Miss Clarke's Adventures

Well, I survived!  Spending a week, deep in the heart of the Bornean jungle, was a thoroughly enjoyable, unique and fascinating experience.

Our journey to Batang Ai National Park began with a six hour mini-bus drive.  This was then followed by a thrilling long boat ride which lasted almost three hours!  It was such a long (and bottom numbing) journey as the water levels were very low.  Therefore, the boatmen had to frequently jump out and literally drag the boat over stones and even huge logs – it was quite an experience!  However, after the nine hour journey we finally arrived at our base for the week – a traditional longhouse.

Longhouses are the traditional homes of the Iban tribe.  They are gigantic wooden structures which are built on stilts.  Several families (usually over 30 people) live under one roof with separate rooms leading on to one communal veranda.  Visitors must always enter a longhouse via a steep wooden ladder at the front of the house.  The longhouses are usually situated on the banks of fast floating rivers which the Iban people use as their ‘highway’ for travelling.

Each day, following a HUGE breakfast cooked by our guide, we set out on a trek.  All trails begin with a steep climb away from the river which quickly takes you deep into the unspoilt tropical rain forest.  Although it was very humid, it wasn’t unbearably hot as we were always sheltered by the dense jungle canopy.  Walking through the rain forest was truly awe inspiring.  The only sounds we could hear were the cicadas buzzing and the occasional call of the rare Argus pheasant.  However, we had to stop frequently to check our hiking boots for leeches – we didn’t want any of them sucking our blood!

Despite doing several treks through the jungle, we were not fortunate enough to see wild orangutans. However, our local guides did spot many signs to suggest they were in the vicinity.  Signs included: broken branches; half eaten wild fruits and fresh orangutan nests in the tree tops.

As well as trekking each day we also participated in other activities. We were taught how to weave using rattan and I managed to successfully weave a mat and a basket!  We also went swimming in pools below a gushing waterfall which was exhilarating to say the least!  In addition, we  planted jack fruit trees.  In order to identify the trees we planted, we had to carve our names in wooden sign posts.  Hopefully I will be able to return to Batang Ai in six years time to see the tree providing fruit for the local orangutan population!

Although I must admit that I was a little apprehensive about spending a week in the jungle, almost completely isolated from civilisation, I thoroughly enjoyed my time there.  However, I have the utmost admiration and respect for the Iban people and their way of life.  I’m quite certain that I would struggle to live in such a remote area without access to a television, computer, telephone, washing machine etc. It was a fabulous experience but a week was long enough!

Greetings from Sarawak, Borneo!

Currently, I am on a tour of the state of Sarawak in Malaysian Borneo.  After spending the last two months in extremely hectic and noisy cities, it is wonderful to swap the sound of blaring car horns and speeding motorbikes for the gentle humming of cicadas in the jungle!

My first port of call in Sarawak was at Matang Wildlife Centre.  The principle aim of Matang Wildlife Centre is to rehabilitate injured or orphaned orangutans and release them back into the jungle.  However, this is an immensely difficult and time consuming process as some of the rescued orangutans have been kept as pets since they were babies.

Whilst staying at Matang, I worked as an orangutan keeper!  My day began at 8 am when I had to thoroughly clean the orangutans’ night dens.  Sweeping the rubbish; hosing the den; then scrubbing it clean with disinfectant before giving it a final hose down was tiring work.  However, I loved every second as all the time I was being watched by the orangutans!  Each one would come right up to the enclosure and watch me intently!  Aman, a dominant male orangutan, watched me particularly carefully – probably making sure that I didn’t miss a spot!  Peter, another large male orangutan, also watched me with great interest and would often reach out to try and touch me.  Therefore, I had to be very careful as although orangutans are absolutely adorable and look quite gentle, they are exceptionally strong.  Without intending to hurt you even a young orangutan can inflict a serious injury!

