Cambodia Service Trip 2013
For the second time in the schools history, ISWA has organized a school service trip through the organization by the name of rustic pathways. Rustic Pathways is an Australian organization which provides school service trips during the holidays. After last years great success of the service trip to Thailand, a lot of interest was shown by students and staff, which is why the spots in this years trip to Cambodia were filled quickly. Although I had gone to Cambodia a year earlier, I was still really looking forward to it as I found that a family holiday can be drastically different to a school service trip.
Day 1
On Friday December 13th, our journey began in Perth as we caught an early seven hour flight to Bangkok, Thailand. After a short layover, we took an one hour flight to Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia. At the airport, we were given warm welcome by our group leaders from Rustic Pathways. By the time we had arrived, it was already nighttime and we were given a wondrous welcome meal in a local restaurant before returing to our hotel a short drive away.
On Friday December 13th, our journey began in Perth as we caught an early seven hour flight to Bangkok, Thailand. After a short layover, we took an one hour flight to Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia. At the airport, we were given warm welcome by our group leaders from Rustic Pathways. By the time we had arrived, it was already nighttime and we were given a wondrous welcome meal in a local restaurant before returing to our hotel a short drive away.
Day 2
After we had breakfast on the rooftop of our hotel, we took three vans and spent the day visiting all Phnom Penh. The sites we visited included the S-21 which was a school which had been turned in to a torture center during rule of the Khmer Rouge. This was quite shocking and was a very somber experience. The same day we also visited the Killing Fields where we listened to an audio of people that shared their experiences which was really quite inspiring and heart warming. To finish our day of sightseeing, we visited the Royal Temple, which was quiet amazing due to the detailed architecture and decorations. The same night, we also left on our bus ride in the direction of the remote village located in Kampong Chang.
Day 3-7
For the next four nights, our group stayed in a remote village very close to one of the schools we were going to be working with and very close to the construction site where we would be building a wall for the community. The house that we stayed in was quite different to my own house, as it did not have a lot of electronic devices and running water. It was rustic, but I loved every moment we spent in it. In a way we truly experienced Cambodian life nan adapted our cultural backgrounds to the Cambodian lifestyle. As I have traveled through a lot of South Asia before, I was quiet used to the Cambodian lifestyle, yet some of my friends had never been to Asia before, making it quite a new and scary experience for them. This is when I used my prior knowledge and experience to help others get through a new challenge and felt very accomplished by doing so.
After we had breakfast on the rooftop of our hotel, we took three vans and spent the day visiting all Phnom Penh. The sites we visited included the S-21 which was a school which had been turned in to a torture center during rule of the Khmer Rouge. This was quite shocking and was a very somber experience. The same day we also visited the Killing Fields where we listened to an audio of people that shared their experiences which was really quite inspiring and heart warming. To finish our day of sightseeing, we visited the Royal Temple, which was quiet amazing due to the detailed architecture and decorations. The same night, we also left on our bus ride in the direction of the remote village located in Kampong Chang.
Day 3-7
For the next four nights, our group stayed in a remote village very close to one of the schools we were going to be working with and very close to the construction site where we would be building a wall for the community. The house that we stayed in was quite different to my own house, as it did not have a lot of electronic devices and running water. It was rustic, but I loved every moment we spent in it. In a way we truly experienced Cambodian life nan adapted our cultural backgrounds to the Cambodian lifestyle. As I have traveled through a lot of South Asia before, I was quiet used to the Cambodian lifestyle, yet some of my friends had never been to Asia before, making it quite a new and scary experience for them. This is when I used my prior knowledge and experience to help others get through a new challenge and felt very accomplished by doing so.
Learning Outcomes
You need to consider the ethical implications of you actions.
Building the wall for the community required a lot of hard work and teamwork, and although the labour was quite intense some days, the support we got from each other kept us going. We would also spend lots of time with the children in an orphanage close by, either after building the wall for English lessons, or playing games with them during the day.
Be engaged with issues of global importance.
Both of these activities personally, felt very rewarding and I felt as if that I was not only giving back to the global community, but also that I was making a change in the global community. This was the thing that I took away most from this whole trip and I am grateful that I was able to meet these amazing people and make a significant change in their life.
Building the wall for the community required a lot of hard work and teamwork, and although the labour was quite intense some days, the support we got from each other kept us going. We would also spend lots of time with the children in an orphanage close by, either after building the wall for English lessons, or playing games with them during the day.
Be engaged with issues of global importance.
Both of these activities personally, felt very rewarding and I felt as if that I was not only giving back to the global community, but also that I was making a change in the global community. This was the thing that I took away most from this whole trip and I am grateful that I was able to meet these amazing people and make a significant change in their life.