While most students were relaxing and revitalising on their school holidays, a group of Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School students travelled to Cambodia to help build a kindergarten.
The group of 11 students departed on Sunday, July 2 and returned nine days later.
The youngest student, Year 9 Odette Telfer, said it was a very rewarding experience and would highly recommend it to other students.
“We spent four days doing service work... we were building walls for a primary school,” she said.
“I enjoyed meeting and socialising with the kids in the village...they were always around watching us build the walls.”
“It didn’t matter that I was the youngest. We all got along really well and it was great to get to know students from other year groups, as most students were in Year 11.”
The building project was for the children of Kong Maha village, located 15 minutes outside of Kampong Cham in Cambodia.
Students worked with members of the local community to contribute towards the completion of a kindergarten, which was a challenging but rewarding experience.
The first few days of the trip were spent immersing students into Cambodia’s history and culture, including hands-on volunteer work at the ‘Free the Bears Foundation’ sanctuary, visiting an educational centre for disadvantaged children and exploring cultural sites such as temples and palaces.
Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School intends to continue its established relationship with Kong Maha School by fundraising to buy levelled reading books, which was specifically requested by one of the teachers in Cambodia.
The service-learning program prepared by Rustic Pathways, aimed to leave the students with a profound appreciation and understanding of themselves, the Khmer people and Cambodia.
Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School offers a wide range of international opportunities for students through its Round Square programme. For more information, contact the School on 9722 6000.
