Overview
Soak up jaw-dropping ancient culture, vibrant colours and the many flavours of Asia whilst contributing to vital community and conservation projects to help this beautiful country recover from a turbulent past. Your home for the Summer will be Siem Reap, Cambodia’s hippest town where East fuses with West in spectacular style.
Teach Siem Reap’s orphans, kids with insatiable energy and enthusiasm ready to learn whatever you have to throw at them! Help develop facilities in the area including a water pump and a functioning toilet and work with rural farming communities, where rice farmers still live in wooden shacks on stilts and many people live below the poverty threshold.
At the coast you’ll work with beach kids at a drop in arts project, helping them to create fantastic art and learn to express themselves in a safe and fun environment.
At weekends you’re free to travel and explore, the choice is endless: visit the famous temples of Angkor Wat, trek though ancient jungles or just kick back and relax with bottle of locally brewed ‘Angkor Beer’ on those fabulous palm fringed beaches!
How you help
Helping Who
Communities and orphans around Siem Reap.
Helping How
Projects in Siem Reap
- Teaching Cambodian Orphans: Help teach English, art, dance, sport and handy crafts to children in one of the 4 orphanages around Siem Reap. The classrooms there are very informal and run like kindergartens, with an emphasis on play and creative expression. Learning English provides children with the opportunity to break out of the poverty cycle and ensure themselves a bright future. In addition to the teaching and care roles, you may be able to help with the construction and improvement of their facilities.
- Water Projects: Many of the communities living in and around Siem Reap have limited access to water, sometimes having to walk miles to reach Tonle Sap, the huge lake in the area only to collect a small amount of dirty water to bring home to their families. Likewise, the sanitation in most of these areas is nothing more than a hole in the ground, which can attract all kinds of diseases. Together with the potential distance from suitable hospitals, these can result in serious illness and even death. You will build a well and toilet for a community, making their already hard life significantly easier, as well as discovering a physical strength you may not have realised you had!
- Eco-Agriculture at Samrong Village: Work with farmers near the Angkor temple complex. It’s a picturesque Cambodian rural village, with people living in wooden houses on stilts and farming rice in the paddy fields, which surround the village. Assist the community in establishing basic facilities and trade skills, such as basket weaving and making incense sticks - new ideas are always welcome. You'll also help farmers with their daily activities in the fields, assisting them with improvements to their irrigation system.
Projects in Sihaoukville
- Cambodia Children’s Painting Project: You will be working at the CCPP centre in Sihanoukville, where beach kids are encouraged to stop by, sit down and express themselves any way they want through daily activities such as painting, drawing and other creative outlets. As well as the art being a great way to interact with the children there is also a practical side to your efforts.
Most of the regularly attending children no longer sell their bracelets and wares along the beach as the gallery lends them an opportunity to generate money to help support their families through the sale of their paintings. Paintings are sold for $4, $2 of which goes to the child’s family, and $2 goes into CCPP’s communal education fund which we use to offer all our children a chance to attend Khmer school, paying school fees and providing uniforms, bags, books and pens and any ongoing costs associated with attending full time.
Your base
Your Team
Maximum of 12 volunteers and a minimum of 4 volunteers per team, we can accommodate 2 teams, rotating through the project phases.
Accommodation
Siem Reap: The whole team will live in a comfortable house next to the project host, this is a short bicycle ride from the centre of town and most project locations. Rooms can sleep 2 to 3 volunteers. There are showers, western style lavatories and electricity and a TV with English-speaking cable channels provided.
Sihanoukville: The team will stay in a guest house with 2 volunteers per room. The guesthouse provides fans, but not air conditioning.
Food
Cambodian food is delicious and make sure you try the fish Amok! Breakfast is usually French bread or toast, omelette (ham or cheese) coffee or tea, fruit.
Lunch and dinner is typical Cambodia food: fried rice with vegetables or with chicken, fish, fried vegetables, soup and sometimes sandwiches for lunch.
