Sadly I had to turn away some of my favorite students this morning. The Director of IYDP has noticed that some of the youth attending my classes are not part of the Indigenous Youth Program, so they are not allowed to attend my classes. I had been under the impression that as long as they were Indigenous and not distracting the other youth, that it was fine for them to attend. Many of the IYDP students brought their friends, since most of the time three share one Moto. Also, there is a house set up by an expat for Indigenous boys to live at, some of whom are my students. However, they of course tell their friends who tell others sometimes and they all attend. I actually only did one announcement and then simply left a note on the board for others to read when they arrived, but decided not to send any of them away as the majority of "new" people got the message and hadn't shown up anyway.
One of the boys who grew up in the same village as one of my best students, is learning quickly but isn't IYDP. His application was denied because he is not within the 7th to 10th grades, but 11th now. Sunday, during our card game he mentioned something about a souvenir but they usually give advice of things I should get so I didn't think much of it. Though, last night just as the computer class was finishing up he gave me a plastic bag that hid a gourd used for storing water! He said it was a souvenir for me and had even written a note to thank me for teaching him. It has some errors but that almost makes me like it even more, so I've decided to have it "plasticized" in the market for safe keeping.
There are also students who came to my classes in October who are not IYDP and have returned for more lessons. They are wonderful and it's crushing to think they must leave simply for being in the 11th or 12th grades of school. I understand if they can afford other lessons and already know English well but, many of them are simple farm kids with no real lessons besides the highschool. The highschool actually just forces memorization but no real learning that can aid them later. So, I will continue to allow them to attend unless it becomes a real problem with wealthy Khmer attending somehow.
