Many people dream about doing something useful and different with their life and Hazel Bennett, who lives in Arona, has done just that. Here she tells readers about how she took time out from our lovely island to undertake voluntary teaching in Cambodia and how you could do the same.

I have been a teacher for 37 years but few terms have been more enjoyable and satisfying than 

last autumn which I spent in Cambodia. For the teacher who likes an enthusiastic class and can manage happily without a mountain of needless paperwork, this was a dream job.  

As this was a voluntary job, it was not necessary to be a qualified or experienced teacher. Enthusiasm for helping students and understanding of their needs are suitable substitutes This is a great opportunity for graduates who have just come out of college and want some experience, people who are between jobs, looking for a refreshing change of routine or retired. 

Graham, my husband, a retired lawyer and I taught for three months in the Learn4Life School. It is a charity organisation, in the heart of the buzzing town of Siem Reap. It is situated by the busy 

night market and near Pub Street, the centre of the town’s night life.

The school offers students the opportunity to attend a daily one-hour lesson, from Monday to Friday, for $5 per month.

Volunteers sign up for one term of eleven weeks and some enjoy it so much that some, like my husband, return for another term.

All of the volunteers are provided with a comfortable ensuite bedroom in the school and given three meals a day in return for teaching four one-hour lessons per day. The Khmer cook provided us with delicious meals and was willing to prepare European if it was not too expensive. 

The school gives some induction to enable students to understand the local culture. For example, you have to appreciate that they have jobs which take precedence over school, so you must not object to them missing lessons if they have to work. Many classes include a Buddhist monk. They are strictly forbidden to touch  women, so you may not even shake hands with them. 

The school has a curriculum with textbooks, workbooks and CDs to guide the teacher through a scheme of work which is easy to follow. 

In the Khmer schools, as children, they had a very formal education. They are used to sitting quietly listening to the teacher. Lessons which are fun with games and speaking activities are new to them but in time they joined in enthusiastically. It takes time and patience to draw them out of their shells but when you do, it is most satisfying to see the improvement in their competence and self-confidence. We quickly built up a rapport with our students, most of whom were in their teens and twenties. They were friendly, grateful for our help and respectful towards others. 

Cambodia is a beautiful country with summer all year round. The Khmer people have had to struggle hard to come to terms with their dreadful experiences in 1975, to rebuild their country. With a young population and in many cases a wage of a few dollars per day and no welfare state, there is tremendous pressure on young and old alike to work hard just to earn a basic living. 

Much of the country’s economy is built on their tourist industry and so learning to speak English greatly improves their chances of creating a more comfortable life.Most students are in their late teens, twenties and thirties. The Khmer people are friendly, grateful for teachers’ help and respectful towards them. 

What else can you do in Siem Reap?    When the four hours of teaching and another hour of marking and lesson preparation  is complete, volunteers can spend the rest of the day in glorious sunshine, enjoying the town’s culture. A short ride in a tuk-tuk, an open-air rickshaw drawn by a motorbike, takes you to Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom, to the magnificent Buddhist and Hindu temples, beautifully preserved for centuries. 

It is safe for women to walk around at night so if  you enjoy the business of haggling and bargaining, the bustling night market is packed with local crafts, jewellery, art-work and clothing all at prices which are low to the European.  Visitors love the open-air pedicures, manicures and massages. 

The centre of Siem Reap is packed with restaurants of every type where delicious meals of many different cultures and drinks can be bought for a few dollars. Lager costs 50 cents per half litre. Some of the better restaurants include a colourful display of Khmer singing and dancing while you eat.

Outside the town is a Cultural Village set in a pleasant rural environment, with entertaining displays of Khmer singing and dancing. It is a treat not to be missed. You will probably run into a few of your students working there. A visit to the silk farm is another interesting outing. You can be guided round the farm and see every stage of the process from silk worms hatching out of their eggs and feeding on mulberry leaves, to watching them come out of their cocoon to seeing the silk being removed form it and spun into yarn. The silk is then hand woven by skilled women and goods are sold to tourists in the factory shop. It is top quality and cheaper than it would be in UK.  At the weekend a trip to the floating villages of Tonle Sap makes and interesting day trip.

 A bank holiday week-end can be spent in one of the other towns such as Battambang to see the many pagodas, have a ride on the bamboo railway for fun and, less happily, a trip to the Killing Caves in the hills. There are cheap but comfortable coaches which can take you to visit Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh to see round the Royal Palace, and brace yourself for a visit to the Museums of Genocide and the Killing Fields. 

Anyone who would like to try this, can find out all about it on www.learn4lifecambodia.com