Village School Profile –
Thon Mun No. of Students 130 (aged 5-15) Teacher (Junior Class) (Junior Class) School Hours 09:00 - 12:00, 13:00 - 16:00 (Mon - Fri) Subject Taught English Language
Cambodia - 2011
last updated July 2012
Thon Mun Village
Thon Mon Tboung Commune, Treang District, Takeo
Cambodia 2011 Construction Cost $203000 HKD Running Cost (by Camkids) Teacher Salary/ Month $100 USD/ Month Land Rent none
Location: 11 km from the West of Provincial Takeo Town. 50-minutes Tuktuk ride on muddy village roads Population: 500 households Economy: 80% Agriculture (grain, herding), Infrastructure: Water : Water wells Sewage: (None) Electricity: (None)
The Design
Construction
The village school is a place free for everyone to use. To reflect this, it was designed in such as a way that there are no solid walls separating the inside from the outside. Instead, the walls consist of bamboo columns, creating a permeable envelope for the classrooms and the library. Between the two classrooms, a space is reserved for a pathway down to the lake. With the best view of the area, this is also the gathering point of the classrooms and is flanked by the mini library. The schoolchildren sit along the wooden platform, playing, reading and practising their newly-learnt language skills with their friends.
Construction took place over 22 days, from 17 Dec 2011 to 7 Jan 2012. Before the service trip in December 2011, staff members also made survey trips to assess the site, source materials and modify the school design.
Sustainability To promote sustainability in rural Cambodia, we also designed the building to be energy-efficient. The following design features were implemented: Double roof A gap between the roofs separates the heat absorbed from the upper roof, making the rooms cooler below. Raised wooden platform This also creates a gap between the ground and the floor, avoiding the direct transfer of heat absorbed from the ground Light-coloured Bamboo wall Space between the bamboo columns allows full ventilation, the west-toeast wind bringing fresh cool air into the rooms. At the same time, it also allows a controlled amount of sunlight to illumi-nate the rooms with natural lighting. Local Materials The main building materials used are wood and bamboo from the local market, with decreased dependence
In Thon Mun Village, Takeo, Cambodia, 60 volunteers from Hong Kong were assisted by 10 local workers. The workers provided expertise, guidance, and managed the most demanding tasks; our volunteers and staff provided manpower and a lot of sweat! Logistics included planning transportation and preparing lunch boxes for all volunteers, who were divided into small teams under staff members. This allowed better organization, safety and efficient work. All materials were personally inspected and selected by the architectural team, then individually treated by our volunteers. This included sanding wood, running a ‘bamboo spa’ washing and smoothing 3000 pieces of bamboo!
Project Little Dream – Cambodia 2011 In Cambodia 2011, 38 volunteers and 21 staff members participated in the construction process in Takeo, Cambodia. The volunteers’ ages ranged from 16 to 35 years, consisting mostly of university students, and were selected from a pool of 74 applicants who applied through our summer recruitment campaign. The service trip was divided into two 11-day periods, from 17 Dec 2011 to 7 Jan 2012. Volunteers took part in various building-related works daily, from laying the foundation to mixing concrete, from washing the bamboo to hammering nails, from sanding wood to placing an art installation. Every morning, our volunteers would take a 30-minute Tuk-Tuk ride to Kh’na Rong village, and spend the day engaged in construction work in the company of a few local builders and the village children. Some volunteers also taught English to the village children. The day’s work would end at sunset. In the evening, activities such as photo sharings and movie nights took place, which allowed volunteers to share their thoughts and to encourage discussion on issues such as non-governmental organizations, Cambodian history and service work, to name but a few.