Spare Time
What do you normally do in your spare time?
I was really challenged last week when i heard about Sok Sua and what he has been doing over the weekend. You might remember that he’s the guy who runs the Book Tuktuk, the Flame Mobile Classroom. He is remarkably tall for a Khmer guy, and has a huge smile. The kids adore him. He wears nice trousers, slim fitting and professional looking, he looks like he works in an office! And there he is, leading a wee crew of kiddies right in the heart of the local community, teaching them to read and write. He honours them by wearing nice clothes, dressing up for his job, he takes his role seriously. He knows the impact that he has, not just in terms of literacy, but in the value that he imparts to the kids by showing up day after day and caring for them.
So, what does a guy like this do on the weekend? I heard that he was in a particularly low income area and randomly came across some kids. He stopped and bent down, and asked if they were in school. They weren’t lucky enough to attend school and were intrigued by this tall, friendly guy even noticing them. He paused and decided to spend a bit of time with the kids and do some ad hoc lessons with them, going over the alphabet and some basic number games… and they were delighted. He said later, that it’s not just the Monday to Friday that he’s interested in. These are his people. This is his country and these kids deserve an education. When he said goodbye to the kids, he gave them a little spending money, so they could buy a drink to share. What a heart this guy has.
