Beyond World Gallery of Hope – Service Learning Trip to Cambodia (Jun 2012)
Beyond World Gallery of Hope was a service project initiated by a group of students who continued on with the efforts of the World Gallery of Hope which aimed to spread love and care to Cambodian children. They went to Cambodia from 31 May to 6 June, 2012, bringing love and happiness to two orphanages (Wat Opot and Who Will) and slum schools by organizing interesting classes and activities for the children.
Prior to departure, our students attended several workshops to learn about Cambodia, the needs of their service recipients and to prepare teaching content. They also reached out to the Hong Kong community, raising awareness of the plight of Cambodian children during the HKUST Service Learning Day 2012!
Our students started the trip by visiting the Cambodia National Museum and purchasing items for the chidlren at the local market, with funds raised from the photo exhibition of the last trip. They then visited the historical Phnom Chiso site on the next day with children from Wat Opot and carried out different interesting activites with them. After that, they went to Who Will Village to teach English through fun interactive activities. They also helped out with tree planting and stayed for one night in the village.
The students went deep into the community and visited a few slum schools operated by Empowering Youth in Cambodia. The children had an undeniable passion and eagerness to learn English despite the harsh learning condition. Our students shared about their vivid campus life and taught the children basic English vocabulary and grammar.
On the last day, the group participated in a cultural exploration activity in Phnom Penh to uncover more about the history of Cambodia. After the trip, our students had a better understanding of the local people and learned to appreciate the culture more.
