
Malaya Tauch
My name is Malaya, and I am one of the Khmer Teachers who teaches in Rattinak Village. Before teaching at Rattinak, I had been teaching in Banan Village for 8 years. This year, I am teaching level 7 & level 8. I am 29 years old. I am one of TASSEL’s oldest employees, having been working here for almost 9 years. I became a TASSEL teacher in 2015 when I was just a sophomore; I was 19 at that time. When I was young, I was taught the English alphabet by my father at home. However, my father’s English skills were very limited so I did not study much besides some easy words such as apple, pen, dog etc. There was a very good English school in my province that most people went to. The school fee was not very expensive at that time and was around USD7 a month, but it was still a lot for people who did not earn much. All my neighbors went to that English school, and they paid extra for the school bus to pick them up every day. I still remember watching them getting on the van daily, and begging my parents for a chance to study there. I told them I will ride my own bike as long as I could study there. I did not get to go to that English school until I was in fifth grade and my father had to sell some chickens in order to pay the fees. I remember being very excited when I got my first English textbook that my aunt bought me. I still remember the first word that I learned there which was ‘ear.’ When I was given the homework, which was to write the words learned that day, I always double the amount. I still remember my first English teacher at that school. Her name was Sana and she was a big part of why I decided to become an English teacher.
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When I was a sophomore, I was already teaching at a private school in Battambang, but one day Joji, TASSEL’s founder, came to my university and presented TASSEL to us. TASSEL was looking for young Cambodian teachers who wanted to teach poor children in rural parts of Cambodia. He talked about what TASSEL was and what they did. When I heard TASSEL’s main goal, which was providing English education free of charge to poor children, it reminded me of myself when I was a young kid who desperately wanted and needed to study English but could not. I thought to myself at that time, if only there had been an organization like that in my village as well, it would have been so great for young children like me. I decided to apply for a teaching job at TASSEL. I was lucky enough to pass all three interviews I had to do which was very strict. I was first assigned to teach at Banan Village along with a few other teachers who were also just as young and inexperienced. Luckily, we had a great leader, the one in charge of each school, so we were able to learn from him.Â
I soon fell in love with the children in Banan. The students there have so much potential in them despite being so poor. They have big dreams but struggle to achieve them because of their poverty. The public schools only provide 1-2 hours of English sessions a week to the middle and high school students which clearly is not enough. Thankfully, they have TASSEL to fill in that gap. Our Khmer teachers had been in similar situations when they were young, hence they are very passionate about teaching now. Many of our teachers now were our students and practically grew up at TASSEL. They work so hard to make sure the students get what they deserve: good quality education.
Since I have been here for quite a while, I have witnessed many changes made by TASSEL. I have taught hundreds of TASSEL’s students from the age of 9 to 20. I have also met and gotten to know many of TASSEL’s volunteers as well as our Cambodian Teachers whose lives were influenced and changed by TASSEL. I think that’s what makes TASSEL so special: it changes the hearts of everyone involved no matter who you are and what you do. Many students have come from knowing nothing to being able to speak English; some of them even become teachers. Many of our students have already graduated. Some of them already found good jobs while some are in universities across the country. That is what keeps me and other teachers going. The impact that TASSEL has had in these children’s lives is very important, and I believe it will change Cambodia one day and maybe, it already has.
