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Matt Innes
Name: Matt Innes
Background: Education manager
VSO role: Education adviser, Provincial Teacher Training Centre, Kampot
I'm an education adviser working in primary and secondary schools in Kampot Province, Cambodia. I work closely with the Ministry of Education to give all children access to basic education and to encourage them to stay in school.
A lot of methodology in Cambodia has been very traditional: there's been a lot of rote learning in classrooms. It's largely because the teachers themselves didn't have much of a varied education.
When I work with a teacher I try to start from a position of respect for what they do well. They already do a very good job for very little money every month, but what I can do is try to pin down maybe one or two things from a lesson that they could improve, and something that will give them instant results in the next lesson.
The teacher I was working with this morning had only had two days' of training in teaching English, and he was already doing a very good job, showing model classroom control, using group activities - that's quite an achievement.
As a result, children are getting the chance to practise English as soon as they hear it. They are using it in real situations and understanding the meaning of the language.
One of the things I learnt in VSO training became really apparent to me when I started working here in Kampot: I have to get on well with people in order to do something meaningful, and that's something we could learn from in the UK. Once you know people, they are very helpful. As soon as they understood why we're here, what we're doing, what we're aiming to do, they're behind us 100%.
I'm loving it. I wouldn't be anywhere else, although I have to say it's a lot more tiring than you can predict. But you get a feeling of satisfaction, and you learn something every day - you can't ask for more than that really.
There might be people who are a bit anxious about doing VSO. I sweated blood over the decision before I came out, because you give up a settled career, friends, your family for a couple of years.
You tend to think before you come out of all the things you're giving up and all the things you're going to miss, and actually when you come out you find an awful lot of things you didn't expect to gain.
I've already made friends here whom I'd want to come back and visit several years down the line. And you can't predict those things; you really cannot predict how wonderful it's going to be.
If you're the kind of person who's always wanting to learn, who is fascinated by other people, who just loves other cultures, do VSO. If you don't mind getting dusty and dirty and sweaty and feeling like a fool half the time, you'll be all right.
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