CLIP4 begins, Teacher Robin visits, film crew

CLIP4 has officially begun! 🎉

After months of preparation, we are delighted to announce that CLIP4 was officially approved in February 2026 and is now underway!

This new two-year project would not be possible without the generous support of Rotary Club of Calgary Downtown, Rotary Club of Pursat, Rotary International, and the many Rotarians and supporters who believe in the importance of quality early childhood education in Cambodia. From everyone at TukTuk, thank you for making this project possible.

On March 5th, we held the CLIP4 Kick-Off Meeting, bringing together teachers, school principals, district education officers, provincial education officials, and Rotary representatives to officially launch the project. During the meeting, participants reviewed the results of our baseline survey, discussed the goals of CLIP4, and shared ideas about how we can create the greatest possible impact over the next two years.

CLIP4 will support 12 leader teachers and 7 education officials across six districts of Pursat Province. Through these leaders, the project is expected to reach approximately 315 preschool teachers and more than 16,000 children throughout the province.

What makes CLIP4 different from our previous projects?

In CLIP3, we focused heavily on supporting teachers within their individual schools through workshops and follow-up visits. While this approach was very successful, CLIP4 takes the next step.

This time, we are focusing on developing teacher leaders and strengthening existing teacher networks. Rather than only visiting target schools, we are working through Technical Meetings where preschool teachers regularly gather to exchange ideas and learn from one another. Our CLIP4 leader teachers are taking leadership roles within these groups, sharing what they learn and supporting fellow teachers in their communities, while education officials help strengthen and sustain these efforts across the province.

We believe this approach has the potential to create a much wider and more sustainable impact, and we are excited to see how it develops over the next two years.

The first CLIP4 workshop 👩‍🏫✨

Only one week after the kick-off meeting, we held the first CLIP4 workshop.

With Khmer New Year approaching in April, the theme of this workshop was Khmer tradition and culture. We introduced teachers to a variety of resources from our Happy Khmer New Year collection as well as activities and teaching materials connected to our storybook The Children's Village Orchestra. Teachers also explored the Rermork.org resource website and learned how to access materials they could use in their own classrooms.

As always, we wanted the workshop to be highly practical. Teachers spent much of the day actively participating rather than simply listening. Together they explored storytelling techniques, traditional games, music activities, movement and balance exercises, classroom resources, and hands-on materials that celebrate Khmer culture while supporting children's creativity and development.

The workshop also included a special contribution from Teacher Robin, who was visiting from the USA. Teacher Robin shared her original story, Five Monkeys and the Banana Tree, along with a fun puppet show that demonstrated engaging ways to bring stories to life in the classroom. She also introduced the concept of Positive Affirmations, which sparked great interest among the teachers. We will share more about Teacher Robin's visit and her contributions later in this newsletter.

One of the highlights was seeing both experienced CLIP teachers and new participants learning together. Former CLIP teachers naturally stepped into mentoring roles, sharing ideas and supporting newer teachers during activities. This is exactly the kind of teacher leadership we hope to foster throughout CLIP4.

The atmosphere throughout the workshop was energetic and positive. Teachers asked thoughtful questions, exchanged ideas enthusiastically, and showed great motivation to bring new approaches back to their classrooms.

Seeing their excitement reminded us why we started this project in the first place.

Taking CLIP4 into the Technical Meetings 🚗

One of the most exciting parts of CLIP4 so far has been our Technical Meeting visits.

Unlike previous projects, where our follow-up visits focused mainly on individual schools, CLIP4 brings us directly into teacher communities. Throughout Pursat Province, preschool teachers gather twice each month in Technical Meetings to exchange ideas, solve problems together, and support each other's professional growth.

Since March, we have already completed 7 of our 9 planned Technical Meeting visits.

These visits have been incredibly meaningful for our team because they allow us to meet many teachers beyond the official CLIP4 participants. Instead of TukTuk staff leading the sessions, our CLIP4 leader teachers take the lead while we provide support and encouragement behind the scenes.

What has impressed us most is the enthusiasm of the teachers we have met. Many participants had never encountered some of the teaching materials and activities before, yet they immediately became engaged, asking questions, sharing their own ideas, and discussing how they could adapt activities for their own classrooms.

We have also seen experienced CLIP teachers helping other teachers learn new techniques and improve activities. Watching teachers learn from one another rather than relying solely on outside trainers has been incredibly encouraging.

Another important difference in CLIP4 is how project resources are being used. Instead of providing equipment directly to individual schools, we are supporting Technical Meetings with materials and resources that can benefit entire teacher communities. We hope this approach will create a much wider ripple effect across the province.

Although this model is still new for us, the results so far have been very promising. Every visit strengthens our belief that teacher networks are one of the most powerful ways to improve early childhood education.

We are excited to continue learning alongside these teachers and to see how their leadership grows over the coming months.

Khmer of the month

Khmer Word: Chong klai jea avei? (What do you want to be?)

June 1st is International Children's Day. In Cambodia, adults often ask children, "Chong klai jea avei?" to encourage them to think about their dreams and future. Whether they want to be a teacher, doctor, or something else, every dream starts with imagination and support. 🌱

Khmer Food: Nom Banh Chhay Nuek (Bean-Filled Rice Dumplings in Coconut Milk) 👇

A film crew visits from Australia! 🎥🇦🇺

In February, we were delighted to welcome two special visitors from Australia: David and Gordon.

