November 29, 2007

Doris Dillon School in Cambodia is 80 percent complete

By Jeanne C. Carbone
Staff Writer

Doris Dillon received many awards during her lifetime and was recently honored when the Almaden Branch named its children’s library after her. The noted educator died of ALS in 2001, but her inspiration lives on—and now spans the globe.

Khmer literature teacher Chhun Veasna talks to the 116 students who will attend the Doris Dillon School. Photos courtesy of Jim DeLong.

The Doris Dillon School in the province of Kampot, Cambodia is almost complete, bringing the educator worldwide awareness for her contributions to education. School donors are the Bret Harte Middle School and the Almaden Community, but it started with teacher Jim DeLong, who just returned from a two-week visit to Cambodia to monitor the progress of the Doris Dillon School.

DeLong and his wife Denise were personal friends of Dillon. He read about Cambodian schools being built in conjunction with donors and the Amer-ican Assistance for Cam-bodia on New Year’s Day 2007. Six months later, with the help of Bret Harte’s Invisible Issues Club and Almaden community donations, the Doris Dillon School broke ground in Cambodia.

“I’d like to thank you all for the efforts you’ve made to turn this project into a real school that will give students the opportunity to realize a better future for themselves, their community and their country,” said DeLong, who teaches eighth- grade language arts at Bret Harte.

He reports the current completion of the five-room Cambodian Doris Dillon School in the district of Banteay Meas in the province of Kampot is 80 percent complete. The wood and brick framing is ready for an outer coating of stucco. The school will provide education for ninth through 12th graders.

As the school year has started, 116 students who have entered their first year started at a nearby elementary school with the assistance of director Bul Vann. He provided three rooms until the Doris Dillon School officially opens.

Cambodian children are eager to learn and excited about computers.

DeLong met with the students on his recent visit and asked how they would use their education to better their lives.

“My name is Om Bunna, 14F [14-years-old, female],” wrote Bunna in English. “I live at Sangke Duoch village, Sdech Kong Khang Tbong commune, Banteay Mease District and Kampot Province. I would like to become a nurse because what I want is to treat the people who get sick and want them to recover from sickness.”

Accompanying DeLong on his recent visit was Hem So Vicheth, American Assistance for Cambodia (AAfC) program officer and liaison for the Doris Dillon School. He acted as a translator and guide. The two men met with Ros San Nang, who is the Kampot district director of planning.

Together the three announced staff hires. The school’s director Mey Choun will also teach agriculture part time. Other teachers include Khmer literature teacher Chhun Veasna, Ten Sopheap instructing geography and physics, Say Boren will teach math, and Chheang Pros will instruct students in history and geography. AAfC is presently hiring teachers to supplement the government’s curriculum with classes in English and computers.

AAfC is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to providing opportunities for the youth and poor in rural Cambodia. It operates interlinked programs across Cambodia in the areas of education, health, rural development and technology.

American journalist Bernie Krisher, the former head of the Newsweek and Fortune Tokyo bureaus, founded the group in 1993. After reporting on Asia for many years, he returned to Cambodia to found The Cambodia Daily, Cambodia's first English language daily newspaper, which he continues to publish today. The Cambodia Daily is an independent entity that does not solicit nor accept funding. Krisher also established media-related projects such as journalism training and a media library.

Jim DeLong’s meetings were held outside near the Doris Dillon School where he received coconuts for refreshments. He appears here with director Bul Van, left, geography and history teacher Teu Sopheap, the province’s educational chief of planning Ros Nang, Doris Dillon School director Mey Choun and Keo Din, a retired first grade teacher. Photos courtesy of Jim DeLong.

In the late 1990s, AAfC expanded its work to help improve the lives of Cambodians in other areas. Bernie set up a computer-training center at the Future Light Orphanage and built the Sihanouk Hospital-Center of Hope. In 1999, AAfC began its Rural Schools Project, which allows private donors to build a rural school with matching funds. More than 300 schools have been built in rural Cambodia, many of which are equipped with computers and have Internet access.

Today, most of AAfC’s programs are interlinked and dependent on their network of schools, teachers and Internet connections throughout rural Cambodia. AAfC continues to work on implementing innovative programs to help Cambodia's youth and rural poor. The Doris Dillon School is the 347th school built.

On DeLong’s recent Cambodian trip, he asked AAfC founder Krisher to visit the most advanced AAfC School built or in the process of being built.

“He stated without hesitation that I should visit the Nicholas and Elaine Negroponte [he is founder and chairman of MIT's media lab as well as One Laptop Per Child] School in the remote northern village of Reaksmy,” said DeLong. “I met with Elaine and watched a roomful of kids as young as [age] 4 play intuitively with the school’s laptops. Most had been there all day—school was not even in session.”

DeLong “played” with one of the first 20 computers from the “One Laptop Per Child [OLPC]” program and was sold on the technology for two reasons; it does not need electricity, which is unavailable in the remote Cambodian villages and its “self-teaching design,” allowing students to learn without instruction. He said he would like to equip the Doris Dillon School with the OLPC “Give One, Get One” promotion available online at
www.laptopgiving.org with designated shipping to AAfC c/o The Doris Dillon School #347.

The Doris Dillon School in the district of Banteay Meas in the province of Kampot, Cambodia is over 80 percent completed.

DeLong has also received the Doris Dillon School inauguration schedule for March 21-30, which coincides with Bret Harte’s spring break. He is inviting the Almaden community to celebrate and visit the school in Cambodia. He also is requesting chaperones for students who will visit the temples at Angkor Wat.

DeLong’s recent visit included adventures as varied as lunch with King Father Sihanouk and the Queen Mother to visiting Aki Ra’s new land mine museum and to eating tarantulas from Skuon.

“I hope that you continue to help ensure the ongoing success of the work we’ve all begun,” said DeLong. “Thank you again for your past help and for any help you give to help these young adults discover a better future for themselves, their community and Cambodia. Children really are our future.”

For more information regarding AAfC, visit www.cambodianschools.com. For more information on the “Give One, Get One” laptop program visit www.laptopgiving.org.