Ly Leng # 140

The Cambodia Rural School Project The Violet Atkinson School (October, 2001) Mr. Ly Leng is the director of the Violet Atkinson School.  He is married and has eight children. In Their Own Words. . . n the new building: “After returning to this village, I struggled for four years while teaching children under a tree.  […]

The Cambodia Rural School Project

The Violet Atkinson School


(October, 2001)

Mr. Ly Leng is the director of the Violet Atkinson School.  He is married and has eight children.

In Their Own Words. . .

n the new building: “After returning to this village, I struggled for four years while teaching children under a tree.  Now, I am very, very happy that we have this new concrete building.  I encourage all the children to attend school, to show our gratitude to the donors.”

 

On teaching: “I graduated from teacher school in the provincial capital of Kompong Speu in 1983.  From 1983 to1990, I taught at Kompong Pranak Primary School, about 5 km away from here.  From 1990 to 1996, fighting broke out in this area, so the villagers went to live in O Kaki village, about 20 km from the Kompong Speu town.  There I still taught the children.  In 1997, when the Khmer Rouge were integrated into the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, life returned to normal and we moved back to the village.  In 1998, I was switched to this school, and in 2000 I was appointed as school director.”

 

On losing his leg:  In July 1988, Ly Leng lost his leg to a Khmer Rouge landmine.  “In the morning I taught my students at Kompong Pranak Primary School and in the afternoon I went to plow the rice field opposite the forest where the Khmer Rouge had been hiding, and there I stepped on a landmine.  I am sure that it was the work of the Khmer Rouge because they said that they would offer a reward to anyone who would maim or kill the Vietnamese enemy.  Vietnamese enemy meant the soldiers and people under the ruling government.”

 

On school subjects: “I focus mainly on Khmer and mathematics because I think that these two subjects are essential to learn other subjects.  If children are good at Khmer and mathematics, it is easy for them to learn social studies and applied sciences.”