Shannon Ferrier - Clean Water Project (December 2009)

Late November / Early December 2009: Shannon Ferrier, a JWOC volunteer, spoke to scholarship student Sarann and accompanied him during his weekly volunteering with the Clean Water project. Here is what she wrote about her experience…

This morning I met Sarann, a 22 year old scholarship student at JWOC. In return for his scholarship, he volunteers every Saturday morning with JWOC’s Clean Water Project. He is in second year at University, majoring in Finance.

Sarann comes from a large family- he has 8 brothers and sisters. When he graduated from high school, he worked as a security guard at the airport. After hearing about JWOC from a friend, he applied, passed the test and was accepted as a scholarship student. He leads a very busy life. Six days a week he goes to university from 6 to 9 pm and 5 days a week he volunteers with another NGO from 7.30 to 5 pm. On Sundays he studies, does homework and washes his clothes.

We left JWOC about 8.15 on Saturday morning—three of us in a tuk-tuk and most of the students doubling up on motorbikes. It was a 25 minute ride to the village of Branat. When we arrived at the village chief’s house we found several villagers waiting for us, and large reed mats laid on the ground where they could sit or squat. A table held a new ceramic water filter and a large bowl of water ready for the demonstration.

Attendance was taken. We were told that it’s very important that one responsible family member attend the demonstration. If the filters are not properly cleaned and maintained they won’t provide the clean water necessary for good health.

Sarann demonstrated each step and assembly of the filter – immersing the filter in water, scrubbing it with a rough pad, then carefully rinsing it in fresh water. All parts of the filter were washed, scrubbed and rinsed before assembly.

When the demonstration was finished, the students patiently repeated the whole procedure. They then asked for volunteers from the assembled villagers to step forward and repeat the procedure a third time.

While the demonstration was going on, the project’s assistant manager, a former JWOC scholarship student himself, watched the audience carefully. Later, he took aside two who he felt were not watching or understanding what was going on. When they were questioned, it was apparent that he was right. They were told to send another family member to the next day’s demonstration. They did not receive a filter that day.

At this point about 20 filters were carried out of the chief’s house where they had been stored. They were given to the villagers who strapped them into large baskets on their bicycles or hoisted them to their shoulders and headed for home.

In a few weeks the scholarship students will be back to inspect the filters, take water samples for lab testing and provide further instruction on personal hygiene – particularly handwashing and teeth cleaning. Even though the instruction was in Khmer, it was very easy to understand as I watched the demonstration.

I learned from Sarann that before he became a JWOC scholarship student and volunteer, he had known nothing about the importance of personal hygiene and clean water. He said this had been very helpful to him and that he had shared his knowledge with family and friends.

It was an educational and very inspirational day for me.

Lee Ferrier - JWOC Microfinance (December 2009)

Late November / Early December 2009: Lee Ferrier, a JWOC volunteer, spoke to scholarship student Chankakda and accompanied her during her weekly volunteering with the Microfinance project. Here is what he wrote about his experience…

I accompanied Kakda when she went into the community as a project worker in the JWOC micro- finance project. Her duties this day were to meet the loan recipients, collect from them their required weekly payments, and to discuss any problems they were having with their businesses.

Kakda is a scholarship student in her 4th year at university majoring in English literature. She is a 26 year old qualified school teacher who wishes to pursue a career as an English teacher at a private school or university.

It is hard not to be impressed with her dedication and hard work. She is employed as a teacher at two schools from 7.30 am to 6.00 pm and attends her university classes from 6.00 to 9;00 pm, all of this 6 days a week. On Sundays she volunteers at JWOC.

Kakda told us that the project not only provides loans, but also holds workshops to help loan recipients learn good business practices and money management. They also learn to set goals and, in cases of group loans, to solve problems in group discussion.

We were scheduled to visit three recipients, but only needed to visit two, because the other had dropped by the JWOC community center to make her required payment. Her business was selling used clothing at a local market - the loan enabled her to buy clothes for resale.