After cleaning the enclosures, I would scatter an assortment of fruit around.  I would always try to hide the food so that the orangutans would have to use their brains a little to find the food.  It may sound like a very simple trick but these tiny gestures are all vital in the rehabilitation process.  Another way of encouraging these intelligent creatures to use their brains is to put small food items into a giant ball!  I stuffed nuts, sunflower seeds, dates and raisins into a huge ball (like a bowling ball).  The ball only had small holes drilled in it so the orangutan had to try and figure out how to extract the food items. It was fascinating to watch the orangutans and it made me appreciate just how intelligent and human like these  beautiful animals are.

One of my favourite orangutans was Ali who is just over a year old.  He is taken to the jungle twice a day by his keeper, Sandy.  During this time, Sandy does exercises and activities with Ali to try and re-introduce him to the jungle and encourage him to find food and live independently.  It’s a long process but Ali is doing well and hopefully he’ll soon be released into the wild where he belongs.

I thoroughly enjoyed my experience of looking after orangutans and I will certainly consider returning to Matang Wildlife Centre in the future to carry out more voluntary work.  However, for now I’m off to the jungle to try and spot wild orangutans! I’ll write again soon once I’m back from the jungle!

Love from,

Miss Clarke x

Last Friday myself and another volunteer, Danny, took the children and staff from CCOLT to Phnom Penh Water Park.  All thirty-seven of us travelled there on the back of a truck!  It was such an unique experience, I was giggling all the way!  There were no checks to ensure that everyone had their seatbelts on because there were none! We all stood up, in the pouring rain, for the twenty minute journey – it was great fun!

Once we had arrived at the water park, the children wasted no time at all and, without bothering with changing rooms, quickly stripped off to their underwear!  They all ran off and were soon splashing about in the water and happily throwing themselves down the slides.  The children spent over two hours excitedly playing and swimming.  It was wonderful to see the children having so much fun, they were delighted to be at the water park.

This trip was so unlike any other school trip I have ever been on but the children had a truly wonderful time and the visit was a great success!  I will try to upload photographs of the trip as soon as possible so that you can see our unusual mode of transport!

I hope you have a wonderful half term holiday.

Love from, Miss Clarke x

On Wednesday evening, myself and another volunteer went out for dinner with the Cambodian staff who work at CCOLT.  We went to a lovely restaurant which is very popular with local people.  We were treated to a delicious traditional meal which was quite different to other meals I have eaten while I’ve been living in Phnom Penh.

At the start of the meal we were presented with a large basket of raw vegetables such as carrots, cabbage, green peppers, courgettes and cucumbers.  We were then given tiny ceramic dishes in which we were told to blend fresh chilies, lemon grass, chopped nuts and fish sauce to create a paste.  The idea was to dip the raw vegetables into this flavoursome paste.

While we were eating the vegetables, the waitresses kept bringing us tender pieces of steak to share which had been cooked on the barbecue next to our table.  After eating quite a lot of steak we were then brought a whole fish to share.  To accompany the fish, we were given yet more tasty sauces in tiny ceramic dishes.  Although I have eaten a great number of Khmer curries since living here I hadn’t eaten anything like this before so it was a real treat to eat a traditional Cambodian meal with our friends from CCOLT.  Both Danny and I had a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

This afternoon Danny and I are taking the thirty children who live at CCOLT to a water park!  As it is currently around 33 degrees here, swimming will be a fun way to keep cool! After my afternoon of fun, I’m taking a night bus to Siem Reap where I’ll spend the weekend exploring the famous temples of Angkor Wat.  I’ll let you know all about my visit next week.

Have a great weekend!

Love from,

Miss Clarke x

Greetings from Cambodia!

Hello!

I am currently living and working in Phnom Penh (the capital of Cambodia) where I am teaching children from very poor families.  Each day, I travel fifteen minutes by motorbike taxi to a place called CCOLT (Cambodian Children’s Organisation for Learning and Training). CCOLT runs a shelter to offer a safe haven for children under threat, such as street children. Here they can live without fear of violence, thieves, gangs, rain or cold.  The centre also provides schooling and training for the children. 

