Travel to Teach: Cambodia Volunteer Story

Lisa teaching class

Lisa Kaplan, 25, from San Diego, USA

After having had an amazing experience with Travel to Teach in the summer of 2004, I decided to return to Nong Khai, Thailand in the summer of 2005. I first went to Bangkok for five days where I met up with volunteer friends who were still traveling and a T2T staff member who was now living in Bangkok. It was wonderful to spend a little time with my friends before heading back to Nong Khai.

In 2004 I volunteered at the Daystar Kindergarten. I had warm memories of both the children and the staff who work there. They were some of the most kind and welcoming people whom I have ever had the privilege to know. After volunteering for them last year, I stayed in contact with them and let them know that I planned to return to Nong Khai. They kindly invited me to volunteer at their school again and I happily agreed to do so.

When I returned to Nong Khai, I was happy to find that it was exactly the same as it had been when I left. Mut-Mee was still a popular hang out and guest house, the Chinese market was still the same, Jip and Jeab were still serving delicious breakfasts at the Vietnamese restaurant and the locals were as friendly as ever. I was pleased to return to this friendly place.

One thing that had changed was Travel to Teach. There were many more volunteers than when I was in Nong Khai the previous year, there were also new staff members, and new cities and countries to volunteer in. When I was in thailand last year, I remember that the choices of volunteer locations were limited to Nong Khai and Namsom. But now there were programs in Sangklaburi, Pont Pisai, Vietnam and Cambodia. Not only had the choices of program locations expanded but the program as a whole seemed much more organized with weekly meetings and new staff who were readily available to help whenever they were needed.

After hearing that volunteers were needed for the Cambodia program, I happily signed on to go. I had always wanted to go to Cambodia and this was a great chance to volunteer and to get to see the country. I said my goodbyes to my students and friends in Nong Khai and headed to Kampot, Cambodia.

It's hard to sum up my Cambodia experience, but I'll attempt to do so. Cambodia is a phenomenal country that is trying to rebuild itself after years of civil war pain. Kampot, the town where the Travel to Teach program is located is beautiful. The Travel to Teach dorm is located on the fourth floor of The Little Garden Bar guesthouse. It overlooks a gorgeous river. It is an amazing view and it is quite a treat to wake up to that view every morning and watch the sunset from the balcony whenever you please.

The Little Garden Bar is a very friendly guesthouse with staff who are as kind as can be. A man named Ben was running the guesthouse while I was there and he was always available to answer any question that any of the volunteers or myself had or to book a guesthouse or arrange a taxi for us for weekend holidays. His kindness and the help that he provided for us will never go unappreciated.

While in Kampot I was introduced to an amazing organization called Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO.) VSO is not only attempting to improve the Cambodian education system, but thanks to its hardworking and passionate staff, is doing so. The three VSO staff members in Kampot, Marika, Matt, and Rebecca were very passionate and enthusiastic people. The Cambodian education system is very lucky to have such wonderful people working to help improve the system.

VSO works side by side with Travel to Teach in Kampot. The staff are very supportive and always willing to provide help. I was teaching in an orphanage and I was having trouble communicating with the Cambodian staff. When I mentioned this to VSO, they sent a translator with me to help solve the problem. When I mentioned that I was having trouble getting my students to interact, VSO gave me many ideas on how to spark their interest. It was very nice.

Kampot is a lovely town with very friendly locals and a very friendly foreign community. There are rivers to swim in, guesthouses and restaurants to eat at, and a large market. Bokor is in close distance and I have fond memories of riding up a bumpy mountain rode with 9 other people in the back of a pick up truck heading to Bokor.

Sihanoukville is only an hour and a half away. The other volunteers and I didn't let a rainy weekend in Sihanoukville stop us from enjoying daily swims in the ocean.

Phnom Penh is two hours away. One weekend in Phnom Penh, we saw the royal palace, killing fields, a war museum, and even a Cambodian football game. It was quite an experience.

After our last week in Kampot, all of the volunteers headed to Siem Reap together to see Angkor Wat. There is no possible way to explain the breathtaking beauty of the temples. It is an experience that I wish that every person could get to see. Cambodia is an amazing place. I am truly thankful to have had this experience.

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