We visited a "group recipient" - first time borrowers are required to borrow as a group and all must take responsibility to pay off the loan of the group. The loan payment was made without a hitch. The meeting, which included the recording of the payment and providing a receipt record to the borrower, was conducted in a friendly but business-like manner. In this case the borrowers were a husband running a hand laundry business, his wife running a small street-side café, and a neighbor working as a self-employed metal worker, who needed a small loan to pay for gas for his motorbike so he could go to job sites to do his work.

Kakda credits Michèle, the Project Manager, and Andrew and Camilla, the JWOC Directors, for the effective administration of JWOC, and the guidance and assistance they provide to the scholarship student volunteers - all in the pursuit of assisting the community. Kakda says she too is learning about money management, good business practices and the setting of priorities and goals. She plans to continue giving back to her community. After completing University, while pursuing her career as an English teacher, she wants to volunteer in the management of an NGO --- relying on her experience gained at JWOC.

I do not doubt for a moment that she will do it.

Travel Aid and the JWOC Clean Water Project - August 2009

As volunteers, our role within the JWOC clean water project was to facilitate the work of the scholarship students and provide them with support during a new project. It turned out to be a rare opportunity to work closely with both the local students and local villagers, and many of us felt privileged to be in this position to be so involved in a grassroots development project.

We worked on a completely new project with three groups of households in Kvean Village which is located near the Angkor territory. In a way we were incredibly lucky as this meant that we were able to see the impact of our work on the village. The first visit to the village was for many volunteers their first ride on motorcycles! However, having overcome the initial adrenalin rush of placing our lives in the (very safe) hands of the scholarship students, passing sparkling emerald paddy fields and navigating the bumpy red roads of Siem Reap to the village; disturbing the ubiquitous featherless chickens and the odd placid buffalo, we arrived at the site where our work was to begin.

Having been briefed in scouting techniques by Andrew, we divided into groups to explore the village and scout for existing wells, taking note of their model, condition and locations. Our further objective was to find suitable positions to build new wells that could benefit the village. The wells that we saw ranged from abandoned holes in the middle of fields to working hand-pumped pipe wells funded by Japanese charities. Although many wells were in poor condition, what struck me the most was the pride with which the villagers demonstrated the workings of their well. They also didn’t seem to mind us taking notes, photographs and GPS readings while scattering animals and children in all directions.

From working at JWOC, the drive and dedication of the teams there to create change as effectively and quickly soon became clear. Within 2 weeks of our initial visit, all the information gathered enabled JWOC to employ a local well man to repair all the broken wells in the village, and new wells were constructed where they were most needed and accessible. Visiting the village every weekend meant that we were able to communicate directly with the villagers with (huge amounts of) help from the scholarship students. Although many in the village already had access to water in some form, there were those who clearly benefitted from the JWOC’s speedy work. In particular, there was a family with two very young children and a pregnant mother. When we arrived, they were drinking and washing using dirty grey water out of an exposed hole well, which completed negated any of the mother’s efforts to keep all their water containers and utensils meticulously clean. By the time we left however, the family were enjoying the benefits of a new and deep hand-pump well that spilled clean water. Although we could not communicate in language, it seemed clear from his smiles that the father was overjoyed as he showed us that it worked. This personal level of work that JWOC carries out does not appear to be a one-off.

In addition to the well maintenance and building, JWOC also worked sought to distribute ceramic water filters to the village and planned to carry out training in hygiene and teeth-cleaning with the village community. In order to assess the necessity and impact of such work, we went out to Kvean Village with the scholarship students to engage the villagers in surveys relating to personal health, hygiene and lifestyle. Not being able to speak Khmer was frustrating as we were not able to connect with the villagers on the level that the scholarship students were able to (although the odd paper crane seems to cross multitude of language barriers with children), and though we asked highly probing questions ranging from the frequency of teeth-cleaning to diarrhoea, and asked for demonstrations of hand-washing, we were welcomed with nothing but patience and tolerance. The JWOC scholarship students seem to play a huge role in making both the villagers feel comfortable and the JWOC approach non-intrusive.

