Richie's letters
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(Pha Sreynang)
Information: In Xavier Jesuit School, there are student hostels to house some of the scholarship students who come from far away villages to study. This year, 75 students and 5 caretakers live in the hostels. They are divided into 6 houses (4 for girls, 2 for boys).
My name is Pha Sreynang. I am 18 years old. I study in Grade 11 at Xavier Jesuit School. I got a full scholarship for my studies and accommodation.
As a student, I am quiet, focused, and attentive to my teachers. I tend to focus on my studies during class. I hope that after my graduation, I will have the knowledge and a good job to support myself, my family and my community.
Now, I am living in Xavier Jesuit School’s Student Hostel. There are both male and female students staying in separate buildings. I stay in a building called “Karuna House” which is under the responsibility of Ms. Sinat. There are 16 students in this home.
Since staying at Karuna House, I discovered that I have changed little by little. For example, before living in the hostel, I am very shy of speaking in public, therefore most people may regard me as an unfriendly person. Now, I am more confident to talk and I also try to develop a more friendly attitude.
It is my fourth year already living as a Hostel student. Being together with my friends here had given me a chance to experience the values of sharing, unity, love, forgiveness and so on. We remind each other when someone make mistakes, and encourage each other when someone has problems. We also get good advice and help from the care takers.
I am very happy to live with my friends and do activities together responsibly such as doing some planting in the garden and having enjoyable trips together. Sometimes, we do face challenges in relationship. However, we try our best to get along well. To sum up, staying at Karuna House has provided me with a great opportunity to develop myself to be more ready for the society in the future.
Lastly, I want to say to all the students who get a chance to study at Xavier Jesuit School: study hard and try your best to be a good child, a good student and a good citizen of Cambodia just like a bamboo-shoot that grows up to be a deep-rooted and strong bamboo that also provides shade for others.
(Orn Sreypec)
Three months have passed and now I can share that being a caretaker and living with students in the Xavier Jesuit School Hostel gives me joy.
I am happy when I see students show their care to one another. They can freely share their thoughts and opinions. They are able to help each other when someone has personal problems in their life or in their studies.
Since the beginning, I chose to stay with the students because I want to help them. They are Cambodians just like me. In the past, during my school years, I was also a student who stayed in a hostel. My family faced similar conditions to theirs. Likewise, in the past, I also encountered similar problems as them.
I noticed that some of the students still need a lot of effort to learn how to divide their time for study, play, and rest clearly. Sometimes they have too much “play”, but forget their other responsibilities.
I also noticed that there are some students who do not “know themselves” well yet, as to what they are doing here, why are they studying here, and why they are staying here. What worries me most is the environment around them, outside of the school, which might make them feel less interested in studies. Moreover, there might be some people who can lead them into a wrong direction. These people can make them forget about the importance of their education.
I believe that since we all come from families with similar living conditions, what we want and the kind of encouragement that we need could be similar as well. That’s why I always advise them to keep going, to be patient and to be hopeful for themselves, their families and our society.
I hope that my students can maintain the zeal to study and not drop out of school. I wish them good health, bright futures and good jobs to support themselves and their families.