2023
17th of December 2023
Goodbyes
Tilly
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At the start of the trip, I was thinking I would want to leave straight away, but now that it is the last day I don’t want to leave. Being able to experience a new country with new people at a young age is something I will never forget. I’m so grateful that I had the opportunity to travel in a non-touristy way, having a balance between doing something that has the potential to help many while also exploring Cambodia was an enlightening way of traveling. The memories that everyone has made and the new friendships that have been created is something very unforgettable. This is definitely a trip I will not forget.
Bridget
Oh, what a trip this has been! Spending the last two weeks with the same group of people creating a connection I will never have again, and teaching children English is an experience that was life changing and something that I could never forgot. From this trip I have gained a different perspective and appreciation for everything around me. Being able to have the opportunity to go to a country and experienced what we have experienced at such a young age is something I will forever be grateful for.
Teagan
Being in Cambodia has been amazing. I have met people that I never would have at school and have made so many new friendships. After teaching the same kids for two weeks I got to know them and was very sad when I had to say goodbye to all the students and teachers. I have loved learning about a different country and seeing what it is like for the people that live here. It has been such a unique opportunity - not everyone has this chance to experience what we have done, and I feel so lucky to have been on this trip.
16th of December 2023
Connor
Genocide Museum & Russian Market
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Walking through the genocide museum was a truly eye-opening experience. After learning about the atrocities which had occurred at the Killing Fields, I was shocked and intrigued to learn more about what had occurred at the genocide museum. The Genocide Museum, Tuol Sleng, was similar to the Killing Fields with an audio tour that guided us around the former high school turned prison. When the Khmer Rouge had begun setting up these major torture centres, they decided to convert schools into prisons in order to eliminate education while simultaneously committing genocide against people who were educated. It almost seemed unfathomable standing in the same rooms that had been used to torture hundreds of innocent people only recently. It was brutal seeing the photos that had been taken by the photographers, who first discovered the site after the fall of the Khmer Rouge in the early 1980s. Furthermore, walking up down the stairways and former classrooms which still had blood stained into the stone floors and walls was horrifying. Being able to stand in the physical space with photo evidence of the atrocities that had been committed, certainly allowed me to understand how real and inhumane these events were.
Following the museum, Madams took us to the Russian Market. The amount of items for sale in such a compact area was almost overwhelming. Learning how to negotiate with store owners was also quite the experience. After exploring what was on offer, Lachy, Hugo and I managed to score ourselves a Rolex each, after talking the owner down $32. Safe to say we were all stoked. The night market after dinner was also hectic. With only 30 minutes to search the market, Lachy, Hugo and I were racing around the market negotiating with each store owner and with 5 minutes left we managed to secure ourselves a range of colognes.
15th of December 2023
Lachy
The Killing Felds
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Today we had a historical lesson on Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. First we all are waiting down stairs of our hotel still in disbelief that we’re not going to see the kids at CLS again, and Mr Adams gets a message that the bus has a flat tire (this set us back an hour), then on our way to the Killing Fields the driver went the wrong way (this then added around 30 mins).
Once we arrived at the fields, we each got a headset with a phone to listen to what happened there and people’s stories. The Killing Fields used to be an orchard but became known for the mass graves of victims. Few buildings were preserved as the other buildings were stripped for materials and to destroy evidence. The walk through the fields while listening to people talk about the horrific things shocked me, as it was only 40 years ago, and I was walking on the very land where the blood was shed.
Some things that were preserved were:
· 2 mass graves - each with over 100 people that were killed and buried. There is still bones of victims and clothing appearing every few months due to the change of the land.
· The “killing tree” where members of the Khmer Rouge executed children by throwing them against it.
· A temple in the middle of the fields, that was built as a shrine for the people who died under the rule of Pol Pot.
· A stupa filled with over 5000 human skulls.
Today was a real eye opener of how a country can change so quickly due to its leader, and how relevant it is today.
