Teaching water safety and stroke development to orphans in Cambodia was how JANE MARSDEN’s family bonded over the summer break. While the children of Kais Village Community undoubtedly benefited from the lessons, Jane, along with husband Jason (a primary school teacher), and 10-year-old daughter Olivia (“Ollie”) received as much, if not more, enjoyment and fulfilment from their seven-day working holiday.

Being the owner-operators of Marsden Swim School in Singapore obviously helped us to teach in Cambodia, but only to a certain extent. From the very first morning when we were confronted with more than a dozen excited children ranging in age from two to thirteen leaping willy-nilly into the pool, it was clear that our neat, 30-minute lesson plans might have to be slightly adjusted, if not abandoned altogether. Yet, unlike some children from more privileged backgrounds, these Cambodian kids happily took to the concept of waiting their turn as we hurriedly grouped them according to age and ability.

First off were the toddlers, still in cloth nappies (which we replaced with Huggies’ Little Swimmers, bought in Singapore). What was so striking was how grave these little ones were, so much so that we nicknamed two of them “Mr and Mrs Serious”.
Equally surprising was how brave and accepting they were, willing to give anything a go. “Unfortunately, they haven’t learnt the dangers of water yet, so they have no fear,” said Kais Village Community director, Karen Butler, who is British. “In a country that gets so much rain and a population which survives on fish from ponds, rivers and the great lake, water is a significant part of their lives, so it’s vital that they learn water safety from a very young age.”

One four-year-old with amniotic band syndrome, a little known condition in which strands of the amniotic sac separate and entangle digits, limbs and other parts of the baby as it grows in the womb, was always the first off the bus and the first in the pool. This toddler, for whom the orphanage has arranged five major reconstructive operations, is one of about 20 children with special needs at Kais Village Community.

As we have found in Singapore, swimming or just moving in the water offers children with disabilities a wonderful new sense of freedom. These Cambodian youngsters were no exception. One three-year-old boy with cerebral palsy couldn’t stop grinning. He loved splashing the water and running his hand across Jason’s beard. An eight-year-old, who had lost his left arm under a train, also enjoyed developing his own inimitable swimming style.

Most of the older children showed reasonable swimming skills. “Many of them have become comfortable – sometimes too comfortable – with water in their earlier lives,” said Karen. “They are sent off to fish, to catch frogs, lizards and eels and to collect water from an early age. Water is also key to transport. Some of the people, such as the Cham community, live on boats. There is a whole community on water on the Tonle Sap in Siem Reap province – churches, temples, schools, sporting fields, houses, fuel stations, fish farms, cafés, animal enclosures, the works.”

Regardless of their level of swimming ability, all the children expressed gratitude for the classes in their own way. Two earnest eight-year-old boys would bring their hands together under their chins in dignified thanks after a lesson. The “big girls”, aged nine to 11, helped us bridge the communication gap through laughter, energy and “thank you” drawings. It was also astonishing to see how painstakingly and politely each child, from the youngest up, ate every grain of rice with a fork and spoon at lunchtime.

Our cultural learning curve continued in the classroom where our expectations were constantly challenged or exceeded. While I had brought glittery flower tattoos and pink hairspray for the older girls, it was the trendy teenage boys who really thought these were cool.

We became quite adept at reading hand signals; for instance, one feisty five-year-old would point to his head, shoulders, knees and toes when he wanted us to play that song on our iPod. And when it came time for paper crafts and origami, often it was a case of the student showing the teacher how to do it properly.

Jason and I watched our own daughter develop equally valuable skills of her own, from carefully helping to dress a disabled baby to demonstrating to an 11-year-old girl how to kick her legs effectively. It’s not every day that an international schoolgirl from Singapore gets to face-paint 20 children as a cow wanders into the classroom, but Ollie took it all, quite admirably, in her stride.

By the middle of our stay, Mr Serious was running into Jason’s outstretched arms as a morning greeting. And when we caught him the next day with the corners of his mouth slightly upturned, we stopped calling him Mr Serious and started calling him by his real name. With students like these, we’re already looking forward to our next working holiday in January next year.

To help the Marsden Swim School continue sending teachers to Kais Village Community, Treng Troyoung, contact Jane Marsden on 9621 9965. To learn more about this Cambodia- and UK-registered charity,

visit www.kaiskids.org.