From Basics to Vocations

One of the significant changes I've seen over this past decade is the evolving desire for education. The people have a strong will to learn more, better themselves, and generally help lift their entire families up the economic ladder. In that sense the desire hasn't changed. I still see the excited requests for me to repeat a new word so they can jot it down or the locked attention as we discuss weighty subjects like politics. 

The change is mostly around complexity and application. People no longer just want to learn English because it might lead to a job. Now they specifically want to learn a trade which will lead to a job. Electrician is a great example. Take a look at this, and pay special attention to the tangled mass just beyond the arm of the digging equipment (click to see it better):

An Electrician in Cambodia is a dangerous profession. However, it's a well paid job with excellent long-term prospects. Those tangled masses aren't going away anytime soon.