Tagged : SCC

Greetings, readers! Allow me to briefly introduce myself. I am the new SCC*F2F Basic Community Education volunteer, Vanessa. I will be living in Battambang, Cambodia until the fall of 2013, working as a Peace Corps volunteer. I live here in Battambang with a Cambodian host family, which is a great place for me to practice my language and learn about the culture. I also will be teaching at the Regional Teacher Training Center in Battambang, preparing English teacher trainees before they are released into the world as 7^th and 8^th grade English teachers.

In Cambodia, April brings many things. Apart from the stagnant, permeating heat, sweetly dense mangoes abound and the excitement of Khmer New Year is in the air. April also brought Tao’s transition out and my transition in. We celebrated Tao the best way we knew how: by having a phenomenal art workshop, a baby powder-balloon-musical chairs-party, and cake.

A major gift Tao brought was her ability to connect with people in the community and convince them to visit the center and share their work and skills with the youth. One such example is Tim Robertson. Tim lives in Phnom Penh with his family, and is a skilled and creative photographer. Tao attended a workshop of his and invited him to conduct the same workshop with some of the older students at the SCC*F2F Community Center. The workshop taught a fun and budget-friendly way to screen black and white photographs onto a painted surface, creating a very colorful and amazing visual affect.

The morning of Saturday, April 7^th opened with the workshop and closed with Tao’s goodbye celebration/tear fest. Tim impressed the youth with his vast Khmer knowledge (MUCH better than mine) and provided black and white printouts of their own photography to use. The craft ladies were very kind and let us use their tables as a work space.

Step One: Choose a photo. It was great watching the kids see their photos reproduced in black and white. There were also a couple photos of artwork the kids had drawn.

Step Two: Paint your background! Easily the most colorful and creative part of the process, a lot of the kids had fun experimenting with

colors and texture on their squares of cardboard, and of course, paint was not limited to the canvas, so to speak. I think it became very necessary for us to paint each other’s faces.

Step Three: Varnish! We kept this off each other’s faces, thankfully. The kids did a great job with the timing of this tricky step.

Step Four: Apply the photo. Once the varnish became tacky (not sticky!), the kids gently pressed their photo face down onto the lacquered surface of their squares.

Step Five: Acetone. Who knew nailpolish remover could be so versatile? Lightly applying acetone to the back of the picture helped bind the ink to the varnish. (I think…)

Step Six: Water is the universal solvent. The kids dipped their fingers into cups of water and then placed them on the paper. As they wet the paper, it started to crumble, and they had to gently wipe those crumbs off. The kids had the patience and skill this step needed, and they did a fantastic job!

We all worked pretty hard, so it was time for a lunch break. After the break, we reconvened with all the kids and volunteers at the center. Tao provided some cakes and Nika brought soda. The kids brought baby powder and balloons, which added a certain element to the party.

After the inevitable baby powder/balloon fight, we played a couple rounds of musical chairs, including a volunteer/teacher round, in which Tao took the victory. It was then time for Tao to play the slideshow she had made as a goodbye for the kids. She passed out individual photos with handwritten messages for each student. A lot of the students lingered around, finding it difficult  to say goodbye.

The next few weeks will definitely be a transitional time, but I am excited to get to know the youth and staff here even better. I am grateful to Tao for all she has done for this center, and she will be greatly missed.