Cambodia Kids

  Cambodia

Siem Reap

Durations of Program: 1-2 weeks, 2-4 weeks, 5-8 weeks and 9-12 weeks
Typical Duration of Program: 5-8 weeks
Dates: Anytime

Description: Globalteer is a registered charity in the UK providing ethical and affordable volunteering with the amazing children of Cambodia.

The Cambodia project is located in the town of Siem Reap near the UNESCO designated World Heritage Site of the Angkor temples. The project includes a free education programme for the children, orphanages, day centre for street kids and a water filter project. The project focuses on the young and vulnerable to assist them in finding a way out of the trap of poverty.

Free Education Programme - Provides local children that are unable to afford the government school fees with the opportunity of a free education. One of the schools is run by Buddhist Monks who teach children from ages 5 to 16 a variety of subjects including English and Japanese. The school has 4 classrooms and 500 students who attend the school for a few hours each throughout the day. Due to the local tourist industry, 90% of the jobs available in Siem Reap require English to be spoken. The children are very enthusiastic about learning and very much appreciate hearing good English being taught and spoken by the volunteers.

Volunteers - Assist the local teaching staff and teach English or Japanese. Teach sports, arts and fun activities.

Street Kids Day Centre - Provides local street kids with a safe environment for the children to play, learn, rest, wash and eat. The 60 children registered to attend the centre are the amongst the poorest and the most vulnerable, spending their day on the streets, begging and selling trinkets. The lucky ones chosen to attend the centre can spend part of their day in a safe environment and have the opportunity to escape their desperate situation to play and act like children once more. On Saturday the centre is open to all the local children who cannot be accommodated during the week. The activities include games with the children, assisting the teachers, helping the older children gain the skills for later in their lives and providing hugs as and when required!
Volunteers - Assist the local staff, play games, sing songs, draw pictures and become a mentor to the children.

Orphanages - The project supports three orphanages that provide a safe home for more than 80 children as well as supporting the poorer children in the local community. The children live in 'family' groups of five or more. They live in individual houses with a stable carer, while they attend school and receive agricultural and vocational training. An emphasis is put on teaching traditional Khmer dance, music and handicraft arts, which were repressed during the Khmer Rouge regime. The children, some of whom are HIV+, also receive regular health checks from the Angkor Children's hospital. Relationships with friends and relatives are nurtured by regular trips for the children to their home villages.
Volunteers - Assist the local staff, teach English, play games, sing songs, draw pictures and provide individual skills to the project.

Water Filters - In Cambodia, 1 in 7 children die before the age of five from preventable diseases such as typhoid, malnutrition, malaria, dengue. The common denominator in many of these is waterborne illness. To address this issue we work with an organisation that is constructing and providing bio-sand water filters. They are a low cost way to provide potable water to impoverished areas from any water source (ie: pump wells, pit wells, rivers, ponds). Bio-sand water filters are a new technology to Cambodia. They are made of gravel, sand and cement at a cost of US$45 per filter. The filters are easy to construct with locally available materials, install and maintain. The filtration media consists of a layer of gravel, a layer of course sand, and a layer of fine sand. The biolayer holds the key bacteria essential to removing 98% of biological pathogens and 100% parasites. Water poured through the filter processes at a rate of one liter per minute. Each filter can optimally filter 50 to 80 liters of water per day.
Volunteers - Assist in the manufacture of the water filters, take the filters into the Cambodian countryside for distribution to villages.

Highlights: By volunteering you will be giving the kids a chance of a future. The enthusiasm and resilience of the kids who would otherwise be begging on the streets or have no chance of a decent future is something that will stay with you always.

Qualifications: None

Cost in US$: 850

Experience Required: no

Typical Volunteer: Volunteering is an amazing way to gain an insight into the culture of a country. Once you volunteer you are no longer just another tourist, you will work intimately with the local staff and more importantly give a special gift to the project and community you visit. Volunteering is for those who have an interest in other cultures and want to help those less fortunate than themselves. Also to meet like minded people, adventurous, open minded and with a willingness to make a difference.

Age Range: 18 to 70

This Program is open to Worldwide Participants. This Program is also open to Families, Couples and Individuals

Participants Travel to Cambodia Independently

Typically Participants Work Independently or in Groups of 3

Application Process Involves:

• Written Application

Globalteer's Mission Statement: Globalteer is a UK registered charity that serves to help those in need. We aim to provide support to communities and projects in need, to raise awareness in developed countries of the plight faced by poverty stricken countries, and to educate locals and volunteers about environmental issues and the need to protect wildlife. We promote sustainable development for the benefit of the public through the relief of poverty and the improvement of the conditions of life in socially and disadvantaged communities. We also promote humane behavior towards animals by providing appropriate care, protection, treatment and security for animals which are in need of care and attention by reason of sickness, maltreatment, poor circumstances or ill usage; and to educate the public in matters pertaining to animal welfare in general and the prevention of cruelty and suffering among animals.

Year Founded: 2006