James Cook University land in Cambodia

COUNTRY: Cambodia
PROGRAM: UniBreak Groups
PROJECT: Education
WRITTEN BY: James Cook University

After 4 very busy days, we have finally had some time to discuss our thoughts and experiences of the trip so far. Our team of 15 from JCU Townsville & Cairns departed Brisbane on Saturday for a very long trip to Bangkok where we stayed overnight. Many of us found Bangkok to be a very industrious and polluted city, which lead us to think that Cambodia might be similar – none of our team have ever visited Cambodia before!

Flying into Siem Reap we soon found out that it was the exact opposite – the countryside is green and healthy, covered still by some flood waters. Driving into Siem Reap was very exciting, and not quite what we expected – first of all you couldn’t count how many cows and water buffalo were grazing by the side of the road! We arrived at Jasmine Lodge to find that the street that takes us to the accommodation had been upturned – the wet season has left the street full of potholes so there were many Cambodian people moving pieces of the road out to the main street. Fifteen people
piled out of the mini vans and struggled with our luggage down the street, but we eventually made it with the help of some very hospitable hosts!

Jasmine Lodge is a residential lodge that has taken our group on for the next month, which is a pretty big task. The hosts are lovely people and have been more than willing to help us out with learning some language(Khmer) and aren’t shy to laugh at us when our pronunciation is far from what it should be. We spent our first day getting settled in and went for a walk around Siem Reap. The city streets are lined with restaurants and market stalls which we explored for the afternoon, although there was an underlying motive – to find somewhere that was broadcasting the NRL grand
final!

The market stall owners are eager to sell and very persistent, so much so that we made it our priority to learn how to say ‘No thank you’ in Khmer very quickly. It’s one phrase that most have us have actually got right thankfully. On Sunday night we had a welcome dinner at a local buffet restaurant, where we saw a cultural show featuring traditional dance, music and costumes. Dayvy accompanied us to this and gave us
plenty of info about the show and what the meaning of it was.

Dayvy is our in country guide and I can safely say that we would be lost without
her! She has taken us to many great places around Siem Reap, and seems to know all the ins and outs of this city. It is such a great help having somebody to help us out when we’re out of our depths in an unfamiliar country.

On Monday we completed an orientation into Cambodian culture and child safety in the country at a local organization called conCERT, which works to ensure that volunteers time and energy are put to work in the best possible way. We visited the Military Handicap Development Centre later in the week, which is where we will be based for the remainder of our trip.

The MHDC is a small community that provides support for the service personnel that have been injured throughout their military service for
the Cambodian National Army. Many of these personnel have been injured as a result of landmines from serving their country throughout the time of the Khmer Rouge, up until very recently. During our time at the centre, we will be teaching English and health, as well as utilizing our fundraising to install a rain water tank and guttering to each house. We conducted our first English lessons on Thursday, which proved to be more
of a challenge than expected for some of us, however it is so rewarding to see the students improve and learn more. Construction was unfortunately delayed due to problems with the equipment however by the start of the new week, all equipment should be ready so that we can start our project.

Our trip so far has been an exciting, new experience. We have been absolutely immersed in Cambodian culture and can’t wait to spend more time at the centre.

Stay tuned for more updates!