Let me tell you about my counterpart….

As an English Teacher in the Peace Corps my main job is, as you might have guessed, teaching English in a Cambodian public high school.  When I tell people back home what I do, I think sometimes they imagine me as though I am in some kind of American-styled school building, with my own classroom and a teacher’s lounge to retreat to during breaks (this isn’t accurate).

In fact, what I actually do on a day-to-day basis differs greatly from what I had envisioned ten months ago when I found out I would be teaching in Cambodia.  Education PCVs in Cambodia work with counterparts when they teach – this means that every day when I go to school to teach, I am not just teaching by myself, but with a Cambodian counterpart.  Admittedly, I was a little put off by this at first.  Like any true American, I wanted to do things my way, at my speed and without someone else looking over my shoulder.  After all, isn’t that why they brought in an “expert English Teacher” from America?  

The reason Peace Corps pairs you up with counterparts is really a brilliant move on their part as far as the development process is concerned.  Imagine what might happen if I was a fantastic teacher in Cambodia, I put in my two years and then I left.  I might have influenced over 1,500 students during my time here.  But what if, instead of teaching alone, I had worked with and taught alongside a few teachers consistently over that same two-year period.  I would still be working with and influencing those same students, but simultaneously imparting my knowledge and, perhaps more creative teaching strategies to them to continue using after I leave. And the exchange swings both ways, for every day I work with a counterpart I learn significantly more about the actual state of the Cambodian education system, how to navigate its pitfalls and how I/Peace Corps can contribute to sustained improvements from the perspective of their own system instead of dictating educational reforms to Cambodians from a place of ignorance. 

I work with two counterparts to teach close to 500 students, mostly 9^th grade, but I teach some 12^th grade students as well.  For each class that I teach, I coordinate my plans with the plans of my counterpart for that specific class.  As you might imagine, your counterpart can make or break your Peace Corps service, and certainly, can be a huge factor in your sanity levels. 

During my first three weeks at site, I was strictly an observer at my school, showing up diligently each day to watch the different English teachers, noting any areas in which they could improve, their level of English competency and how they interacted with their students.  I chose two counterparts to work with based on these observations and since October, I have been forging a particularly rewarding relationship, both professionally and personally, with my main counterpart, let’s just call him Mr. S, as his name is difficult enough to pronounce without me trying to write down the crazy-ass phonetics.    

Mr. S looking quite dapper in his formal teaching uniform next to me.  This was
during the parade and ceremony for the Cambodian Independence Day this year. 

We became fast friends and solid coworkers within just a few weeks of my starting to teach.  It is difficult to describe what I really like about him to those who may not have much experience with Cambodia’s culture.  Suffice it to say, many of the aspects of Cambodian men that tend to work against an efficient system of education are simply absent in Mr. S.  Where some teachers might focus our daily conversations on whether or not I have taken a Cambodian wife yet (they know I am already married) or if I would like one, Mr. S without fail will ask how Kate is doing and request that I relay his greetings to her.  Where some Cambodian English teachers might see their profession as simply a way of earning money and therefore see attending their classes as optional, Mr. S has seldom missed a class, constantly finds new ways of teaching and improving our lessons and on his first day of meeting me, spoke at length at how English skills can open the doors of opportunity to many Cambodian students, telling me, “English is like their clothes, without good English skills they will be naked.”  I think the metaphor was a bit more poignant before it was translated in his head, but I got the general idea he was trying to convey to me.

One thing I love about this man is his desire to help and make things better by simply volunteering
his time.  Here we are with a few students during a clean-up project I put on.  Mr. S helped facilitate
everything from buying materials with me, being there on the actual day to helping students the new
trash bins we bought (he insisted that this color was the "most beautiful").

When you live in a different country with a radically different culture than your own, it is difficult sometimes to know if and when you are getting through to people and if they understand who you are and what makes you tick.  During a six-day English conference that Mr. S and I attended together, he invited me to his hotel room for dinner and beers (I know it sounds sketchy when I put it like that, but I promise it wasn’t).  He wanted to bond with me and get to know each other as much as I wanted the same.  Over a few beers and some street meat (that I am pretty sure gave me a really bad stomach infection hence sidelining me for the rest of the conference) we bonded in a truly special way through a complex ceremony that men have been participating in for millennium: grilled red meat, alcohol and satellite TV.

Just as important as me being able to figure out him, after that night, I felt that he understood who I am and why I am here.

Mr. S and I during the English conference in Phnom Penh.  I think approximately

24 hours after this picture was taken I had a 103 degree fever and unspeakable issues 

with my gastrointestinal system...if only I could tell Past Chris to prepare himself...

A few weeks ago, Mr. S (actually it was his wife) asked Kate and I over for dinner as a farewell party to their nephew leaving for the US.  After living among them for more than five months already, I can confidently say that Cambodians are known for their hospitality.  During the rainy season it is not uncommon for strangers to shelter under someone’s roof as a drenching downpour goes by.  Kate and I have been offered to eat rice with many families and individuals that we have never met before.  But at his home we are treated as family and welcomed fully by the family.  Also, it should be mentioned, on the menu for the evening: fried fish, stuffed curried frog, K’mai soup, rice (obviously), roasted crickets, stewed curried duck (salivatingly good) and brought in special from a remote Cambodian province: a thighbone of grilled monkey meat.  Stuck between a moral hard place and the rock of wanting to be respectful and courteous, Kate and I tried it all…including the monkey.  

At the risk of sounding overly corny, I am very proud of my relationship with Mr. S, and can't help but think that this kind of relationship will have more of a positive impact on Cambodia and on myself after I leave than any amount of "work" that I do here.