This is your space too
Elena’s voice echoed through the room as Lina and Mongkul were falling asleep, their skin sticky from the warm, heavy air. I sent Jack a message: Maybe… we did change something.
He replied a few days later: Yes, we did.
I’m Linda, and I’m writing from Kampong Tralach, where the air smells of river water and dust, and children gather in comfortless rooms to chase the English language like a butterfly that moves just a little too fast. This is CBKTS, a free school built by three people who believe everyone deserves a chance.
Elena and Jack are volunteering here with me. Lina and Mongkul aged ten and five are the children of Searey, the man who built CBKTS and continues to support it by hosting volunteers and running daily conversation classes.
Searey cares deeply about this community. His past and present are closely tied, giving him a strong sense of justice, freedom, and compassion. He does his best to understand everyone’s needs and shows up for them. Right now, he’s building a café with a room where donated computers will be available for everyone to use. The space will offer computer skills training, a turning point for a community where most families don’t have a computer, and where teens will be able to create resumes and send university or job applications.
English truly changes the lives of these children, teens and young adults, and people here know it. Just an hour away from the capital, Phnom Penh, English skills unlock access to university, better-paid jobs and, perhaps most importantly, critical thinking, reasoning, and an understanding of the wider world. From the age of six, English is taught at the public school but the quality is poor. The lack of strict rules, unlike back home, actually works in the students’ favour: volunteers are welcome to teach English at the public school to fifty excited and committed fifteen-year-olds.
When the teacher enters, the chatter quiets. The students place their hands together in a prayer position and speak in unison: “Goooooood mooooooorning teacher.”
Then it’s the teacher’s turn : “Good morning, how are you?.”
They reply: “I’mmmmmm fineeeeee thank you, and you?.”
Teacher: “Good thank you.”
The act ends with the teacher giving them permission to sit down. For these kids, learning English means learning a whole new alphabet. It’s a different starting line than most European students have. And without a phonetics class, they often learn words by heart, without developing strong reading skills.
The students are eager to learn, but many come from families where money is scarce. CBKTS steps in, offering English classes to children whose families cannot afford private tutoring. Searey believes in service and in building a strong community, where everyone feels included and is willing to contribute. He asks families for 2.5 USD per year, a symbolic fee, even for the poorest in Kampong Tralach. It’s not meant to cover costs; it’s a way of saying: “This is your space too.”
CBKTS offers three levels of classes: Beginners (3–6 years old), Intermediate (7–9), Advanced (10–13). Jack taught the advanced class, Elena and Hanna led the intermediate and I challenged myself with preschoolers. My class is like sweet popcorn in a pressure cooker with no valve. They run, they hit, they tease. But they also laugh and learn. When I took over the class a month ago, they knew the alphabet, now they practice phonetics and how to write. The class starts at 5pm and lasts one hour. At 6:30pm, Searey’s house fills with older students and adults for conversation class, an opportunity for those that want to practice English after work.
CBKTS remains a small project, for now, relying on volunteers willing to go far and beyond to reach Kampong Tralach. At the end of his two months of volunteering, it was hard for Jack to know whether he made an impact. With little structure at CBKTS, Jack had to reinvent the wheel. Searey allows volunteers to apply their preferred teaching method, caring more about the outcome than the process. Intimindating? Yes, most volunteers don’t have a teaching background. Fun, challenging? Also yes. With creativity and problem-solving you can strongly see in a few weeks your impact on their English level and on the community. The improvements of Lina and Mongkul are impressive. Surrounded by volunteers, their English level blossomed and is now improving exponentially.
A lot of private interests seem to be pulling the world apart. But Searey, in this small village, is building something that holds people together. I hope his work inspires others, and that he will be uplifted and supported in his mission, so that together we can change our world for the better.
That night, as Elena read and Lina and Mongkul drifted off to sleep, something had shifted. It wasn’t just about English anymore. It was about trust, care, and small daily moments that build something lasting. Not just for them, but for every student at CBKTS.