As I am dropping off my kids this morning, I had a brief flash back to my childhood, thinking about the time that I was at school. And how lucky my children are to be in a place that supports their growth and they could fully learn without fear of being in danger or in hunger. 

I was about five when I attended the Khmer school opened in the Thailand camp. I remember trying to learn the 74 characters of the Khmer alphabet by writing it on a small chalkboard with chalk. We would learn the 33 consonants first, followed by the vowels and then words and phrases. 

Our days were filled with lessons, writing lines and lines of the characters, sounding it out loud and repeating after our teacher. Meang Lin, one of my teachers, was strict and expected all of us to do our part in learning our Khmer language. 

To check for our understanding, we were tested by dictation or at times be called to write a character on the front board, in front of everyone. Those that did not know or got it wrong, would get a stern warning or a slap on the palm by a ruler. 

It was both a scary and humiliating experience especially when one does not remember the alphabet or forgot to do their homework. 

After class, we would rush outside to buy  ice cream from vendors selling outside the school.  My favorite was the pineapple on a stick, rubbed in salt and chili.   It wasn’t something that I could always afford, but when I did, it was the best afterschool snack ever. 

When I arrived in Australia, I started at grade two, with no knowledge of the english alphabet, only some of Khmer language. 

I remember being gently led into a room with many other kids and my teacher smiling warmly in welcome. 

She took a chalk and she wrote on the blackboard, “Sothy.” The foreign characters look different to me and as I look to her to check it’s meaning, she pointed to the letter, then to me and said, “your name”.

I am so thankful that my parents were invested in our education. They left everything behind and risked their lives so that we could have a good education and opportunities for a better life. 

“They can take away your things but never your education,” a saying my dad would remind me during my childhood. 

My dad made sure that I attended the best public school, even if it took me to travel three hours each day back and forth on buses for that education. 

And when I became the first in my family to graduate from University, they were cheering me on the side, celebrating a dream that they never could have but one that they achieved nevertheless through their children. 

As I pull away from my kids school, I am feeling a sense of gratitude that my children are able to have an education and recognize not everyone in the world, including those living in Kampuchea-Krom would not be privileged to have this type of access.

One that we must help build, within our community and around the world so all children, regardless of where they live or who they are have the same learning opportunities.