14th of December 2023
Hugo
Cheers, Beers, Tears
It may seem almost fake when I talk about the amount I’m going to miss the kids of both my classes after less than 12 days of teaching. After all the performances showing off the hard work and quite the amount of awards to all the kids, all us students hopped into some traditional dancing which after 5 minutes turned into Cambodian techno and pop. Seeing the excitement on faces of all students, Chumkriel and night school, when a song came on that I had no relation to, was fascinating. Seeing some of the young boys, (namely Bon Torng, Kakada, Visoth and Tikea), be initially embarrassed to get up to dance to go to chanting ‘one more song’ felt like a full circle moment - sending me back to my prep days with the Friday arvo dancing. I’m not a person to often cry at goodbyes but the emotions whilst hugging all my new friends almost got the best of me. Always being so tired at night school, I hadn’t thought about or paid much attention to my connection with them. But saying goodbye felt just as hard to them too. With the last ‘keep uppies’ and volleyball session finished with Vyo and co, I did finally do the rounds of goodbyes.
In the afternoon we had the teachers final meeting sharing out thoughts and any final questions. Then off to Dorsu, where we had a tour of the ethical garment manufacturing and picked up the Homestead tee shirts. Out the front of the small factory, my eyes were drawn to the quite small - yet large cow rolling on the spit. I was instantly drawn back to the past of pigs lambs and cows at home.
Sending lots of love!
13th of December 2023
Connor
Last day of teaching – feeling proud.
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Unfortunately, today was our last day of teaching. It’s safe to say that over the past two weeks, everyone in the group has built amazing connections with the kids at Chumkriel. This morning, before heading to Chumkriel, there was a mix of emotions as everyone prepared to teach their final classes of the trip. During the morning class, I had the pleasure to witness all the morning classes refine their assembly items in preparation for Thursday. It was particularly amusing assisting Beth and Lachy when dealing with kids who were not exactly cooperating. I then continued to witness Ava and Finn, who had expertly instructed 20 kids to perform their assembly item without any issues. Being able to see all the kids finally begin to memorise and perform their assembly items without any faults was definitely a privilege. This also allowed me to see how hard everyone has been working over the past two weeks, as attempting to teach a number of kids a new language is certainly not an easy task.
After the morning classes the group collectively headed for lunch and began discussing plans for the afternoon. Mikaylah and I were teaching together in the afternoon and I’m happy to say that it was very successful. I was initially worried before the class, we had planned to add more lines to their assembly item - a “Market” roleplay, however, my concerns were quickly diminished as the class began practising and memorising the lines. I was amazed that after 20 minutes they were ready to rehearse. I then felt very proud as I watched our class rehearse the roleplay and song. Being able to see the kids finally perfect both the roleplay and song was truly magical. Knowing this was our last day teaching was certainly heartbreaking.
Honestly, it's just the dust in my eyes …
Beth
The first day in the Salt Fields, I almost couldn’t comprehend spending 14 afternoons in a tin-shed classroom that was hotter than outside, with a sandy soccer pitch and a wooden swing set. However, as my time here draws to a close, I could not miss anything more. The grubby kids with some of the biggest smiles in the world are forever imprinted in my mind, and I can truly give all the credit for my changed perspective to a few toddlers. Previously, I thought of myself as someone who understood concepts like poverty and the struggles of the world, but being confronted with babies who were still learning how to walk, all the while drinking energy drinks, and toddlers consuming multitudes of sugar because it’s the cheapest option, opened my eyes to a new side of the world. I truly have found a new value in my education, my safety, and my family, and I have never felt heartbreak like I did when I realised there was only so much I could do for these children. Their beautiful smiles, the way their eyes light up when they understood something, their screams when they saw us arrive every day, their arms reaching up for hugs, and getting to carry three kids around at once because they are so tiny, is an experience I could really never overstate the importance of. I have never felt the kind of love those children can give, and I would be honoured to experience the joy those toddlers have for learning. It may sound unbelievable, and I assure you, you would never believe the things I have seen without experiencing it yourself, but the experience in the Salt Fields classroom is unlike anything in the world, ever. I am so incredibly grateful to all those who made this experience possible, and I could not recommend this trip to anyone more highly. To say I will miss these kids is the understatement of the century.
