Carol Bond, Director International Service, Rotary Melbourne has received an update from the President of the Siem Reap Rotaract Club.
Hello Dr Carol and the Members of Rotary Melbourne,
I trust you are doing well.
I have a good time writing this email to you to share with you about my current life in September. I have involved in many things, but I would like to share my main updates with you. The things I am going to talk about here are my midterm results, joining fixing bike activities, and distributing solar lights.
First of all, I am happy to share with you that I have already finished my midterm exam. You will wonder what my results look like. Of course, I will tell you again in case you forget. I have been learning about health education, international business transactions, and the ASEAN government. Health education was completed by taking an online exam and a written exam. I got a full score for the online test, yet I have not received the result for the written test. However, I believe that I have done my best and will obtain good results from this class. Right now, I am preparing a slide presentation that talks about drug abuse. I will be presenting in class next week as well. Talking about my International Business Transaction, taught by Dr. George, I got 92 out of 100. I felt proud of myself even though I didn’t get the full score. The reason is that there were many students who received low and medium scores on the midterm exam. The students who got the highest score were 93, so I think that it’s not bad for me.
Last week, I had an interesting negotiation practice in this class as well. I learned that in negotiation, it is not an easy task. We have to understand the transactions and interests, and then we have to be aware of which situation we are in (balanced concern, transaction, relationship, or no interest). I played the role of the father who owned a business, and at the same time, that father got serious and had to sell that business as soon as possible. Therefore, when I was in the negotiation, I could not let the buyer know the specific reason why we had to sell it. I learned that we have to ask the buyer or seller the reasons why they want to sell or buy the business, and we need to apply different strategies to get a good deal. On the other hand, I have learned a lot of new knowledge from ASEAN class. As I presented about Malaysia and Myanmar, I deeply understood the histories of these two countries, especially Myanmar, which is in the worst condition and led by military power. However, ASEAN countries and the world are trying their best to find better solutions. I haven’t received the grade yet in this class, as the professor gives the scores based on the presentation performance and slide presentation.
It is the rainy season, but we are passionate about helping our community. Recently, I participated in Mobile Bike Mechanic (MBM) to fix the bike in a rural school that is roughly 40 kilometers away from Siem Reap town. We went there in two big buses, and my group was a wonderful team. We worked together to fix the broken bikes from the heart. Even though I was the group leader, the active participation of each member of the group could achieve fruitful results. We, of course, didn’t focus on the quantity; we focused on the quality of each bike. Some bikes needed assistance from the expert, and I could not know all about how to fix them. Anyway, we did a great job, even though it rained that day. We fixed more than 100 bikes in just one day. Therefore, we enjoyed working on a rainy day.
It’s an impressive day that I participated in Project L—light for education. We went to a district called Varin, which is very far from the city. I guess it took an hour and a half to reach that school. This school is in a remote area, and the road is very difficult to travel. It’s a muddy and slippery road when it rains. The most noticeable thing to me is that the kids there were clever compared to the kids in the city. The difference is that one is in the city and another is in the countryside. I admired the kids there, as they know how to dance Khmer traditional dance and are brave when I teach them about hygiene, plastic use, and so on. Before the speech, we also had a welcoming traditional dance. I was excited to see the dance I liked the most. The school director there looks so professional, and I love his leadership in this school. We also received a thank-you certificate at the end of our mission. Last but not least, I appreciate joining this activity. I love the kids, and I think that spending my time there is meaningful and worthwhile.
This is all from me, and I have some photos to share with you as well. Please kindly check them. I wish you wonderful days and stay healthy all the time.
Your sincerely,
Tangly
