We were taken to a so called elementary school for local kids. Before the school visit, we were stopped at a shop and the store staff suggested us to buy the goods (rice or water, noodles, whatever at the store) to give to the school/kids. The store staff politely said that it would be very kind of us to help the kids at the school and our money paid will be directly going to the charity to help the community. He sensed our poor interest in purchasing, he stressed a few times 'donate by your good heart'. We still declined at the end and the salesman said "it's ok, we have many good people who will donate". My question is how they manage the money. The process is not very transparent, that concerns me, I don't think a buyer would get a receipt or any kind of proof for donation.
Why did we feel uneasy to buy and give the things to the school? OK, there are probably 4-5 rooms. Two rooms look like open houses with a few simple kitchen stuffs. The guide told us the school cook for the students and sometimes they could sleep over. Another 2-3 rooms are the classrooms, a few young kids sitting there, laughing or doing nothing, all in school uniform though. There is this only 'volunteer' teacher standing at the hallway greeting us, not teaching. I asked why no teaching now, the volunteer teacher simply said it's the break time. The math formula/English sentences is neatly written on the blackboard, seemly stay there forever, hardly see traces of wiping and writing. The blackboard looks so fresh, apparently is not in frequent use. All what we saw brings us a feeling of being cheated. It's like a fake elementary school, a set plot, open to the foreign tourists to 'watch'. I just feel someone is using the kids to make money. Probably the kids could really go to a school but instead are brought here to study nothing. I don't know if my guess is right but looking at them, we prefer to donate to the organization such as NGO directly.
We did not stay long at the school and the boat driver asked if we were interested in kayaking at the mangrove, $20/p. I was what? I did not plan this, and it's expensive. I declined his offer and told him I'd done it before in Thailand, even much prettier, all I wanted to see was the real life of the floating village. On the water way coming, we already passed by and saw some floating homes, water taxi, police station, grocery stores, the church, and schools (I think these are real ones but we probably are not allowed to bother or interrupt them), the boat driver felt nothing left to see, so we were taken back for tuk tuk to hotel. It's only about 45 mins-1 hour visit at Tonle Sap lake.
The boat driver was a young guy, very enthusiastic at talking, introducing, letting me operate the boat until I rejected the donation and the mangrove ride. He became unusually quiet with a sad face. When I got off the boat, I told him what I felt but tipped him $5 for his kindness to let me drive the boat.
Why did we feel uneasy to buy and give the things to the school? OK, there are probably 4-5 rooms. Two rooms look like open houses with a few simple kitchen stuffs. The guide told us the school cook for the students and sometimes they could sleep over. Another 2-3 rooms are the classrooms, a few young kids sitting there, laughing or doing nothing, all in school uniform though. There is this only 'volunteer' teacher standing at the hallway greeting us, not teaching. I asked why no teaching now, the volunteer teacher simply said it's the break time. The math formula/English sentences is neatly written on the blackboard, seemly stay there forever, hardly see traces of wiping and writing. The blackboard looks so fresh, apparently is not in frequent use. All what we saw brings us a feeling of being cheated. It's like a fake elementary school, a set plot, open to the foreign tourists to 'watch'. I just feel someone is using the kids to make money. Probably the kids could really go to a school but instead are brought here to study nothing. I don't know if my guess is right but looking at them, we prefer to donate to the organization such as NGO directly.
We did not stay long at the school and the boat driver asked if we were interested in kayaking at the mangrove, $20/p. I was what? I did not plan this, and it's expensive. I declined his offer and told him I'd done it before in Thailand, even much prettier, all I wanted to see was the real life of the floating village. On the water way coming, we already passed by and saw some floating homes, water taxi, police station, grocery stores, the church, and schools (I think these are real ones but we probably are not allowed to bother or interrupt them), the boat driver felt nothing left to see, so we were taken back for tuk tuk to hotel. It's only about 45 mins-1 hour visit at Tonle Sap lake.
The boat driver was a young guy, very enthusiastic at talking, introducing, letting me operate the boat until I rejected the donation and the mangrove ride. He became unusually quiet with a sad face. When I got off the boat, I told him what I felt but tipped him $5 for his kindness to let me drive the boat.
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