An Unlikely Volunteer Adventure in Cambodia
by isabelle mills
In July 2018 I volunteered in Cambodia with Challenges Abroad for three incredible weeks. I accepted the offer from my friend, Monique, whose brother was the team leader for the trip. It was exciting yet very unlike me to say yes to such a proposal. To go overseas without my family and to go in between my university trimesters, was usually something that a worrier like me would run scared from. And admittedly, I knew next to nothing about Cambodia before the pre-departure meetings we had. But it ended up being an experience that I’ll treasure forever that gave me many learning curves along the way.
Monique and I decided to make the plane ride worth it by traveling to two other counties before settling in Cambodia for our two weeks of volunteering. I was happy to get to that side of the world earlier so I could try and acclimatise! First, we went to Thailand for three days then to Vietnam for the rest of the week. After our little getaway, we were off to Cambodia to meet our team!
We volunteered in Battambang, at a school with students from Year One to Six. The kids at the school were enthusiastic to learn and to show off the English that they knew. Nearly every day they would all be waiting in the classroom, waving at us from the door. Don’t get me wrong, in the beginning I was terrified. I had done work experience at the school in my home town when I was still a student there, and even then all the students knew me. Other than that I had no experience teaching kids, especially kids whose first language wasn’t English. I must admit I had never seriously questioned my understanding and comprehension of the English language until this opportunity came up. But in the end, I grew comfortable with making lesson plans, commanding a class of excitable kids, communicating the activities clearly and was able to make the teaching fun, for me and them.
It was clear that the playground at the school was due for some renovations. There was a broken, rusted slide, tadpoles and rubbish swimming in concrete vats in the play area and plenty of weeds. My team and I filled the vats with dirt then planted bushes in them, cleaned up the garden beds and built a climbing structure out of tyres we painted. The other structures in the playground got a fresh coat of paint too. There was lots of weeding and picking up rubbish, but during their break, the kids came over and helped us which kept my spirits up! It was a huge job, it took a lot of work from my team. However after it was done, seeing the kids running around and playing in their new space was all worth it. That’s the most cliché I’ll get!
And don’t worry, it wasn’t all hard work. There was heaps of time to organize activities outside of teaching and renovating hours. On the first weekend, a group of us went to Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat, local markets, Pub Street and to bask in an air-conditioned hotel room. And in Battambang, we went to a circus, a cooking class and then a karaoke bar on our last night with the volunteering staff (our tuk-tuk drivers were the best at karaoke out of all of us). Between all of that, there were many adventures around town exploring on bikes, getting junk food at the supermarket and visiting the local hot spots.
By the last day, I was not only proud of myself for not being so in my head about living in a different country and doing things I would usually never do, but also for the work we did while we were there. When we were leaving the school I truly felt like I had made a difference in the short time I was there. Between the new colourful playground, the teaching and all of the fun we had with the kids. This made me passionate and enthusiastic about how I could take the lessons I had learned and apply them to my everyday life. Learning about the history of Cambodia, seeing how the school is run and just experiencing the country first hand, opened my eyes to how important it is to see where help is needed and do my best to try and lend a hand.
Want an experience like Isabelle's? Check out our Cambodia Community Challenge!