Camp Beng Mealea
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First Step into Camp Beng |
Learning beyond the classroom – some 23 students and 2 lecturers from the A-Level program were at the Camp Beng Mealea, Cambodia to help with a project on building teachers’ quarters last December. Besides performing well academically, the A-Level program also focuses on community projects which aim to instill a sense of social responsibility and community spirit in the students.
Pictures below show students working on the project site.
Making a difference…touching little hearts
with a smile. Engaging in playtime with local
students from the Beng Mealea School
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Group photos of the participants
Exploring the temples of
Angkor
Certificate by Camp International awarded to all participants to acknowledge their commitment.
For
our students the trip was memorable for the new experience they have savoured
like bathing with ice-cold water flowing from the hose attached to the zinc walls
of the shower rooms, having to use the compost toilets, and sleeping in long
wooden dorms. But most importantly, they appreciated the value of teamwork and
took great pride in knowing that they were part of the project to build the
teachers’ quarters.
Our students say ....................
“5 days of Cambodia trip was truly amazing. I learnt a lot of things there that we could not learn from our textbooks and I learned more about myself, about tolerance, humility, to be more appreciative of what I have and lastly, to give back to society, even if our efforts may seem minute. I also got to know about Cambodia’s culture, the people and even their life. I am lucky to be a Malaysian. If got the opportunity, I would go again to experience and learn more things because the Cambodia trip really opened my eyes”. Lee Xiao Yao
“………Cambodia
was truly a life changing experience…………It truly helped me to see things in a
new perspective and change the things that were considered to be improper in my
life. I enjoyed the trip very much and given the chance to go again, I would
definitely jump at the opportunity. I also made many new friends during the
trip and became closer to my classmates that I hardly spoke to before this
trip”. Darshenkumar
“I
am satisfied……..I have learnt about a country, seen a slice of its people,
their aspirations, their needs, what the international community can do for
them, and done a tiny bit of it myself. Everything is linked; the Khmer Rouge
wiped Cambodia’s social structure and intellectuals. In the aftermath of war,
people have fallen into a vicious cycle of poverty; they gain debts to buy
pesticide for their crop, their soil gets destroyed after the initial boom,
production drops. Overwhelmed by their initial debt, they are either forced to
sell their land or flee. But, despite everything, I see resilience. To wake up
every day and to slog in the fields, knowing that it will be a very long time
before you see results. I know now why I wasn’t yawning on the first day of
tour; the spirit of the workers to go on, no matter how tedious….because
everything they do goes to rebuild their country. I am inspired. Anusha Rajandran
“I embarked on one of the best and the most
life changing trips one can ever experience in a lifetime”. Teng Jing Xian
