Today Iveta, Ciara, and I visited six schools throughout Siem Reap province, 4 Caring for Cambodia and 2 government schools. Although the CFC schools and the government schools were hugely different (see Ciara’s blog tomorrow), one theme appeared in all the schools: the unfinished business of education development projects by all types of donors.

Why does the Korean government donate an electric piano to a school without enough electricity? Why would the Japanese NGO install large, concrete garbage containers without explaining how to use them to the schoolteachers and students? Why would the Prime Minister and his wife donate 50 sewing machines without thread or instructions?  Why would an international philanthropist donate a basketball court without including basketballs? Why would the Rotary Club of Japan install four water filtration systems displaying their name in bold letters but not providing instructions for maintenance?

In fact—come to think of it—all of these projects have large signs displaying the donors name or institution. It doesn’t matter if it was an NGO, development bank, government official, or individual donor—all of these projects neglected the essential aspects of the development initiatives: understanding the context of the school (having an enough electricity to power the piano), knowing the capacity of the school (teaching teachers and students how to throw garbage away), or thinking about sustainability of a project (training the community how to maintain water filters).

The theme is clear (in Khmer, “Same Same but different”). See tomorrow’s update for the next episode.