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Bellingham Helps Build Cambodian School: Assumption Catholic School Leads Project

Posted on: Monday, 27 March 2006, 09:00 CST

By Michelle Theriault, The Bellingham Herald, Bellingham, Wash.

Mar. 27--In January, 11 Whatcom County residents - including three young Assumption School students - traveled to Cambodia to dedicate a school named after the donor city that made it possible: Bellingham Community School.

The Assumption School headed up the project. The school, located in the village of Pnomh Dek, has five teachers and 130 students.

We spoke to the people who were there as the school was dedicated about the journey and their plans to stay connected.

What they did: Built a school in the small village of Pnomh Dek, Cambodia, and visited to attend the dedication.

Why: "The message we got from Cambodians was that the landmines, disease, poverty those are all problems, but they all said education is the number one problem," sponsor Hamilton Hayes says.

How they did it: The school fundraised for over a year to raise more than $17,000. "Donations came from individuals, through a silent auction in Fairhaven in cooperation with the Fairhaven Merchants Association, and from the efforts of the students, teachers and parents of Assumption School," says organizer Yvonne Dean.

Who went: Eleven Assumption School community members, including three students - 14-year-old Samantha Bills of Ferndale, brothers 13-year-old Justin VonFeldt and 11-year-old Tyler VonFeldt of Bellingham and their families, along with other parent volunteers.

Impressions: Seeing the poverty in Cambodia was eye opening for the young travelers. "It made me think that we are very lucky," says Tyler.

What was it like? "The students really reacted very well," to the rigors of traveling in Cambodia, Hayes says. The only sticking point was the food - "the kids really would have preferred to have hamburgers" to spicy Cambodian cuisine, Hayes says.

What did they learn? Tyler was surprised to see kids younger than him selling postcards, scarves and fruit at the heavily tourist-visited Angkor Wat temples in Siem Riep. "People always live with what they have, and people make the most of what they have," says Justin. The students also wrapped gifts of school supplies to give to the Cambodian students, and taught them the joys of tic-tac-toe.

Keeping in touch: The Assumption Catholic School students are doing so through an innovative program that allows rural villages with no communications infrastructure to use the Internet and e-mail.

A "motoman" on a specially equipped motorbike drives through the village, and his onboard satellite uplink system allows for e-mails to be downloaded. Hayes says that keeping in touch with the Pnomh Dek children is part of the school's "sustaining commitment" to the new Bellingham Community School.

Future projects: "The village had planted new trees for future shade and there is no well to provide water, so it is necessary to bring it from a distance to keep them growing," Dean says.

"We would like to provide funds to dig a well ($450). One computer is not really enough for 130 students, and Intel will provide new computers for $450 each. And most importantly, we want to continue to pay for a computer and English teacher," she adds.

To find out more about the Bellingham Community School in Pnomh Dek, call Hamilton Hayes at 756-8060.

Reach Michelle Theriault at 756-2803 or michelle.theriault@bellinghamherald.com.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Bellingham Herald, Bellingham, Wash.

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Source: The Bellingham Herald, Wash.

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