 😊

TukTalk 64 cover: a teacher types a worksheet on a laptop at the computer workshop

On March 8th, the world observed International Women's Day. Were there any activities going on in your country on that day? It was a national holiday in Cambodia, and there were celebrations across the country to honor women. Presents were given out at work and community meetings, and men offered gifts to women. We feel that Cambodia is more women-led country, at least more than Japan. Probably the reason why is the women with whom we have a close relationship make up 90% of the workforce in early childhood education. Yet, approximately 10% of the men working in the field are also putting in a lot of effort. ✨

In the meantime, as our stay this time in Pursat is coming to an end, Adrian is hard at work revising office specifications for an upcoming project, Mayu is hard at work on things that can't be done online, and Milly is hard at work yelling out all the staff names and interrupting everyone's work...no, no, not interrupting, "cheering" everyone 😊

Adrian & Mayu & Milly 🦘👘 👶🏻

Thanks to Voluntukers... 🤝

Collage: voluntukers work at laptops and tables in the office and spend time with children outdoors

As we were quite busy getting ready for the workshop and the storybook sale, having the assistance of five volunteers made the process go much more smoothly. As was mentioned in last month's issue, Guy is one of them. The other four were all Canadian girls (more on them under the Voluntuker Feature below). It was the first time in a long time that we had a large group of volunteers arrive, so for a while, the office was busy every day. Guy is currently staying on to assist us with storybook organization, office furnishings, and other tasks.

Without the support of the Krousah who donate to us and, of course, the help of the voluntukers who visit the site to interact with us and offer support in this way, TukTuk would not have been possible. All of us at TukTuk will keep trying our hardest to win over more fans to come to visit our site. Many thanks to you all for everything!

The 5th workshop 💻

We were able to hold our first workshop this year! Since the CLIP2 project is coming to a close this year, we decided to incorporate a program in each of the three workshops that allow participants to create worksheets using a computer.

The teachers were given the task of developing two distinct kinds of worksheets for this preliminary attempt. We had to grip in the dark due to the varying levels of computer experience among the teachers; yet, the effort was well worth it in order to demonstrate that they, too, can utilize computers to create educational resources.

The content that we'll provide at the two remaining workshops will be planned with an eye on what the instructors will find helpful in their classrooms.

Khmer of the month

Khmer Word: Nitean Rueng

March 11 is "National Reading Day" in Cambodia so the word of this month is "storytelling". In the fifth workshop, we encouraged the teachers to practice storytelling with our storybook and to share their ideas on how to read to children most effectively.

Khmer Food: Angkor (Rice) 👇

Sacks of Jasmine rice at a market beside text that Cambodian rice was voted World's Best Rice five times

New tuk-tuk debut!! 🛺

Collage: the old red tuk-tuk, the repainted light blue tuk-tuk and the blue tuk-tuk drawn in the TukBooks

The red tuk-tuk that has been associated with us since 2015 when we initially began our work, has been given a new look! Guy, our voluntuker, painted it light blue, so it looks great not only in the city but also in the red soil and fresh green rice paddies!

Why light blue, you may wonder? Because we want it to look just like Jack's tuk-tuk from the TukBooks, of course!

Repairs to the tuk-tuk's roof and rain protection are still in the works, but if you would like to witness this evolution, we welcome your support, even if it's just $3/month 😊

Voluntuker spotlight | Talia, Hope, Claire, Indigo

Voluntuker Spotlight banner: Talia, Hope, Claire and Indigo, four young Canadian voluntukers, smile together

This month we had a special guest: Talia from Canada, who was one of our first voluntukers back in 2016. She previously volunteered when she was 12 years old, together with her sister and mother. This time around, she rolled up with 3 enthusiastic friends who were all in their gap years, ready to roll up their sleeves and help.

Talia, Hope, Claire, and Indigo were with us for 10 days and swept through like a tornado. They were full of energy, spending their days helping to prepare for our February workshop and getting some resources online for sale in English to help drive some revenue. There was lots of cutting, laminating, and printing, but most of all was the consistent buzz of conversation 😄 Thanks, guys, for the great work and support!

We are currently looking for volunteers with the following skillsets to help TukTuk bring educational resources to Cambodia;

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If you want to get involved or know someone with skills that could help us spread positive education in Cambodia, hit that link below and say hi (we're friendly, we promise). 😉

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