By Juliana Riverin
Staff Writer
The word “English” usually brings to mind tea, funny accents, or maybe that essay you have not written for third period.
But for some children in rural Cambodia, the English language, combined with Costa students and the Teaching and Sharing Skills to Enrich Lives organization, is their chance to escape poverty.
Juniors Victoria Nwoke and Ruby Caldwell work with the volunteer program TASSEL, which aims to provide free education to rural Asian communities through a nationwide network of university and high school volunteers.
“We have a great group of volunteers,” TASSEL chapter president Ella Kim said. “They are responsible and dedicated to positively affecting the children they teach in Cambodia.”
Caldwell and Nwoke teach a weekly 40-minute class that focuses on one letter or sound. The volunteers get in touch with the children through a Skype-like application called Vsee, which lets them maintain visual contact with their students. This is important because it lets the children copy the volunteers’ facial movements, facilitating the learning process.
“I believe that the process we use is effective through its use of fun activities that the kids enjoy, and you can see that they really understand and like learning the concepts,” Nwoke said.
Nwoke first heard about TASSEL last April in a newspaper article about the program. The program immediately appealed to her, so she contacted volunteers already involved and began volunteering that May after being trained and interviewed by Kim.
“I have always been passionate about volunteering and international involvement, and it’s been such a great opportunity to be immersed in the global community from the comfort of my home,” Nwoke said.
“Usually, to help people on the other side of the world, you have to go there, but with TASSEL, you make a huge difference in someone’s life just by talking through a computer.”
Apart from giving the Cambodian children an education they would otherwise not have access to, TASSEL gives its volunteers teaching and social skills that they can later apply to professional situations.
“The TASSEL program is preparing me for the future while letting me help people, and I think that’s great,” Caldwell said. “It’s teaching me how to communicate with people from another country and culture, which is an amazing skill I can use in the future.”
The TASSEL program provides the children with a way to help them rise out of poverty.
“I fully believe that English is a fundamental skill that people need to function in the world, and it’s also the least accessible skill for the kids, so these classes are crucial to helping them into better situations, and it’s rewarding to be a part of that,” Nwoke said.
Leave a Reply