The salt fields isn’t all sunshine’s and rainbows.
In fact, it's more like warm water and toddler snot.
Cody
I’m worried that when I tell people about the salt fields and my connection to them, people won’t believe me, or even worse, they won’t understand my perplexing experience. I’m not sure if I should even bother trying to explain my connection to the salt fields as I often can’t communicate delicacies, such as the relationships between us and the salt fields. Today was the first day that I didn’t get to teach the salt fields kids. I truly didn’t realise how fulfilling it was to teach them until now, as I sit here missing each and every one of their cheeky smiles. Although a normal session at the salt fields entails removing machetes, energy drinks, rocks, and other items from their hands, I would be so upset if I wasn’t selected to teach them. This camp has forced me to learn a lot about myself and realise that the ways I have thought about my education, privilege, family and rights was extremely ignorant. I am very disappointed in how wide my eyes had to be opened before I realised these things. I’ve always thought of myself as a fairly informed and conscious person and the salt fields has significantly impacted that. At the start of this camp, I was very worried as everything was chaotic, loud and hot and I couldn’t fathom the idea of finishing in one piece, however, I sit here now, reliving every moment and just wishing I could go right back there. Don’t get me wrong, the salt fields isn’t all sunshine’s and rainbows. In fact, it's more like warm water and toddler snot. I want to show everyone how surreal the salt fields are. Only 3 people got to truly experience salt fields, and I’m so incredibly grateful that I was one of them. My new homies, Chi, Nu, and another boy who refuses to tell me his name (he’s shy, but I know he likes me), all love playing aggressive games of soccer. Unfortunately I can never win as they seem to change the rules due to the language barrier which excludes me from hearing all the new rule changes. None of the cheating matters when the sounds of laughter and yelling permeate all corners of the sand court where another half a dozen kids play happily. I become sad at the thought of not being able to hold all the kids in my arms while we practise the alphabet. I will miss them.
12th December 2023
Teagan
CLS vs Salt Feilds
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Today was another day of teaching. I started off at CLS teaching kids about the three R’s (reduce, reuse and recycle) with Cody and Mikaylah. CLS is out the back of a government school and focuses on teaching students English. Lots of the learning spaces are outdoors which is a nice environment to teach in but it can get really hot with no air conditioning. School here is so different to school in Australia, every time I walk into the classroom all of the kids stand up and say “Gooooood mooooorning teeeeacher!” and I have to tell them when they are allowed to sit down. They also have to ask to come into the room after class has started which is very different to Woodleigh. In class we were practicing for our assembly performance on Thursday. Our class is saying some sentences and then doing a dance which they all had fun practicing.
After lunch I went out to the salt fields to teach with Ava, Beth and Cody. The salt fields is still apart of CLS but is in a different location so that more children have the opportunity to learn. I hadn’t taught out there before and it was really different to teaching at CLS. It was very chaotic and all of the kids had so much energy, they were also younger than most of the students I had taught before. When I first got to the salt fields it was break time and there were kids running everywhere. One of the little girls came up to me and started dancing with me. She was very cute but when it was time to start learning she didn’t want to go and just kept holding my hand. After the children had finished what they were supposed to do, they just ran out of the classroom and went back to playing.
Teaching at CLS and the salt fields were very different experiences, and neither of them were anything like what we are used to in Australian classrooms.
