Volunteer Cambodia: Phnom Penh

Cambodia is trying to establish itself alongside its ever-developing neighbours Thailand and Vietnam.
In August 2005 The Bangkok Post reported Cambodia to have "the worst English language skills in South East Asia." One of the reasons for this is that there is no English curriculum taught in state schools therefore it is a privilege bestowed only to those who can afford it.

Volunteer Projects in Phnom Penh

Children's Village is a Montessori Nursery and Day Care Centre located in the heart of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It is catered to children from 3 months old to six years. There are also several children older than six who go to government school part time and go to Children's Village school for the rest of the day. The thirty plus students at the school come from three different backgrounds:

• Expatriate parents pay full fees comparable to some international schools in Phnom Penh.
• Khmer wealthy parents pay 50%.
• Economically deprived families contribute what they can, in cash or in kind.
• The rationale of this policy is social integration and self-sustainability. The aim is to have 15 children in each category.

Although the school is not wealthy it is well resourced. They take pride in changing the image of Cambodia. The management invests whatever necessary to make the school environment stimulating, enriching and beautiful. Volunteers who choose to come to Children’s Village are not doing relief work but rather participating into a long term rebuilding of Cambodia by providing Khmer children with quality education to enable them to become responsible and competent citizens later.

This school needs English speaking volunteers to interact with children and teach them all sorts of skills, not only the English language but also art, crafts, music, computers, swimming, games and sports, etc. There are also other aspects of the school in which you can take part including administration, IT/website design, and construction.

Photo Gallery: Phnom Penh

More Phnom Penh images.

General Phnom Penh Info

Where Will I Stay?

Volunteers will be staying in a lovely flat connected to the school which is located in the city center. The flat is equipped with cooking facilities and a refrigerator. Volunteers will live in shared rooms and share a western style bathroom.

Food

The volunteers can use the school kitchen to prepare meals. There are also many wonderful restaurants in Phnom Penh including those with Western, Cambodia, and Thai fare. The riverfront street called Sisowath Quay is located just around the corner from the school and offers a variety of restaurants, shops, and nightclubs. There are also many restaurants in town which double as charity organizations so that you can give back to the community while dining out. Dining out can range in price from $1 up, but you can generally have a nice meal for under $5.

Weather

The weather in Cambodia is hot and humid throughout the year with 2 distinct seasons, hot, from December to April, and rainy (although still hot) from May to November.

Free Time

Our volunteers in Phnom Penh love the cities nightlife and food. With clubs, bars and restaurants as well as great Cambodian street food in abundance, it’s a great place for group volunteers, young volunteers or the young at heart!

There’s some great shopping to be had at the cities Russian market which has been quoted to have "anything you could possible want".

For the culture vultures among us, the Royal Palace is a must see and is only a short tuk-tuk ride away from the volunteer house. Siam Reap, home to the breath-taking Angkor Wat, is a trip best saved for the weekends being an 8hours bus ride away. We at Travel to Teach recommend a stop at the Killing fields and The Khmer Rouge’s S21 Genocide museum which is just outside of the city center, to be reminded and to absorb some of the horrendously sad history of Cambodia. All entry fees from both the Killing fields and the S21 Genocide museum go towards the victims and families of the victims from the reign of the Khmer Rouge.

Where Is?/ Getting To Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh is the capital of Cambodia and is situated in the south-central region of Cambodia, at the confluence of the Tonlé Sap, Mekong, and Bassac rivers. These rivers provide potential freshwater and other resources.

There are numerous airlines that fly directly into Phnom Penh and it is worth checking out whether it is cheaper to fly direct to Bangkok or Malaysia first and then arrange a separate connecting flight to Phom Penh, Cambodia with a local low cost airline.

We suggest taking a look at Air Asia’s website at www.airasia.com who fly directly from Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur to Phnom Penh.

If you are travelling elsewhere in Asia first, there are direct buses to Phnom Penh from Bangkok in Thailand and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. If you are travelling through Laos first you will have to change bus/boat before Stung Treng at the border and maybe again at Kratie.

If you are travelling within Cambodia there are many local buses to Phnom Penh. From Siem Reap or Sihanoukville there are also VIP coaches.