Lacrosse comes to Cambodia

(SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA) The Global Child School, located in Siem Reap, Cambodia recently received over 30 lacrosse sticks and balls from Federation of International Lacrosse Development and DeBeer Lacrosse, just in time to make their Christmas a little more merry!

The Global Child is a school which offers $1 per day of school attended to its students in order to counteract their value as former child-laborers and train them in personal finance. Their educational program includes the Cambodian government’s recognized curriculum of Khmer, Math, Social Studies, Geography, Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Earth Science with additional training in English, health, basic computer skills, art, music and extra-curricular activities such as soccer, volleyball, Karate and traditional Cambodian dance. During their enrollment in the school’s program, students receive housing, healthcare, food and school supplies.  Each student receives counseling and financial support until they receive gainful employment; coinciding with their completion of University or vocational training from a trusted partner organization.

The arrival of lacrosse sticks to Cambodia brought a new level of learning and excitement into the students lives.  Most importantly, they are able to experience the fun and discovery of a new game.  We decided the best way for them to experience this entirely new game in the beginning, was on their own.  None of the students had ever seen a lacrosse stick in their lives before, so everything from holding the sticks to throwing the ball was new to them.  They were laughing and playfully screaming during their lunch break as the teachers watched them scrambling for ground balls and before long actually checking each others sticks, apparently lacrosse is a more natural sport than we thought.  Lacrosse has given the Global Child students a much needed outlet of fun and energy, but also an entirely new and different learning experience outside of the classroom.  The Global Child students look forward to playing lacrosse as it is already a game which they have come to love and an activity they see as an escape from the classroom.  In actuality, it is providing them with some of the most important life lessons, including responsibility in caring for equipment (not losing lacrosse balls down sewage drains), time management, and teamwork.  However, aren’t the best life lessons learned doing something you love?

If you would like to find out more about The Global Child School and its students, please visit www.theglobalchild.com.

—Lyndsay Wehrum, The Global Child

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