Monday 11th December 2023
Salt Fields
Mikaylah
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Today was officially the start of our second, and last week of our incredible trip. There is nothing better than walking into ChumKriel school in the morning and seeing the children's faces light up with their radiant smiles, and suddenly having a swarm of bubbly kids racing towards you. The huge amounts of built up excitement and relief came from both the Woodleigh students and ChumKriel students when finally reuniting after only being apart for two days makes me fear leaving the kids even more. Today I was provided with the opportunity to experience teaching at the salt fields with Cody, Beth and Ava, my god… I have never gained so much respect for someone so quickly. The teachers spoke with incredible amounts of patience and were constantly able to maintain a sense calmness. They almost seemed completely oblivious to the chaos that consumed the classroom. I wish I was able to summon the amount of patience they had in a classroom flooded by screaming kids and scorching heat (though, the kids are adorable). After spending some time in the classroom at the salt fields, it was time go go outside for a little dance break with the kids. As soon as the music started to play, it was obvious Cody, Beth, Ava and I became the students. All in sync the children began to perform a pop dance. Each student with danced with pep and sass while Cody, Ava, Beth and I stood awkwardly attempting to comprehend each of the dance moves. You could tell by the cheeky grins and giggles, the kids were very aware that the teacher-student roles had clearly reversed. We tried our hardest to keep up with their talent but unfortunately our moves were no match, but I’m sure we will get there eventually. As we finished the dance, the students let out an enthusiastic clap and cheer. I personally, felt rather accomplished by their encouragement. Unfortunately, after the impressive show, it was time for me to get back to Chumkriel. I hope to visit the salt fields again soon!
Sunday 10th December 2023
Peppered With Crabs
Matthew Brown
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After getting up bright and early to watch the fishing boats pour buckets of crabs out of the large nets, we enjoyed breakfast at the resort and was forced to participate in child labour - we had to cut out the school children’s masks with varying degrees of effort. When the masks were done we were rewarded with the second hour of the week where we were allowed our phones and hastily sent messages home. A journey to the waterfront street followed to enjoy the freshly caught crab in the local restaurants as one big family. Our family photo was taken by a nearby tourist. The tourist was asked to take the photo by Tilly, who fumbled the execution so badly she was face down on the table with embarrassment for several minutes after the ordeal.
By then it was time to check out of the hotel and start the long journey home, which was temporarily halted by a visit to a pepper farm. At the farm we battled heat, spiderwebs and a burning sensation brought on by the tasting of whole peppercorns, while viewing the interesting plants that grow the pepper. We then tasted tea made from the pepper plant. The people giving the tea made sure it was given at the maximum possible temperature. Our long journey to home (The Apsara Guest House) was only briefly halted by an issue with one of the vans causing it to not be able to go over 40kmh, but it was quickly solved and, while fighting the sleepiness that came with the early start to the day we finally made it back home.
9th December 2023
The Cheap Way Out
Tilly Gillies
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What was the best part of the day?
Bridget:
“Sitting outside our room on the balcony with our legs hanging over while admiring the gorgeous views and thinking about how beautiful the place we are in and how this is real and it’s a very rare opportunity.”
Mikaylah:
“Getting the tuktuk into the town.”
Beth:
“I particularly enjoyed just being able to relax and sit by the pool and not worry about having to do lots of school work!”
Connor:
“Probably getting lunch.”
Hugo:
“Walking through the fish crab market and seeing the fish on sticks that have been cooked.”
Lachy:
“Trying to bargain with the locals and buy more stuff.”
Cody:
“I liked marinating in the pool.”
Finn:
“Fried noodles at lunch - 10/10.”
Matt:
“Riding in the tuktuk.”
Teagan:
“Singing with the driver in the tuktuk.”
Ava:
“Tuktuk, sitting in the tuktuk”
Tilly:
“Talking to the tuktuk driver, and all the locals. Everyone is so much nicer. I loved the pool - it was very relaxing and refreshing. I was not keen on the water temperature of the ocean - it was rather warm. The food was delicious.
