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Literacy project benefits both young and old in Cambodia PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — It is only just
over a decade since the Bible Society in Cambodia
took up its work again after three decades in which the country was
ripped apart by civil conflict and religious persecution. As a new organisation
itself, the Society has always been aware of the need to support young
people, who account for the majority of the country’s Christians.
So it was young people the Society was targeting when it established
the Opportunity 21-funded project
Generation of Hope. It was not long,
however, before Generation of Hope went much further, bringing God’s
Word to both young and old.
One of the main elements of Generation of Hope was youth workshops where young Cambodians gained Bible knowledge and faith-sharing skills (see World Report 344/20 and 376/30). As these specially-trained young people began distributing the Scriptures in their local area, they saw that many people, both young and old, were struggling to read them, even in cases where they had received a basic primary education. This was particularly common in rural villages. DeprivedRealising that without literacy skills many people were being deprived of access to the Bible, the Bible Society began looking for ways to help. The route it chose was to select facilitators to run village-based literacy classes using specially prepared workbooks and audio cassettes containing Portions, Selections and other Scripture materials. The personal stories featured below give an insight into how, across Cambodia, these literacy classes, run in collaboration with local churches, are now bringing God’s Word to people who had previously been unable to learn to read and write. Indeed, the literacy program has been so successful that, even though Generation of Hope has officially ended, the literacy element has been continued. Chonty: confidence for everyday life and growing knowledge of the
Bible
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| Chonty and his wife Thoeun Chreach. Opportunity 21 funding allowed the Bible Society in Cambodia to establish literacy classes in their village in June 2003 as part of the Generation of Hope project. They are now beginning to read parts of the Bible. Rong Veng, Cambodia. Photo: APRSC/Julian Sundersingh (CBA04DJ-10.JPG) |
Chonty lives with his wife Thoeun Chreach and their five children in Rong Veng, a village some 35 miles (50 kms) north of Phnom Penh. Rong Veng is on a small island and is really only accessible by boat. This means that its 500 residents have few opportunities to earn money. Few of the children attend school. Chonty himself never attended school, having begun working as a fisherman at an early age.
Before local pastor Tum Ros and facilitator Young Thol established literacy classes in Rong Veng in 2003, Chonty was not really very aware of how his inability to read and write was affecting his daily life. It was not long before he began to notice a difference, though. Within five weeks of attending classes regularly, he had gained the confidence to read out loud.
Discovery
Today, his occasional trips to the nearest town are voyages of discovery. He now realises that, when he was unable to read, activities such as shopping often made him feel vulnerable and confused. Now that he can understand shop signs and billboards, and even read newspaper headlines, he has become much more confident and has been able to take control of his life. Most importantly, he and his wife have become keen readers of the Bible.
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| Rong Veng can only really be reached by boat. Opportunity 21 funding allowed the Bible Society in Cambodia to establish literacy classes in this village in June 2003 as part of the Generation of Hope project. Cambodia. Photo: APRSC/Julian Sundersingh (CBA04DJ-31.JPG) |
Facilitator Young Thol, too, has been on a journey of discovery as a result of his involvement in running literacy classes in Rong Veng. Although he already had literacy skills and was eager to pass these on to his fellow villagers, he felt totally unqualified to help people read Scripture-based texts. Gradually, though, as he prepared to teach each lesson, he began to understand the Christian faith.
“Finally I believed in Jesus,” he says. “It seems that I was inspired by the Holy Spirit through reading the Bible Society’s literacy book”.
Ly Sakngim: ‘Now I can read – praise the Lord!’
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| Ly Sakngim can read the Bible for herself after attending literacy classes in her village, Ronga Kong. This is one of the places where the Bible Society in Cambodia and its partners are working to improve people's literacy skills using specially prepared workbooks and audio cassettes. The literacy project emerged from the Opportunity 21 program 'Generation of Hope'. Photo: BS Cambodia (CBA04DJ-78.JPG) |
Like Chonty, 45-year-old Ly Sakngim lives in a small community where fishing is the main source of income. Like him, she has five children. Unlike him, she did attend school, albeit briefly. Unlike him, she had become a Christian some years before Bible Society literacy classes started in her village.
“My husband used to criticise me for my faith, but now he realises that his criticism simply strengthens my belief in God,” she explains. “When I became a Christian I wanted to read the Bible and was ashamed that I couldn’t. But now, after only a short time of studying, I can read the Bible – praise the Lord!
“The pastor encourages me to read the Bible during services and I feel that I’m an important woman in the church. I always read the passages at home so that I don’t make any mistakes!
“I’m very grateful to God and to the Bible Society. Now I can read in my own language and can be fully involved in church activities, which strengthens my faith in Jesus.”
Dom Sa Im:
‘We greatly enjoy the Bible Society’s literacy project’
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| Dom Sa Im teaching a literacy class in Kradas, one of the villages where the Bible Society in Cambodia and its partners are working to improve people's literacy skills using specially prepared workbooks and audio cassettes. The literacy project emerged from the Opportunity 21 program 'Generation of Hope'. Photo: BS Cambodia (CBA04DJ-77.JPG) |
Dom Sa Im is a Christian who lives in Kradas, a village around 49 miles (70 kms) from Phnom Penh. He is an experienced literacy teacher, but the Bible Society’s literacy course is unlike anything he has come across before.
“Most literacy courses run for about a year,” he explains. “Many people don’t have the patience to study for that long, so illiteracy has remained very high in my village. People who can’t read are often vulnerable to being cheated, and this can lead to violence.
“The Bible Society’s literacy scheme is different, though: we all find it enjoyable. I’m getting old now, but I still want to help the younger generation. Even students from the local primary school have been coming to our literacy classes and they’re making good progress!”
This year, the Bible Society and its partners have run a total of 45 literacy courses, from which 122 students have graduated. Each student who successfully completes the course receives an illustrated New Testament, while each class group also receives two sets of New Reader Portions. Initially, the courses were aimed at communities where there are no educational facilities at all, but increasingly they are being opened to children who are also attending government-run primary schools, as Dom Sa Im relates above. The Bible Society has also been greatly encouraged, writes Executive Secretary Yos Em Sithan, by the fact that its literacy materials are now being used by other Christian organisations.
This report relates to projects 0416 and CBA-04-004 (WR 389/25
- 12.04/01.05) 