Smiling Gecko Educational Campus

A VOICE FOR CAMBODIA

What do musician Jan SEVEN Dettyler, actress Isabel Karajan and the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Royal Ballet of Cambodia have in common? They are all among the multi-talented artists who will take to the stage at The Gong for our grand opening.

We hope that the (sound) waves we create with the opening will spread like a carpet across Cambodia. How wonderful it would be if this culturally shattered country could reclaim its rich past before it is too late. There are still a few people who remember the time before the Khmer regime. But they are fewer and fewer. The loss would be felt across Southeast Asia.

We are ready to change that: The truly beautiful building by atelier oï houses a multifunctional auditorium for up to 140 people and the top-of-the-range Sonic Studios. In addition to modern music, traditional and even classical music can be recorded here.

By the way, Philipp Schweidler from the Department of Noise and his team gave us excellent support in building and equipping the studio, and we would like to take this opportunity to thank them very much. You guys are great.

If you want to come to the grand opening in June, make sure you book a room at the Farmhouse Resort now. Our hotel manager Daniel Ruprecht is looking forward to your enquiries. And more about bookings.

If you want to have a quick look at the centre before you go, there are already two websites in English. One for the Gong and one for the recording studio. We will be running the latter commercially and hope to have our first bookings from national and international artists by the end of the year. We are confident that they will appreciate the unique atmosphere of the Smiling Gecko Campus and the amenities of the Farmhouse Resort nearby.

CRAFTMANSHIP AND PRODUCTION

OUR METAL CONSTRUCTION WORKSHOP IS ABOUT TO OPEN​

After a demanding planning and financing phase of more than 18 months, we once again had reason to be happy on campus at the end of January. Because the two 40-foot containers finally arrived with the components of the metal construction workshop, which we purchased from M4 Metallbau AG in Mettmenstetten/Switzerland at a special price. The founders of the metal construction company, Jürg and Corinna Müller, are supporting us in setting up and later running the workshop. They will stay with us for at least a year and have already started instructing the first Cambodian trainees about materials and tools.
The metal construction workshop building was built right next to the carpentry shop. We are happy and proud to be able to offer this craft on campus in the future. At this point, our thanks go, in addition to the Müllers, to the Jansen PrimeSteps Foundation, Erich Leutwyler and numerous other companies and individuals who have supported us with donations.
The arrival of the containers in the film.

SCHOOL AND KINDERGARTEN

See you Again

In Cambodia, where Pchum Ben, the “Festival of the Dead,” lasts 15 days, people have a special relationship with the deceased. That’s why our founder Hannes Schmid wasn’t surprised when students from our 6th grade came to him because they wanted to record a song in memory of their friend Raksmey, who was killed by a lightning strike in 2019.

We looked for a suitable song together and found it with “See you again” by the American rapper Wiz Khalifa. The song, which Khalifa wrote for the actor Paul Walker, who also died much too early, is about loss and dealing with the pain of saying goodbye. The song lines are

So let the light guide your way
Hold every memory as you go
And every road you take
Will always lead you home

It’s not just our campus kids who are touched by the song.

SMILING GECKO CAMPUS

OUR CULTURAL BUILDING SITE

We are actually masters at building efficiently and quickly, but even we can’t get a project like the «House of Culture and Music» up and running overnight.
December 27, 2023

And even if we can hardly wait to finally open this place of cultural identity in Cambodia, we know that we still have to be a little patient.

But we are certain that it will be worth the wait.

To make the time until completion a little shorter for you and us, we have decided to publish regular photo updates on the progress of the construction work on this page. So it’s definitely worth checking back regularly.

School and Kindergarten

HURRA: DIE NEUEN SIND DA!

Some of them still look a bit skeptical, but we are sure: in a very short time, our almost one hundred new school children will be happy to be at the Smiling Gecko Campus every day, where, depending on their age, they will either go to pre-school or directly to kindergarten will go.
We are very happy to have welcomed so many new children this year. After the Corona-related school enrollment stop, we still must catch up with the number of children in order to maintain school operations from preschool to middle school without interruption.
Speaking of middle school: This summer we were able to move the first fifty boys and girls into the 7th grade. It’s unbelievable how quickly time flies.

SchOOL And Kindergarten

RECRUITMENT DAYS AT OUR SCHOOL​

The last few days were quite exciting for many families in the communities around the Smiling Gecko Campus: We had our “Recruitment Days”, to find up to 100 new children at the age of 3 for our pre-school and kindergarten.
For the selection process, we first formed small groups of 2 to 3 children, to monitor their interaction with peers of the same age. Then we analysed their cognitive abilities in various exercises. For us, this is another important basis for deciding which children we could take and which unfortunately we could not take.
Quite exciting. For the little ones, but also for the parents, who all really hope to be able to send their children to our school. After all, they know that for the first time there is a real prospect of a better, self-determined life for their offspring.
Unfortunately, we had to disappoint many families again this year because we simply do not have the capacity or better say the financial means. Therefore, we would like to make an appeal at this point. If you would like to support our school: We are very happy about every donation!
We have made a short video of the Recruitment Days. Enjoy watching it.

Farmhouse Resort

The new suites are almost finished!

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In our quest to make the Farmhouse Resort not only one of the most sustainable, but also one of the most beautiful hotels in Cambodia, we have achieved a lot in the last 24 months. With the ten new suites, we are currently creating a new milestone here. We are super proud and would like to take the opportunity to thank our employees as well as the local construction teams: You are great!

School and Kindergarten

Our school expansion has begun!

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Wonderful things are happening at the Smiling Gecko Campus right now. We have laid the essential groundwork for the construction of the new middle school and the House of Culture and Music! Our Cambodian geometricians have surveyed the land for the construction of the infrastructure and the building land has been prepared. We have even started digging the artificial lake, which is of central importance for the construction project. This is because we need the earth extracted here to raise the areas on which buildings will later stand. At the same time, the lake will regulate the absorption of the immense water masses during the rainy season and of course we will also do fish farming here. So much for today. The next update will be at the laying of the foundation stone!
Hannes was on the radio!

For re-listening: Hannes in the nightclub on SRF1 Radio.

If you always wanted to hear an in-depth interview with our founder Hannes Schmid, now is your chance. On Tuesday, 31.1.2023, Hannes was Ralphi Wicki’s guest at the «Nightclub» on SRF1 Radio and talked for almost three hours about his life, his work and of course a lot about Smiling Gecko. Just click on the links and enjoy listening.
News from the school

The Smiling Gecko Scholarship Programme

With an annual funding requirement of currently around 1.4 million Swiss Francs, our school and kindergarten are by far our biggest expense but also our most important. Because only with a good education there is a future for our currently around 400 school children in rural Cambodia.

Therefore, we have decided to launch a scholarship programme at the beginning of 2023, through which private sponsors can cover the school fees of one of our school children or support the school financially in general.

You can find out more about the programme here.

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