Investing in Teachers Is Investing in Community Development

Chanleak started teaching kindergarten in 2017 at the age of 18. Despite having little experience and very limited training, she entered the classroom believing that teaching was her calling. “Teaching young children was not an easy job for me as I started from scratch. A new challenge came up every day,” she remembers. “But that didn’t stop me from being a teacher. I just needed a steppingstone to connect my passion with the profession.”

Chanleak felt that her steppingstone came just in time through World Renew’s local partner OREDA. Chanleak had the opportunity to participate in a range of teacher training courses including Classroom Management, Curriculum Design, Inclusive Education, How to Engage Young Learners in Class, Creating Teaching and Learning Materials, and Pedagogy.

Now Chanleak feels equipped with the skills that she needs to do the job she loves with confidence. She receives grateful praise from parents, and with her newly gained professionalism, she played a large role in helping her school pass a Quality and Impact Evaluation of Kindergarten, which led to their receiving an award from the Ministry of Education.

Looking back over her six years of teaching, Chanleak says, “Seeing my improvement in this profession makes me more excited for the journey ahead. I embrace my service to the children in the community, and I am always grateful for the support that I receive.”

By Ruairidh Waddell

• Extreme flooding and landslides in Northern India, brought on by the rains of the summer monsoon season, have resulted in the loss of life and property, pray for God’s comfort and hope for all impacted communities.
• As World Renew Laos conducts an evaluation of programs for the expansion into several new communities, pray for the safety of the teams as they travel.
• Pray for God’s provision for Rohingya refugees in camps in Bangladesh as they deal with the challenges of extreme weather, deadly clashes between rival groups operating in the camps, and a worsening hunger crisis.