3 Year End of Life

Classes yesterday were a little out of the ordinary. I’m still trying to get most of the PCs up and running, and we’ve been waiting for the computer school to finish working on them. The owner Bunly (pronounced “boon –lee”) was away because his wife was having a baby. They still have their children at home in this culture, not in the hospital. That’s a place to go if you have a problem, not if you’re healthy.

Each location where I teach is different, so I essentially have to tailor three different lessons. The first place is the Ellohim mission center. Those kids are becoming pretty advanced since they have 4 PCs (2 are working at the moment), a teacher who volunteers on weekends, and a benevolent Korean owner who makes sure things are in good order. For example, those two broken PCs will get fixed when he arrives about a week after I leave. For them, I’m teaching Publisher. I would like to move on to Photoshop next, but we’ll see.

The second location is the home of Mr. Sok (pronounced “Sock”) in Bos Kralanh. He’s the host of the solar panel setup from last year. It was apparently a fantastic success, even doing well during rainy times. He had lots of pictures of people using the computer and learning basic skills. Unfortunately, the computer wasn’t has hardy as the power source. We tried hooking it up after repairs, but it wasn’t working again. Back to the computer shop!

Sok was nice enough to give me a copy of his music CD. He’s quite good with traditional Khmer instruments. This was a collection of songs for New Years. Oh, and all proceeds go to people disabled by landmines. Wow.

Khnar Thmei is the village where I first started working 4 years ago. Those kids are sharp. My driver Prem doesn’t even translate much anymore. Since both their computers were out at the repair shop, I started the first science lesson with the infamous combination of Diet Coke and Mentos. And no, it wasn’t just for fun (but that helps). We reviewed the ingredients and talked about reactions, catalysts, and nucleation. I even drew the chemical composition of caffeine on the board.

We had an excellent lunch at a new American Café called Common Grounds. I ate way too much and tried to balance it with a small dinner. The food here is just way too good. If I weren’t sweating all the time I would gain weight immediately.

Today classes were more in line with a normal routine. Ellohim continued with Publisher, and we still don’t have a computer for Bos Kralanh (but we now know it’s waiting on a replacement power supply).

After morning class and lunch we stopped by the computer shop. Bunly was back, he had pictures of his son on his very nice cell phone. The PC was not recoverable with a shorted out mainboard. I guess 10 years is about the end of life in a third world country. We’re lucky to get 3 in the US just because of new software. So, I bought a replacement. A newer Compaq with 2.0GHz Celeron, 15” flatscreen, 256MB RAM, 40GB HD, and all the software your heart desires. All this for the low, low price of $235. If it breaks, his people will fix it for free or cheap.

Class at Khnar Thmei was good after installing the new machine and briefly reviewing how to care for it. I’m teaching volume, density, and pressure. Since I didn’t have time to get materials for a science lab because of the computer, it will happen tomorrow. I’ll try to float an egg between water and salt water. Even after I explained it, the kids are somewhat skeptical but in a good way. They’re excited.