This isn’t my first time going to RDI (Resource Development International). The first few times we went there was to learn generally what they were doing, which were making ceramic water filters, water quality testing and hydroponics though this time me and the other 12 students went to specifically learn more about hydroponics.
During the To Spray or Not To Spray exploration, our team of 12 students and two facilitators went on field trip in Snoul, Kratie from September 2nd to 4th. Throughout the trip we got to visit organic farms, learned how to make organic pesticides, visited a rubber plantation and factory , planted and harvested carrots. We also went to CEDAC or Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture to learn about how they help, teach and encourage farmers for their farm to become organic, create their own groups for financial support and more.
Learning how to make organic pesticides from yeast, water and mirco-organisms
Harvesting carrots at an organic farm
Model United Nations is a three-day conference where students playact as a delegate representing a country to collaborate with other nations for solving world wide problems. They are assigned to a committee with a country and in that committee there will be three main topics in which the countries’ representatives will write a resolution for and debate on.
I think something in Cambodia that needs to change is about rubbish. Most of the people in Cambodia don’t know how burning rubbish, throwing rubbish everywhere… can affect us and the earth. We also don’t know how to recycle it or manage our wastes. I think my solution are to teach about managing wastes in schools, advertise it in each province, more rubbish truck that goes to the provinces, put more trash bins in the park or on the streets, create a project for picking up rubbish and try to promote about recycled products. I used to be in an exploration called Recycle Community and in that exploration we’ve talked to a lot of families about recycling wastes and wastes management.
We also got to teach some of the families about recycling wastes. In the wastes management part we invited an expert at making compost to our school and we’ve inted some of the families that are interested in making compost to learn with us too. I also talked with my family and friends when we go on trip or something we bring plastic bags for the rubbish we have or sometimes there is a bin we just put it in the bin. When I go to my old school each holiday I tried to tell/teach my friends about recycling wastes. Now my family recycle stuff. For example they took an empty plastic bottle and made it as a plant’s watering.
To get the ball rolling I think we should start with ourselves then we can promote in a small community/places first before we change the whole country. When we start with ourselves other people see what we’ve done. Sometimes they might think about how it benefits you by recycling wastes, compost etc. When they starting to the benefit maybe they could tell their neighbors, friends and families. Then maybe most of the people in the community take care of their wastes when they see the benefit. Then the provinces or maybe most of the people in the country. Sometimes we just have to try to talk to people about it.
I also have been in an exploration called Tech-Support. In this exploration we learn about technology and how you can use it to help you/others learn. We’ve helped two organizations fixing some of their computers and taught some of their students about applications they could use to help them learn. The two organizations are Green Umbrella and Tiny Toones. We also help Green Umbrella to fix their site.
In khmer class we observe how different books have different components to them, for example, some books (Khmer) doesn’t have a synopsis or acknowledgement. We also learned about writing a research paper and sources we can use.
We are currently learning about static equilibrium, friction and inclined planes. During the learning of concepts, I know new words like unbalanced force, static friction, kinetic friction, f_max and static equilibrium. We also used Khan Academy to practice those skills in general or when preparing for a quiz/test in addition to review questions given by our facilitator.
This is one of the questions we did:
Inclined planes: **Hard problem** A box of mass M = 10 Kg rests on a 35° inclined plane with the horizontal. A string is used to keep the box in equilibrium(this means all the forces are balanced). The string makes an angle of 25 ° with the inclined plane. The coefficient of friction between the box and the inclined plane is 0.3.
Draw the forces acting on the box, including all components.
Determine the tension force applied to the string. (You may find that you have two equations with two unknowns…think about what you usually have to do in this kind of situation.)
We are currently learning about static equilibrium, friction and inclined planes. During the learning of concepts, I know new words like unbalanced force, static friction, kinetic friction, f_max and static equilibrium. We also used Khan Academy to practice those skills in general or when preparing for a quiz/test in addition to review questions given by our facilitator.
Since the start of the school year I’ve been working on the SAT prep using Khan Academy for both math and literacy. For my first PSAT, I felt very nervous although I know that this is just to measure my progress and what I need to focus on. For the math section, I found most of the questions hard since I’ve never learned them before and got them wrong, but in result I have more to practice and learn to prepare for my next PSAT.
“I’m thirteen now; it’s been five years since I arrived Liger as a lost and confused young girl. Five years since I made more than 50 friends because we have the juniors now. I’ve learned how to cook, clean, look after myself and manage my time. This isn’t the end yet, I still have many more steps and time for me to develop from a seed to a tree and be able to give out fruits. This means that I have to be determined, to work hard in order to become successful then give out those knowledge and help other people in my country, Cambodia.”
This is an excerpt from my narrative where I talked about changes that were kind of hard for me to adapt to. During this writing process I learned about parallel sentences, comma usage, being descriptive and precise.
This year’s theme for the ISPPMUN was “Collaboration Not Confrontation”. I was in the General Assembly 3 (GA3) as the delegate of Algeria with many other students from different schools from Phnom Penh, Siem Riep and Vietnam. The three focused topics in my committee were the questions of Suitable Working Conditions and Worker’s Rights, Gender Wage Gap, and Combating Hate Groups. Going to the conference grounded helped me feeling more confident when debating or writing resolutions but it was affected when I found out I was the main submitter for my teams resolution (The question of gender wage gap). My first time going up to the podium to read all the operative clauses and answer questions from any delegate in the room was terrifying for me, but I believe this could help with my future MUNs and debating events. I learned a lot from this experience and am looking forward to joining more in the near future.
This is my first time joining an MUN. We had to learn not to use personal pronounces, research on topics and country’s position and debate. For me, it was hard sometimes to stay with my country’s position because I personally may not agree with the choices when writing a resolution, but I had to because of my country’s position. I also learn how to write a resolution, it’s when countries get together to find solutions that everybody will agree on. In a resolution, we have to have six perambulator clauses, which are historical actions the UN have attempted to do (doesn’t matter if they success or not). We also need six operative clauses, which are the solutions the countries come up with and agrees on as a group. After writing the resolutions, everybody in the room will debate on them, that includes suggestions for change, strike the clause(s) or agree on. Overall it was an amazing experience for to me to join something like this because of how much I learned from it, but also having fun at the same time like making new friends or getting to share my ideas/listening to other’s ideas as well. This is something I would like to do more in the future.
