The Plan

This summer, I am going to Cambodia.

 Here is my plan: for five weeks, I will volunteer in a community project near Siem Reap, teaching English, maths, how to use a computer, or whatever else is needed. The project is called Grace House and besides free education it also offers vocational training, childcare, and medical assistance. You can check them out here:  http://www.gracehousecambodia.org/ I am extremely excited to be able to work with them! 

I've organised my stay through Globalteer, a UK based charity which supports a number of projects in Cambodia. They also run a volunteer house in Siem Reap, where I will be staying along with other volunteers. 

It took me a long time to choose an organisation and a project to volunteer with, but it was definitely worth taking the time because I am very happy with the result. I wanted to pick a project that really did effective and sustainable work. Globalteer works with local staff, aims to make its projects as independent  as possible from donations, respects local culture and besides education their Siem Reap projects also offer medical care in the form water filters and malaria prevention. Since I've been pretty involved in malaria prevention this year, raising money for the amazing Against Malaria Foundation, I am particularly excited about the last bit!

I also picked the project and the location, because I felt that they allow me to make a contribution that's actually valuable. Teaching English is something I think I'll be much better at than say childcare in general or building class rooms (let's be honest: nothing could harm Cambodian education more than me tryying to use a hammer). And English is a really valuable asset in Cambodia, especially in Siem Reap, where almost all jobs are in the tourism sector!

Here's a video about the kind of work I'll be doing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHBcS6DkoQI&feature=player_embedded

If you want to support Grace House and me, you can do so here: http://www.gofundme.com/m2b5o 

Many thanks to all the generous people who are supporting me!