More than two weeks ago the Cambodian government, in response to the growing spread of the Covid virus in Phnom Penh and the surrounding area, ordered a strict lockdown for Phnom Penh and nearby Kandal province. Within the capital city, residents other than those granted specific permission to leave home due to the essential nature of their jobs, were ordered to remain strictly at home and most businesses including the city’s large markets and the banks were closed. In accordance with the government’s instructions to close all schools, Champey Academy also closed down and all students and staff have had to remain in their homes. Our music teacher lives at the school and is now confined there so he sent us the attached photos of our now deserted classroom spaces. These spaces would normally be teeming with young students from Monday through Saturday but now they are completely silent. Even some of the neighbors who occasionally complain about the noise from our students must be feeling a sense of loss without the usual sounds of shouting, laughing children in our school.
