Small Changes Big Differences
Transcriber: Mau Mau
Reviewer: Hani Eldalees
Today I would like to share with you
three stories about change
I experienced working as an English
teacher volunteer in Cambodia.
The first story is about
the change from unexpected.
2 years ago, as an English
teacher volunteer, I went to a hot,
humid and isolated Cambodia
ballet school in the middle of jungle.
It was recovering from
a long civil war which resulted in
decades of destruction and isolation.
This school offered free education
to adults who cannot afford the tuition
and more than 100 students went to
this school every day
to have English classes
taught by the volunteers.
These students came from nearby 5 villages
with the age from 6 to 15.
This was my first time
to go a remote village abroad.
and it was completely different from
what you expected from travelling abroad.
That we could live in a 5-star hotel,
taste delicious local food
and take a taxi or a luxury bus
to go to tourist attraction.
Volunteering meant that I had
to share the sleeping quarters
with someone I didn’t know
and i needed to eat in a way
that was completely the opposite
to what my taste buds were used to.
I grew up in Beijing and I am accustomed
to eating food made out of wheat
and the flavors of them
are plain and light
while the staple food in Cambodia is rice
and they like to use all kinds of spicy
and salty seasonings.
Cambodia is a troubled country
even in winter, the weather is
still very hot and steamy.
This is the house we all lived.
It was the best house in the village
because the local people provided
the best house to the volunteers
to express their gratitude.
It was a small,
a lovely cottage built from woods.
There was no air conditioning
only 1 fan with the temperature
hot enough to cook an egg on the ground
and 6 volunteers
shared the room by bunk beds.
In the middle of the night,
I was always awoken by a cloud
of mosquitos or the snore of my roommate.
Sometimes when I opened
my eyes in the early morning,
I would see a lizard crawling
along the wall near my bed.
Although I was fully
aware of the tough situation
and carefully prepared experiences,
I was still struggling
for the first 2 days
because I cannot adapt
to the current situation.
I needed a goal I then initiated
a small change for myself every day.
That is I must learn a simple
sentence in Cambodia language.
I started from “Morning” and
then “Thank you” to “Good night”
I persisted until I left there
this small change not only
helped me to emerge with
the local culture and got, you know,
with the local people,
but it also gave me a strong implication
that I could transform myself.
The things I learned
from the struggle
is that no matter how well
we planned how organized we are,
something unexpected is always
promised to come.
So don’t complain about the unexpected
be always ready to greet the surprise
and try hard to adapt and embrace change.
The second story is about the change
with the help of others.
As an English teacher volunteer,
my job was to lead the children to
read aloud the English text.
However, when I stood in
front of the classroom
and every children’s eyes
were fixed on me.
I was too nervous to look back at them.
So I lowered my head and it seems
that I wanted to
bury my head into the textbook.
My face turned red, my heart
pounded, my hands began clammy,
and the legs started shaking.
My voice was too low to be heard clearly.
I wanted to just disappear.
I was ashamed because I could not
accomplish my job successfully.
I learn from this experience
that I must change myself.
Not only for me might I lose a job,
but I have to do this for myself and the
students I was charged to teach.
So I dug deep, swallowed my pride
and asked for help from
the other volunteers, and they
were very glad to help me.
So every evening after the class, I will
practice my rehearsal again and again.
I will stand in front of the classroom
and practice my rehearsal
in front of the volunteers
And they
gave me many comments
and suggestions regarding my
eye contact, body language,
facial expressions and voice inflection.
I really appreciated your support.
They don’t know how much they’ve
helped me to grow
and how their patient encouragements
model the teacher I wanted to be.
The confidence that I earned in a small
and remote Cambodia classroom
is the reason why I can stand
on the stage today
and share my experience with you.
Sometimes you felt alone and helpless when
you try so hard to adapt and change.
No doubt you are not alone and there’s
always someone else to help you.
When the helping hand is extended,
grab it and don’t let go.
My third story is about
passing on the change.
The students were grouped into different
classes based on their English level
and the levels ranged from the
beginners to the advanced class,
and I help with the beginners class.
There are some students from
the advanced class
who had a really good English skills.
And I got, you know, a 17
year old teenager from
the advanced class who had got his free
education in this school for five years.
He came from a local poor family and had
another seven siblings and brothers.
He said he got a huge benefit from this
English class and he wanted to go to
the college, located in
the Cambodian capital.
After graduation, he will return back to
his hometown to be an English teacher.
He believed that a teacher was a very
honorable and respectful job.
He wanted to help the children of
his own hometown to be educated,
just like the volunteers helped
him to learn English.
The small actions from different
volunteers changed a person’s destiny
and inspired this life ambition.
The small changes passed from one person
to another will eventually make
a big difference for those forgotten
little ones in the isolated village in
the middle of the jungle.
While the change passed from one person
to another may seem slight.
The ripple effects of those small
changes have enormous impacts.
So when you walk out of this room today
bear in mind that the smallest changes
will lead to big differences
for yourself, the community, the country
and the whole world.
Thank you.