 In Cambodia, children either go to school from 7am until 11am or from 1pm until 5pm.  The children change timetables on the first day of each month.  During October, the children that I teach attend school in the morning so I only work in the afternoon.  My day begins at 1pm when I teach a small class of university students.  Although the students are in their twenties and thirties, they speak very little English.  Therefore, I am teaching them very basic conversation skills.  We do a lot of role-play on a variety of everyday situations.  The second group of pupils that I teach range in age from eight to fourteen years.  Although I teach the elementary class, their level of English is very good.  They are a very energetic class; they always work incredibly hard and are very keen to learn.  However, there are many distractions at CCOLT as the centre is always so busy.  It is not unusual to be disturbed by sewing machines working in the next room; toddlers wandering into the class with balloons and the security guard’s radio playing lively Cambodian songs!  It’s all good fun though and I absolutely love working at CCOLT.

 The classroom has very few resources. It is made entirely of wooden planks and there are very few visual resources for the children to use. However, sitting at extremely old wooden desks that wobble all the time in a really hot classroom doesn’t seem to faze the students one bit as they are just so enthusiastic about learning English. 

 If you would like to know more about CCOLT please have a look at their website: www.colt-cambodia.org

Well, this is just a quick update as I have to prepare lessons for my classes this afternoon. I hope you’re all well and working hard at Aintree Davenhill.  I enjoyed hearing that Year Six had a great time at PGL.

I’ll aim to write again very soon and hopefully upload some photographs for you all to look at.

 Love from,

Miss Clarke x

Another weekend away from the busy city of Hanoi and this time it was to Halong Bay.

 Halong Bay is located in the north east of Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin and near the Chinese border. Ha Long Bay means ‘Bay of the Descending Dragon’ in the Vietnamese language. Legend has it that the islands of Halong Bay were created by a great dragon that lived in the mountains. As it charged towards the coast, its tail gouged out valleys and crevasses! When it finally plunged into the sea, the area filled with water, leaving only the mountain peaks visible.  The scenery is absolutely breath taking and I felt very privileged to spend the weekend sailing around the bay.

Throughout the weekend, I enjoyed a range of activities.  I was able to swim from the boat which was wonderful as the water was so warm.  I also enjoyed kayaking which was great fun!  In addition, we explored some of the numerous caves that are dotted around Halong Bay.  We were amazed by the magnificent stalagmites and stalactites that tower over you.  Our guide tried to point out images in the cave such as dragons and lions.  However, you needed a great deal of imagination to see these things!  All in all it was a wonderful weekend and I’m so pleased I was able to visit this spectacular place.

This will be my last blog from Vietnam as I leave here on Friday and travel to Phnom Penh in Cambodia.  I have had a thoroughly enjoyable time in Vietnam and I feel very lucky to have met so many wonderful people.  Working at a Vietnamese school has been both enjoyable and informative.  Once again, I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to experience working in a different school.

I’ll be in touch again soon and let you all know what life is like for me in Cambodia.

Love,

Miss Clarke x

Last Friday I left Hanoi for the weekend and travelled to the north-west of Vietnam to a beautiful town called Sapa which is located less than 40km from the Chinese border.

Leaving at 10pm on Friday night, I took the ‘Orient Express’ night train to Sapa.  I was so excited by the prospect as I’d never travelled on a sleeper train before!  I was pleasantly surprised by how comfortable the ‘beds’ were and how much sleep I actually got. 

We were gently awoken by the sound of Vietnamese music at 5:30am as we pulled into the station at Lao Cai.  Travelling by bus to Sapa was a wonderful experience as we climbed steeply into the mountains just as the sun was rising.

Shortly after arriving in Sapa, we set out on a walk to a tiny village called Cat Cat.  The village is home to an ethnic minority tribe called ‘Black H’Mong’.  The Black H’Mong people were all so friendly and very keen to show us many beautiful handmade items which included silver bracelets; ornaments carved from soap stone and delicately embroidered clothes.  After a look around the village, we continued our walk to a magnificent waterfall where we swam in the pools – it was exhilarating!  We then enjoyed a leisurely picnic before heading back to Sapa.

