On December 9-10, 2007, the Wat Mon Thyean school director, parents from the school's Parent Teacher Association, and SCC staff pooled their efforts to initiate construction of an SCC-funded kitchen at Wat Mon Thyean Primary School. Construction was completed in January; delays are attributed to conflicting priorities associated with the recent harvest season.

For several years now, the World Food Programme (WFP) has donated rice and canned fish to students at Wat Mon Thyean as a means for providing food security and increasing school enrollment. Seven kilograms of rice is cooked each morning and served to 65-70 students before the start of 7 am classes. A fire pit has existed on school grounds, but it went unused for two reasons:

• It was unprotected and therefore unusable in the rainy season

• There was no lighting at the school for the cook to be able to prepare the meal at 4am. Furthermore, because the school is located behind graves at the neighboring temple and the cook fears ghosts, she refused to enter school grounds without a source of light.

The newly built kitchen is constructed of wood, metal sheeting and bamboo, which was provided by the Wat Mon Thyean community. Inside, the fire pit has been expanded and long picnic-style tables have been built to provide students with a place to enjoy their meal or relax between classes. The kitchen is equipped with a battery-powered lamp that alleviates the cook's fears and provides her light to prepare daily meals.

The Wat Mon Thyean community is very proud of the new kitchen, and in fact, each time that SCC staff have visited the school since completion of the building, PTA leaders have been tweaking and making further improvements to the structure.

The Wat Mon Thyean community pitches in to build the school kitchen:

Jay, SCC Project Coordinator, outside the finished kitchen:

The kitchen's new and improved fire pits:

The Wat Mon Thyean cook serves breakfast to students before the start of school: