Cambodia | Student Adventure

Overview

Designed specifically for school students this fully chaperoned Adventure empowers young Australian’s with the chance to experience two different Volunteer programs that make genuine positive changes to severely poor families in rural Cambodia.

The first requires participants to put their energy & enthusiasm into providing a helping hand at one of Cambodia’s most important centers for children. Volunteers are tasked with daily activities, which may include; teaching English, playing with the children, painting, building, gardening, attending to minor injuries and providing lots of love & care. Many of these children have not received the love or affection that comes with having a mother or father and your kind words, helping hand and fun personality will go a long way towards brightening the lives of each & every child.

The second experience gives you the opportunity to provide a new home to an extremely poor family in rural Cambodia. You will assist with all aspects of the housing construction including; digging holes, setting foundations, mixing cement, constructing the frames, other general carpentry work & finally adding a much needed roof to the building. The family of the house and the whole village will also be involved in the build in an effort to learn valuable skills which can be used to find future employment. Overseeing the construction from start to finish you will have a real sense of achievement as you hand over the ownership of the house to an eternally grateful family.

In your spare time you will be able to see all that Cambodia has to offer & immerse yourself in some truly culturally rich activities. This includes tours to the magnificent Angkor Wat Archaeological Park, Kampong Phluk Floating Village, PHARE Cambodian Circus (no animals) & a Traditional Royal Apsara Dance Show, among other activities.

Itinerary

Need to Know

Age & Required Experience

• At least 16 years of age & a student
• Keen interest in community projects & a desire to make a difference

Accommodation

All accommodation is Twin-Share & has a MyGapYear Comfort Rating of 4 stars or more. Hotel facilities include: Pool, Wi-Fi, Cable TV, Fridge, Safety Box, Private Bathroom & Restaurant. Single rooms are available upon request & payment of additional fees.

Meals

Breakfast included daily. Lunch at the centre and meals whilst at the Community Build Project are included. All other meals are at your own expense. All members of the group eat together for every meal. Those with special dietary requirements can be catered for.

Transport

The most popular & exciting way to travel in Cambodia is via TukTuk. TukTuk’s in Cambodia are very safe, reliable & add to the sense of Adventure during the trip. MyGapYear uses only personally selected TukTuk drivers who have a proven history of safe driving on the road.

Donation

We require the group (not individually) to raise a minimum of $3000 USD on top of the trip costs before arriving in Cambodia. This will be used to cover the costs of the House Build & help fund the immediate requirements of the Children’s Centre. MyGapYear does not take any part in the handling of the donation money.

The group will personally spend the money as required during the trip & will receive receipts for all monies spent whilst in Cambodia. Please enquire for more information on how the donation works.

Child Protection

MyGapYear follows the principles and guidelines of ‘ChildSafe International’ in protecting children from all forms of abuse and preventing child exploitation and trafficking.  As part of our mission to empower and protect youth; we require all volunteers who are 18 years of age or over and who plan to work with children; provide a Criminal History printout.  This printout is available from your local Police Station and may take up to 4 weeks.

Start Dates

Student Adventures begin on select dates during school holidays. Current available dates are:

• 2nd July – 16th July 2016 (Spaces available)
• 7th December – 22nd December 2016  (Spaces available)
• 2nd July – 16th July 2017 (Spaces available)

About Siem Reap

Nestled between rice paddies, & stretched along the Siem Reap River, the provincial capital of Siem Reap is the gateway to some of the largest & most mesmerising ancient temples in the world.  Every year over two million travellers from across the globe descend on this tourist hub & find themselves lost in the many alleyways & French-colonial architecture that give this town its charm.

Siem Reap is like nowhere else in Cambodia, packed with wall-to-wall hotels, restaurants, bars and massage parlours; its streets crammed day and night with tourists, touts and tuk-tuk drivers in an organised chaos of relentless activity, with endless quantities of hot food and cheap beer, and a nonstop party atmosphere.