8th December 2023
Bridget
Food Baby’s and Teaching
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Today, Mikaylah, Tilly, Teagan, Cody, Ava, Beth, Matt and I all collectively enjoyed lunch together at a local restaurant, while immersing ourselves in the Cambodian culture. Of course as always we ordered half the menu, with our eyes being bigger than our stomachs. As we sat there stuffing our mouths with the beautiful dishes made by the locals, we couldn’t bring ourselves to finish it (like always) as the only thing we have done this trip besides teaching the kids is eat. Breakfast. Lunch. Dinner. The more we eat, the bigger the food baby gets. You don’t know the feeling of guilt when you leave a restaurant with half your food still on the plate.
Walking back to the hotel with our stomachs about to explode in the scorching heat is not something you want to experience. Today’s teaching with Lachy and our class went surprisingly well even though we’ve basically done all the lesson material - so we are just repeating things. We did a bit of unscrambling words and sentences, and they knew it almost instantly. Our kids are genuinely so smart and good at English, they pick up things really quickly. They LOVE duck duck goose - which is killing my feet, but they are too cute to say no to.
7th December 2023
Ava
Lettuce
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Here I am sitting with our Cambodian feast listening to Cody’s (interesting) singing on the rooftop of our hotel. This trip has been full of new experiences and surprises. Working with the kids at CLS has been wonderful. Something about coming together with a bunch of new people and working collaboratively to support these children’s education and wellbeing is beautiful and inspiring. This trip has been packed with meaningful experiences and challenges. I’ve had the privilege of teaching in the salt fields every afternoon, but I’d be lying if I said it was easy. Working with these kids has been extremely humbling. We’ve had a few ‘casualties’ on the fields so far (kids ramming into poles during the hoaky poaky) but despite this, many kids present an eagerness to learn that is unmatched at home.
The highlight of my day was playing with the kids at CLS. Everyone has made such meaningful connections with their students and it’s so lovely to be in such a caring and loving environment (there is literally no way to escape the kid’s hugs). I’m extremely grateful to be on this trip with a wonderful group of people.
So here I am on the rooftop during our dedicated ‘roof time’ trying a bunch of new foods. Honestly, this snake fruit smells like sewerage but I’m glad I tried it and I’m excited for all the new things to come :)
Wednesday, 6th December 2023
Finn
More Monkey Business
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Today, Lachy and I caught up with our Monk friends again at night school. The four of them had been monks for 2 years, 8 years, 5 years, and 10 years, and they were 18 years old, 17 years old, 16 years old, and 19 years old, respectively. They had prepared many more questions for us, and us for them. We asked them questions about their beliefs and what motivated them to devote themselves to Buddha, to which they gave memorably-philosophical, and very long answers. They asked us about our culture back in Australia, so I explained our comparably melancholy country, food, and weather; the best I could do to make light of our bland home-land was explain the Australian “language”! We taught them a few translations: Thank you, in Aussie is “cheers”, Hello is “G’day”, and Goodbye is “laterz”. We shared our future aspirations; all of the monks were obsessed over travel, and after we explained what “fairy bread” was to them, they vowed they would visit Australia to taste the fine cuisine. Before we knew it, our 2 hours of night school had flown by, we had to part ways… But not without our goodbyes; We said “Arkun, Lear hi”, and they exclaimed: “Cheers, Laterz!”.
Tuesday, 5th December 2023
Lachy
Monks Don’t Ski
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Today was our first full day teaching and, oh boy it was great. First Beth and I went for a long joyful walk. On this walk I ended up walking ahead of the group with about seven mischievous boys who loved to fight and push each other around. The main culprit was Tidak, who I was obviously drawn to. But he (surprisingly) was wanting to learn from me (of all people!). We talked (mostly just giggled) about what types of water we saw and I helped them spell. (FYI – Mr Adams had to do a lot of editing on this entry!) When we came back, Beth and I did spelling sentences / exercises.
Lunch time!!! Conner, Hugo, Finn and, I went for a walk to find a nice place to eat at. We found a good looking place with a good amount of customers (so we didn’t get poisoned). The place was all in Khmer and so were the waiters, and the food was so delicious!
