Cambodia Community Service
15 Days
- Experience everyday life in a rural Cambodian village
- Help build a school and teach English to young students
- Watch the sunrise at Angkor Wat
- Spend a day exploring an undeveloped tropical island
Community Service Projects
Students will spend an estimated 30–40 hours on community service projects. In a rural village, work alongside local people on a variety of projects and build friendships across cultural and language boundaries.
How To Apply
• About the Application Process
• Apply Now
• Call or Email Us
Itinerary — 15 Days
Cambodia today conjures up visions of dazzling rice paddies and palm-lined beaches, floating villages, and the extraordinary temples of Angkor. Yet just over 40 years ago, the country was devastated by the Khmer Rouge regime. Cambodia has been steadily rebuilding ever since, but still much of its population struggles to make ends meet. Settle into rural life and work alongside Cambodians on a variety of service projects. Then prepare to be awestruck by Angkor Wat.
Phnom Penh
3 days. The program kicks off in Phnom Penh, Cambodia's contrast-filled capital. See the Royal Palace and its richly embellished Silver Pagoda, with floors paved with 5,000 silver tiles. Stop by the bustling Russian Market, where merchants hawk everything from knock-off handbags to silks and Buddha carvings. Then learn about the notorious “killing fields” and the horrors committed by the Khmer Rouge on a visit to the genocide memorial. Meet with Arn Chorn-Pond, a peace activist and musician, and join a group of young people as they prepare for and present a performance of traditional music.Community Service Village
7 days. Travel south to the Kep region on the lush, largely undeveloped coast of the Gulf of Thailand. From our base in a rural eco-lodge near the sea, we'll spend six days working in small groups on a variety of service projects in a nearby village. A typical day begins early with a breakfast of delicious tropical fruit. Then we head out into the community to help build a school or work on home improvements for the poorest residents. Teach English to local teenagers and adults, and organize fun learning activities for younger children. In the late afternoon, follow a path through the jungle to Angkoul Beach and go for a swim, play volleyball (a local favorite), or prepare a pizza dinner in the lodge's wood-fired oven. Use photography, video, or writing to record the projects you work on and the people you meet and put together a narrative of your experience. At the end of our stay, we'll invite friends from the community to join us for a day on the pristine tropical isle of Koh Tonsay.Angkor Wat/Tonle Sap Lake
3 days. Journey inland to Siem Reap, the gateway to Angkor, the capital of the Khmer Empire. Here, carved stone temples and palaces stretch over 30 square miles of jungle. Watch the sun rise over the towers of Angkor Wat; climb among the 216 giant stone faces at the Bayon temple; and explore Ta Prohm, where the bulging roots of the jungle engulf age-old temples. Then discover a unique way of life in the floating villages of the vast lake, Tonle Sap. A short boat ride brings us to one of these communities, where stores, schools, homes, and temples are all afloat, and where the local people make their living raising crocodiles. At a final banquet, we'll share the stories we've crafted about our Cambodian experience.Accommodations
We stay at an eco-lodge in simple thatched bungalows with solar electricity. Western style bathrooms with showers are in adjacent small buildings. We help prepare some of our meals, which we enjoy in an open-air restaurant beside a natural swimming pool. In Phnom Penh and Siem Reap we stay in small hotels.Apply now for this program or call us for more information at 877-877-8759.
