Entering Phum Russei Paillote, also called Paillote II, is entering a new world. Only 15 minutes away from Central Phnom Penh, hundreds of children push the red portal looking for new stories, new adventures to be part of. Being a daycare center throughout the year, in August Phum Russei welcomes every day 200 to 400 children from 3 to 14 years old divided into two groups. Paillote I – the original one, the first one that Papy and Mamy opened – having been closed 2 years ago, the one located in Phum Russei, created in 2004, is the now the oldest one still welcoming children.
The big tree in the middle of the courtyard is the main meeting point, as if the whole life of the Paillote was happening under its large branches.
Behind the gates, there is new world, magical, for children only. A new world which the big tree in the middle of the courtyard is the main meeting point, as if the whole life of the Paillote was happening under its large branches. It is under this tree that everyone dance, it is still under it that the kids are organized in chuas (lines), where they are splitted among the different activities, and again under it that the kids sit to discuss when they wait for the activities to start. And, among the hundreds of eyes turned to Sombo and Paula, the two coordinators of the program who stand up behind the tree, there is one of the chuas easily noticeable as none of the kids is looking at them, in fact they all are sat in the reverse direction than the others. It is the krom muy (team one), group in which the youngest kids are reunited. None of them is older than 5 years old and they cannot manage yet to focus and follow the guidelines they are given. “That’s krom muy, they do whatever they want” relativizes Laura, European monitor for the second time, when she is asked why are they not sat the same way the others are. Luc, first year European monitor, confirms: “All of the little diablos are in this team”. Indeed, as little explorators, the kids from Phum Russei are not easy to deal with, full of an endless energy mainly dedicated to dance with their monitors but also sometimes to make the latter run after them for hours while they are rediscovering every corner, climbing any pole or table.
When the siesta comes, the effervescence of the paillote calms down for an hour.
Lunch time in Phum Russei is managed with the same energy than the one deployed the whole morning. Well organized, the shift takes place, allowing the kids from the morning to go back to school after their meditation and lunch, while the ones from the afternoon arrive, undress the uniforms they wore at school during the previous hours, get their lunch and go to the siesta. None of the 20 monitors gets a second of boredom, so when the siesta comes, the effervescence of the paillote calms down for an hour and everyone sleeps, or almost everyone as there will always be some little adventurers eager to play more.
Friendships grow under the eyes of the monitors.
A special attention is given to every children, despite their number. Here the kids come from everywhere in Phnom Penh, even the farthest villages such as Smile Village : their parents drop them off on their way to work. That might be something that really differs between this paillote and most of the others: here the kids don’t know each other before coming to play all together during a month and friendships grow under the eyes of the monitors. When a kid obviously doesn’t feel good in the program, the monitor try to know why and to adapt their behavior with him. Hector gives an example that illustrates that well: “one kid was very aggressive, always angry and we didn’t know how to deal with him. For a week now we changed our mood and attitude towards him and he became more gentil, nicer. He was just missing love and attention, what we try to give him now”.
If the children are especially cared for, the monitors also are. There’s a “feeling table” at the entry of the material room, that monitors and guest (Medical and Dental Teams for example) fills in with colors before leaving. When the dominating feeling is happiness then the case is colored in green ; on the contrary, if someone feels tired or upset he can color the case in blue or red. It allows the monitors to notice quickly when a member of their team is not feeling well and to back him up the best they can. Indeed, “if the monitors are happy, the kids are happy” says Paula.
Leaving Paillote II feels like closing an adventure book.
Every year, the School Continuity Program implements new objectives within the different programs. If they have been focusing on raising curiosity and health awareness for years, some other notions such as environment consciousness and emotional intelligence development are now the new main educative purposes. In Phum Russei, every day after siesta a big cleaning of the Paillote is organized, and all the kids are highly motivated: they all pick up everything they find on the ground and help to put them in garbage bags. “Sometimes they fill in the bag with small rocks, but it’s ok because it is full of goodwill”, tells Elise, European monitor for the first time. Raising Emotional Intelligence awareness goes also through musical sensitization, or non-compulsory activities so the children learn to make choices.
At the end of the day, exhausted, the monitors leave the paillote and head back to Central Phnom Penh. Everyday it becomes harder to leave the small magic Phum Russei and its facilities whose walls, painted in red, blue and yellow, that makes you travel to a Cambodian Neverland. Entering at the Paillote II is discovering a new magic world dedicated to the kids ; leaving it feels like closing an adventure book. Fortunately, there is everyday new chapters to write.
PSE would like to thank the art studio of Marta Maldonado for their economic support to this project.