(In the afternoon) Bridget and my class were really fast and quick at learning. We went through a booklet and each student spoke what it said and wrote it down. We then had some fun colouring in time (which they loved). They also love to play ‘duck duck goose’ (which is much harder than I remember). It’s so fun and cute to run around with them while they giggle. We then scrambled up words and they had to spell what word it was (which they were really quick at).
Night school time!!! At this point I just wanted to sleep and rest. In my 1st night school session I got paired with a monk, a soccer (football) lover and someone who didn’t speak English. But it was fun to communicate with people of all different levels of English from a different culture. In our 2nd night school session Finn and I got paired with 4 monks who could all speak pretty good English. We learned all about their religion and culture and what being a monk entails. It turns out they aren’t as mysterious as we thought, as they love TikTok and games on their phones. We got talking about countries we want to go to and I asked a monk if they’ve skied before and he said no (I thought this was a religious reason and I was kind of wrong), on the bus home I mentioned monks don’t ski due to their religion and everyone laughed (even Ms Holt!) and Finn said “Maybe cuz there’s no snow in Cambodia!”. Then it hit me … oh yeah there is no snow in Cambodia.
Monday 4th December 2023
Cody
Scorching, sweaty, salt fields.
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I thought I knew what I was in for… I have so much more respect for teachers now.
I, along with Beth, Ava and Ms Holt, were sent way out into the salt fields to teach kids of all different age groups and English levels. Sweating profusely while trying to stop children from consuming the plastic rocks (they did look pretty edible) was a task within itself. I am so lucky to experience teaching disadvantaged kids who are forced to work and live in the salt fields. I feel as though by the end of the camp (if I make it), I will have something amazing to take back with me. Beth and I suddenly realised that the kids we were teaching had little to no English speaking ability; interpretive dance was a temporary solution. I found this out when I said hello to the class and they all looked around awkwardly as if I was speaking gibberish. Ultimately, today was a well-orchestrated heated mess and I can’t wait to do it again!
Sunday December 3
Kampot Market & River Cruise
Hugo Brancatisano
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There is no way to describe the organised chaos of Kampot’s day market. We made the short trip there this morning, personally I was amazed by the quantity of things being sold. Namely the gold jewellery, fresh and live seafood and array of spices. Many of us were caught by surprise by the chickens being carried by their feet through the market and the strong smell surrounding the trading space. The multi layered roofs became so low even I ended up ducking!
The river cruise in the late afternoon was timed with the beautiful sunset over the nearby mountain range. We incurred some short excitement boosts when going under the bridges and our old wooden boat was half a metre from being too tall and taking out the bridge. Looking forward to new explorations and starting to teach tomorrow.
Lots of love
Friday & Saturday December 1 & 2
And so it begins …
Beth Elphinstone
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Our life-changing trip began in no other place than the Melbourne Airport at midnight, when myself and 11 other students boarded an 8 hour flight that was riddled with too much laughter, uncomfortable seating, movie watching, and most importantly, no sleep. After landing for our brief stay in Singapore, we explored local cuisine, sampling the famous Singaporean restaurant, “McDonalds”. We also experienced a “time travelling” phenomenon, where we realised we had lived the same few hours over three times, in three different countries!
Eventually arriving in Cambodia, the first thing we noticed was the colours. A never-ending rainbow painted all the houses and shops, infiltrated with a multitude of advertisement posters. Further along the drive to our hotel, we began to notice the tonnes of rubbish piled along the streets, contrasting with the grand golden temples. The occasional cow could be seen, strolling along the roads, looking for its next snack.
Being in Cambodia for just over 24 hours has already taught me a powerful lesson – to appreciate the disastrous Melbourne weather, as it has been over 30 degrees and thunder-storming since we arrived! This 18-day journey is only just beginning, and I, for one, could not be more overjoyed and grateful for the chance I have been given to experience this vibrant culture.