The pair travelled to Cambodia to film Sala Rean Sabey, our online educational show for young children, families, and teachers. During their visit, they spent most of their time filming in the studio, working closely with our TukTuk team members Fy and Choven to create content for several upcoming episodes.

One of the highlights of this filming trip was seeing Fy and Choven step in front of the camera. Both did an amazing job acting in various scenes and brought great energy, creativity, and humour to the production. It was exciting to watch them take on new challenges and help bring the show to life.

The filming sessions were busy and productive, and we are looking forward to seeing the finished episodes. Although the editing process is still underway, we are already excited about what is coming next. We're excited that David is planning another visit in July to continue filming.

We would like to thank David and Gordon for their continued dedication, generosity, and enthusiasm. We also want to congratulate Fy and Choven on their fantastic performances. We cannot wait to share the finished videos with all of you.

Welcoming Teacher Robin back to TukTuk ❤️

This spring, we had the pleasure of welcoming Teacher Robin back to TukTuk for her second visit since 2019.

From the moment she arrived, Teacher Robin brought incredible energy, generosity, and inspiration to everyone she met. Her visit combined fundraising, teacher development, and direct support for local schools, making a meaningful impact in many different ways.

We are especially grateful for Teacher Robin's fundraising efforts on behalf of TukTuk. Through the support of Kiwanis Clubs and many generous donors who joined her fundraising campaign, she helped raise important resources that will support our future activities. Thank you to everyone who contributed.

Teacher Robin also shared her original story which she wrote especially for TukTuk, "Five Monkeys and the Banana Tree," with our teachers during Workshop 2. Using the story as a foundation, she demonstrated engaging storytelling techniques and puppet shows that immediately captured teachers' attention and imagination.

Another highlight was her introduction of Positive Affirmations. Teachers were deeply impressed by this approach and quickly began discussing how they could use positive language to build children's confidence, emotional wellbeing, and sense of belonging.

In addition, Teacher Robin supported three community schools by providing much-needed educational materials and encouraging teachers as they explored ways to incorporate Positive Affirmations into daily classroom life.

Wherever she went, Teacher Robin's warmth, enthusiasm, and genuine care for children inspired everyone around her. Teachers, students, school leaders, and TukTuk staff all benefited from her visit.

Thank you, Teacher Robin, for your friendship, generosity, and continued belief in the work we do.

Building wellbeing at TukTuk 🌱

At TukTuk, we believe that supporting children starts with supporting the people who work with them. Over the past year, we have been strengthening staff wellbeing with the support of our voluntuker and wellbeing coach, Cerrie.

With Cerrie's guidance, we have introduced a range of initiatives to create a healthier, happier, and more supportive workplace. These include daily Huddle Meetings, weekly one-on-one meetings with Mayu, monthly Highlight Review Meetings, Friday Café Breaks, and Wednesday Wellbeing Sessions featuring activities such as sports, yoga, dancing, and stretching.

These simple but meaningful practices help staff stay connected, focused, and refreshed. We have already seen positive improvements in communication, teamwork, and overall wellbeing across the organisation.

We are incredibly grateful to Cerrie for the time, energy, and expertise she has shared with us. Her support has helped us move closer to a goal that is central to TukTuk's values: creating a workplace where people want to be, not somewhere they simply have to be.

Thank you, Cerrie, for helping us build a stronger, healthier, and happier TukTuk team. 💚

Voluntuker spotlight | Gordon

This issue, we're pleased to introduce Gordon from Australia. Gordon visited Pursat with David Tucker to help film new episodes of Sala Rean Sabey. With a background in e-learning and a passion for education, Gordon quickly connected with TukTuk's vision. We asked him about his work, his time in Pursat, and his impressions of the TukTuk team.

What do you do for work? I've worked in e-learning development for over 30 years. Alongside creating training courses for corporate clients, I developed a system that allowed people to build their own courses without programming skills—something that feels a bit like AI before AI!

What made you volunteer with TukTuk? My friend and filmmaker David Tucker introduced me to TukTuk. Having previously worked on an early childhood literacy project in Tonga, I immediately connected with TukTuk's vision and was excited to contribute.

What do you do for TukTuk? I support the TukTuk leadership team through discussions and ideas, and I've also helped film several episodes of Sala Rean Sabey.

What was your impression of Pursat? I really enjoyed my time in Pursat. The people were friendly, the lifestyle was relaxed, and the food was fantastic. I was also pleasantly surprised by how affordable everything was compared to Australia!

What was your impression of the TukTuk Team? The team was incredibly welcoming and dedicated. I especially enjoyed seeing the strong friendships and positive energy between everyone, particularly the Sala Rean Sabey hosts.

A big thank you to Gordon for sharing his time, skills, and enthusiasm with TukTuk. We are grateful for his support in bringing Sala Rean Sabey to life and look forward to welcoming him back to Pursat again in the future! 😊

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

• Google Ads
• Fundraising
• Website Development
• Videographer

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). 😉

Get Involved ⇢

Tuktography highlights 📸