There are masses of places to go out for dinner if you choose - great western food is available, including local food of rice, fish, chicken, pork and noodles.
Wildlife
Cranes, monkeys, snakes, crocodiles, turtles, woodpeckers, kingfishers, and many more variety of birds.
Weather
Between June and October the temperature is between 25-30 degrees. As this is Cambodia’s wet season it normally rains in the afternoon for a few hours, but this is a lovely time of year to visit as it is very lush and green and sunny in the mornings
Transport
Transport to the projects is by tuk tuk or by mountain bike. You'll have your own bike, safety helmet and lock, which you can also use during the weekend.
Communication
You will be able to communicate with the project leader in English. In the communities most people do not speak English, but Socheat or the project coordinator will help to translate. It would be useful to learn some Khmer, basic language tuition will be given on arrival.
Time In/Out
Time In
Generally activities on the projects will take place 5 days per week for 6 - 8 hours each day with weekends free.
Time Out
Top Trips
- Siem Reap: Lots of tourists visit the famous temples at Angkor Wat, which costs about $20 for a 1 day pass. The town is very popular with backpackers and has excellent bars, clubs, internet cafes, banks, shops, markets cafes, karaoke bars, and restaurants. It is cheap to eat out a good meal costs about $3 and a beer $1, massage 1 hour $5.
- Phonm Penh: The capital of Cambodia is definately a must see! Many cultural and historical attractions including: Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda (ticket $3), National Museum (ticket $3), the Killing Fields (ticket $2) and Toul Sleng Geoncide Museum (ticket $2). Phnom Penh has excellent bars, clubs, discos, internet cafes, banks, shops, markets, karaoke bars and restaurants.
- Sihanoukville: Cambodia’s most famous beach resort, a beautiful fishing town on the white sandy shores of the Bay of Thailand. At your weekends enjoy the laid back atmosphere and spectacular scenery, swimming, sunbathing, snorkelling and scuba diving if you’re feeling adventurous.
- Exploring the floating village on Tonle Saap lake, trek through luscious rainforests, fishing, swimming, mountain biking and visiting museums.
Costs/Dates
Dates
2012 for 6 weeks
July 2nd
2013 for 6 weeks
July 1st
Costs
Up until 31st August 2012
£1931
Up until 31st August 2013
£1931
Includes:
Donation to the project of £80, and you choose how you want this spent.
Selection and briefing on all aspects of the scheme.
24 hour emergency back-up, management and support by UK team and in-country Placement Manager, with reliable communications and infrastructure.
Safety and induction course on arrival.
Airport pick up and transfer to and from the placement.
Transport to and from the phases and to the project work each day.
Food and accommodation throughout.
Not included:
International flights, internal flights (if applicable), travel insurance, visas, medical expenses, (reclaimable through travel insurance), departure taxes $25, soft drinks/beer etc. Volunteers will be responsible for any independent/weekend travel expenses e.g. food and accommodation whilst away from the placement location and any excursions not listed above. We are happy to arrange flights through STA Travel who are well known for offering good value.
Donation To The Community
A donation of £80 per person is included in the cost of the scheme. We have agreed with the Project Leader that you can choose how, as a group or possible even individually, you want this to be spent ensuring you leave a lasting legacy. As mentioned above, £12 of this donation will automatically go to the Cambodia Orphan Fund, as the orphanages rely entirely on charitable donations to feed and the cloth kids in it’s care. Given the average monthly wage is approximately £30 per month the donations do actually go far and in the past Leapers have paid for a child’s school fees, bought materials to build medical clinics, houses and playground equipment.
Exchange Rates
Unfortunately prices have risen due to the weak pound against the US dollar. Please note that as we are paying the project host in US Dollars to cover all in-country costs, and the cost of the placement is set so far ahead, if there is a big change in the exchange rate then we reserve the right to increase the cost of the scheme, as per our Booking Conditions, but will absorb any minor fluctuations, and will give plenty of warning if we have to raise prices slightly.
