In order to celebrate the end of this school year, CFI school is preparing a certificate-giving ceremony accompanied by student-lead dancing and singing activities. Sreymom is one of the students preparing to perform:

I play guitar at CFI when there is a music activity because it makes the group of students happy, and it makes me very happy to play the guitar and make music with my friends and teachers.

I’ve been practicing for the graduation ceremony performance for half a month already and hope that i will play well. I hope that my group and I will be confident to perform!

I want CFI to have a music class and a music teacher because there are many students who want to learn to play music and sing. If the students have a chance to take music lessons, it will make them very happy.

Children in the community don’t have a lot of happy time because they are mostly busy with housework or studying. There aren’t any activities for children in the community.
Last year, I learned with teacher Sopheak and it made me very happy. I hope he will come back to teach us again sometime.

I think that people from outside–parents and community leaders–that watch will see our ability and our strength. I want them to understand that the children in here (at CFI) need encouragement from them and that we need an education. When they encourage us, we have hope.

Students in the community don’t receive enough encouragement because their parents don’t care about their studies and this makes children feel that they don’t want to study and do the right things.

I study hard and have promised my teacher that I will study to be a nurse or a doctor. When my friends, teachers and I dance and play music, I forget everything that makes me sad, and I just feel happy.