The following day we enjoyed another long trek.  Leaving Sapa very early, we took a jeep to the start of the walk.  Our hike began with an extremely steep and slippery descent into the valley.  The scenery was absolutely breathtaking with towering mountains, gushing waterfalls and a vibrant green and yellow patchwork quilt of fields.  We hiked through the many cascading rice terraces and watched in awe as the Black H’Mong people worked tirelessly in the heat of the day to harvest their crops (I shall view a plate of rice with much more appreciation from now on!).  Along the way we stumbled across a variety of farmyard animals including: pigs, hens, buffalo and ducks!  We also met lots of children playing carefree in the fields.

Late afternoon, we arrived at our accommodation which was actually the home of local people. They made us feel welcome and we very quickly felt like members of the family!  In the evening, we were treated to the most delicious banquet of local dishes which were so welcome after our long and tiring walk.  After dinner, we enjoyed playing cards with the other people staying at the house.  As there were people from so many different countries (Spain, The Netherlands, Germany, Australia, Vietnam and England) we all had different card games to share.  We had lots of fun learning the rules and playing all the different games.

Early the next morning, we continued our trek.  As it had rained very heavily during the night, the paths were treacherous at times!  Fortunately, a local Black H’Mong lady held my hand at the most dangerous points and prevented me from falling on my bottom!  Although it was exhausting trying not to slip all the time, I loved the walk and especially the parts where we wandered through the forests of bamboo.

After a thoroughly enjoyable and invigorating weekend of walking, it was time to bid farewell to the tranquility of Sapa and return, by night train, to the hustle and bustle of Hanoi.

Hanoi is a city that never sleeps!  The streets are alive with people selling their wares; eating at pavement cafes and chatting to friends from morning ‘til night.  Everywhere is bustling with activity by 6:30am each morning when people begin their day by eating a traditional breakfast of beef noodle soup (pho bo) at the local food stalls.

My day begins at 7:00am with a 10 minute walk down a chaotic street to catch the school bus.  The children love chatting to me and asking me questions as it gives them a chance to practise their English.  However, it’s only a very short journey to school, through the frantic rush hour traffic, before we arrive at Le Quy Don Primary School.

 Le Quy Don Primary School is a huge school situated in a new, rapidly developing area of Hanoi.  Over 1 000 pupils aged between 6 and 11 years old attend the school.  The school day begins at 8:00am and finishes at 4:00pm.  This seems like a long time but the children actually have two and a half hours for lunch!

 There are five lessons during the morning with only a short break at 9:30am.  A massive drum is beaten loudly to signal the start and end of break times.  At 11:15am the children finish for lunch.  They all eat school dinners which I have enjoyed eating too!  The meals are very healthy (which makes me happy) and usually consist of rice, vegetables, pork and tropical fruits.  After eating lunch, the children return to their classrooms for a sleep!  The children have their own pillows and mats which they lay out in the classroom.  The class teacher and the children all go to sleep for up to an hour and a half!  The English teachers, who do not have their own classes, sleep on mats on the staffroom floor.  Although, this felt a bit strange at first, it didn’t take me long to fall asleep on my first day and I really enjoyed my power nap!  There are only three lessons in the afternoon and the children have a break with a snack at 3pm.  The school day ends at 4pm when I take the school bus home with the children.

 I am enjoying teaching English in Vietnam because it is such a new and different experience for me but I really miss you all!  If you have any questions about school life in Vietnam, let me know via the website and I’ll try to answer them. I hope you are enjoying looking at the photos that I put on the Phanfare site.  I will write again soon!

 Love from,

Miss Clarke xx

Schools’ Opening Ceremonies

Every September it is traditional in Vietnam for each school to hold an opening ceremony to welcome the start of a new academic year.  During the last two days I have been extremely lucky to attend the opening ceremonies at two very different schools in Hanoi.

