Beyond World Gallery of Hope – Service Learning Trip to Cambodia (Jun 2013)

Beyond World Gallery of Hope was a service project initiated by a group of students focused on serving impoverished Cambodian children. 4 students from previous trip continued their effort and led the 5th batch of students to Cambodia from 6-12 June 2013. They revisited two orphanages (Wat Opot and Who Will) and Cambodian Children Fund (CCF) and organized interesting classes and activities for the children.

Before going to Cambodia, our students attended several workshops to learn about Cambodia, the NGOs, and the needs of the service recipients and to prepare for the teaching content. They also reached out to the Hong Kong community and organized a service named Beach Olympics for local underprivileged children during the HKUST Service Learning Day 2013.

In the beginning of the trip, they purchased commodities for the Cambodian children at the Olympic Market in Phnom Penh. On the second day, the team visited Wat Opot Children Community. They prepared a handicraft making session and went hiking with the children from Wat Opot.  After that, they spent two days at Who Will Village to have interactive activities including mass games, handicraft science experiment, and time workshop with the children there. Finally, they went to CCF community centres and provided two-day workshop for the children. They introduced four topics, including Online Research, Media, Environment – Animals, and Science Experiments.  After finishing all service activities, the team explored the local culture by visiting Killing Fields, Royal Palace, and Central Market on the last day.

After the trip, the participants submitted reflection journals to consolidate their learning. They had better understanding of the local people and appreciated the culture more.