Kidzquest á la zoo (starring Timothy)
The zoo on this sunny island of ours is definitely not one where you find animals caged up and put on display.
Okay, that's really random. Now let me introduce you to my kid of the day - Timothy !
He is ''SHY, NOT TALKATIVE'' at all... As he likes to mumble to himself, I'd always have to bend down to his mouth area in order to catch a wisp of his words of wisdom.
Here, he is starring at the one animal that is iconic to the Singapore zoo - The Rambutan Orang Utan.
Kidzquest kids leaning against the glass panel while marveling at this huge friendly primate. At the same time, you'd hear them shout in unison :"What is this ??!". Despite telling them repeatedly that it is an Orang Utan, they'd transpose its name to Rambutan automatically (after chanting it continuously without any pause in between). Kids.
The Orang Utan's stare.
Okay, enough of Orang Utan. Now back to Timothy with an intelligent look...
and his hyper side.
Throughout the whole zoo trip, he was either holding on to my hand or running about. It was pretty hard to get him settled down in times where there weren't any eventful activities for him to participate in. On the bus ride back to school, he was totally maxed out.
Around Reul Commune
Besides helping out at Kok Veal Village and W.F.C (Working for Children) orphanage, we also had the chance to venture out to other places around the Reul commune. This photo was taken at the backyard of Amelio training centre. Hung on the makeshift lines and barbed wire fences are their laundries left out in the sun to dry.
Pastel coloured flower like this one here is not an unsual sight as you walk around the training centre's vicinity.
This is a typical scene in the classroom of a village school. The children's eagerness to learn as depicted in this photo of a school girl focusing on solving her Math problems. We were there to distribute some donated items (stationaries) to the school children.
In order to save precious paper and pen, the school children still practice writing on small wooden chalk board in their not-so-brightly-lit classroom.
As we entered the classroom, these well mannered school children immediately stood up from their seats and greeted us Khmer style.
A curious girl peeping through her classroom's window to witness a not-so-common-sight - foreigners in her school.
Most of the kids in the village are devoid of an education as their families are either too poor to send them to school, or their families simply don't place any emphasis on their education as they're required to work in the fields for their livelihood. These 2 girls created their own learning opportunity by listening to the lessons taught in the classroom from outside the classroom.
Kouk Khang Primary School. Simple and all things down to their bare minimum. Most, if not all of the schools in the village spot the same school/classroom setting as shown above.
An outdoor classroom (no doors, no windows, purely open air with a shelter!) with a class of older, if not younger village kids. It is quite common to have a class filled with children of different age group as they don't start school at the same age. The age gap between the oldest and youngest can stretch to as many as 10 years old.
Its break time at Reul Primary School. During this time of the day, the kids will flock over to the snack lady for some munchies if they can afford it.
In the village, electrical lightings are considered a luxury item rather than a necessity. Without proper lighting, it would be almost impossible to study in their house (hut). Before this girl got distracted by my presence, she was self-studying by the stairway up to her house; where the good afternoon light illuminated her notes.
As we ventured deeper into the village, a group of cheeky kids trailed behind us. These kids are seen riding in their over sized bicycles.
This little puppy has strayed away from his pack due to our presence. We're like big-scary-giants to them isn't it? The village is simply incomplete without these amazing creatures.