On Friday afternoon I attended the opening ceremony at a centre for children with special educational needs.  This was a lovely experience because the children were very excited to see us and they made us feel very welcome.  A number of the children sang songs and performed a role play for all the parents and special guests to enjoy.  After that, the head teacher and a number of other people made speeches. Unfortunately, the speeches were in Vietnamese so I didn’t really understand what was being said!  However, I think the visitors were  probably wishing the children and staff a happy and successful year at school. The final part of the ceremony involved the head teacher banging a very large drum!  This is traditional in Vietnam and signifies the official start of the new school year.  I really enjoyed seeing this opening ceremony as it is so important to the Vietnamese people and very much part of their culture.

It was an early start for me on Saturday morning as the opening ceremony at Le Quy Don Primary School began at 08:00 (before it was too hot)!  It is traditional to buy flowers to present to the school, therefore, on the way I stopped off to buy a beautiful bouquet of orchids, lilies and other tropical flowers.  This ceremony also began with the children performing a variety of songs and dances. The costumes were very bright and colourful and the children looked really happy and excited to be on stage.  After the children had performed, we all had to stand for the Vietnamese national anthem.  Following that, the principal and a number of important guests made speeches (again naturally in Vietnamese).  Towards the end of the ceremony, a drum was beaten and the staff released lots of balloons into the sky.  It was a real spectacle and everyone looked incredibly proud to be part of the ceremony.

I am really enjoying living in Hanoi and being part of this society which is very different to England.  I have eaten lots of different foods and  I am trying to learn some Vietnamese so I can communicate with local people.  However, I’m thinking about you all and I hope you are enjoying being back at school after the holidays.

With love from,

Miss Clarke xx

Leaving Sri Lanka on Monday night was quite sad for me as I had met so many friendly and inspirational people during my stay.  I thoroughly enjoyed the month that I spent there and really love Sri Lanka and its people.  However, I was also very excited to be moving on to my next destination – Vietnam.

After two relatively short flights, I was met at Noi Bai International Airport (Hanoi) by a Vietnamese man called Peter who supports LFC! Throughout the journey to my accommodation, he was very keen to talk to me about football and specifically Steven Gerrard!

Soon after arriving at the apartment, I was taken on a tour of the neighbourhood.  I am currently living in the Mai Dich district of Hanoi which is a very busy area approximately 6km west of the city centre.  There are many cafes, food stalls and markets near by and the local people are extremely friendly.

On Tuesday evening, myself and the other volunteers went out with some local people to a nearby food stall.  I tried a local dish called ‘comrang’ (fried rice with beef) which  was absolutely delicious and only cost 15 000 dong (about 50p)!  Living in Vietnam makes you feel like a multi-millionaire!

Wednesday 2 September – a bank holiday in Vietnam.  The former leader, Ho Chi Minh, declared independence from France and Japan on 2 September 1945, therefore, Vietnamese people celebrate this day every year with a holiday.  I began my day in a local café, drinking a Vietnamese speciality coffee called ‘ca phe sua nong’.  This is a very strong coffee sweetened with condensed milk – it’s absolutely delicious!

After lunch, myself and the other volunteers travelled into the centre of Hanoi  to visit a museum.  Unfortunately, the museums were closed but we enjoyed walking in the park and eating ice cream with the local people who were enjoying their holiday.

In the evening, we joined the locals in their celebrations for Independence Day.  There were a number of stages located around the city on which artists performed different acts.  We spent some time watching a spectacular dance routine and acrobats performing daring stunts.  The atmosphere was electric and we really enjoyed being part of the celebrations.

Today (Thursday 3^rd September) I spent the morning learning basic Vietnamese!  The language is very difficult to learn as you have to make sure you use the correct pitch. If your voice is too high or too low, the word can mean something completely different!  However, I had great fun and learned a few basic words!

I am visiting Le Quy Don Primary School tomorrow so I shall let you know what it is like and how it compares to Aintree Davenhill very soon.

I would just like to wish everyone at school a very happy and successful term.  I will be thinking about you all of the time.

Love from,

Miss Clarke xx