Another key task that we as volunteers participated in during the clean water project was in designing a training presentation with the scholarship students which would be given in villages prior to handing out water filters. As the scholarship students often found it difficult to remember all the details of the long filter preparation process, we worked together to produce a cohesive training presentation which used prompt cards to aid the presenter and demonstrator. This appeared to work! We managed to work out a presentation which hopefully engaged the audience and which the scholarship students agreed would help future generations of JWOC students to present in villages.

On the 2 days of water presentations, we all congregated at JWOC at 7am in order to practice the presentation routine with the JWOC students before the real thing in the village. That weekend, the rigmarole of soaking, drying, washing and more washing of water filters was presented with success and water filters were handed out to each household in the 3 groups of Kvean Village. As we walked around the village to check the progress of preparing the filters, I noticed one family had soaked their filter with that evening’s vegetables for dinner. Multi-tasking indeed!

Working on the clean water project at JWOC really showed how much more effective such work is when local volunteers are engaged, and how efficient such an organisation can be. Although many in the village still live in difficult conditions, within a few weeks JWOC were able to provide access to clean water. This process can clearly be replicated in many more areas of need around Siem Reap. In the month that we volunteered, JWOC allowed us a privileged insight into how such programmes are carried out and we hopefully helped (a little). Thank you to Camilla, Andrew and all the JWOC scholarship students for your tireless work, and for making us feel so welcome while working at JWOC.

Jennifer Tsim

TravelAid at JWOC Free Classes - August 2009

One of the main roles of the Travelaid team was to help the many scholarship students at JWOC with their free English teaching classes. JWOC helps coordinate 20 English classes throughout the week. Classes of around 25 students are held in 3 separate classrooms (2 at JWOC, 1 at Wat Chork). With an eleven strong team, we were lucky to have both a weekday class (four, one hour classes a week) and a weekend class (2, 2 hour classes) each.

Before arriving at JWOC, we were all really nervous about the English teaching – despite all attending a TEFL course! To our delight, we soon discovered that we wouldn’t actually be teaching on our own, but assisting the permanent teachers here, the Khmer scholarship students. We were encouraged by Andrew and Camilla to help the Khmer teachers make the lessons more student focused. In government schools here, children learn their English largely through copying sentences from the board and repeating set words and phrases. The most genuine English conversation they can share is with tourists who rarely venture out of the centre of Siem Reap or from the Angkor temples. We wanted to make the classes much more interactive with fun games and role plays to help get them using their English in more natural conversations with each other and find new, exciting ways to help them remember vocabulary and sentence structures.

I think the Travelaid team all had different experiences with their classes depending on the confidence of the teacher or the age of the class. Many of us with adult classes found that students were incredibly motivated and would often ask us questions that we struggled to answer. I’d often have to ask other members of the team for ideas on how to explain the many ridiculous rules we have in English! The ‘adult’ students, ranging from 13-25, find four hours (on top of school studies and work) in their week to focus on their English and hopefully improve their job prospects not just in the tourist industry but in finance, law and management. I’d struggle to believe that teenagers in England would voluntarily give up so much time and be as enthusiastic and focused as these guys are. Their enthusiasm to learn made the experience of teaching incredibly rewarding and encouraged us all to dedicate many more hours thinking up new ways to make the most of our lesson time and our teaching much more effective.

I personally found teaching the younger kids a lot harder. They were still very used to being talked at and many seemed to struggle much more when asked direct questions or were encouraged to write on the board or talk in English in front of their peers. They loved the games though especially when divided into teams and made to compete against each other to first discover the correct spelling of a new word or complete gaps in a sentence for example.

The majority of our team found the scholarship student teachers incredibly receptive to these new approaches, many scholarship students had already used games in classes. However there were a few teachers who, perhaps being a bit more shy or stretched for time, took a bit longer to come round to suggestions for their classes. It was tricky sometimes to encourage the teacher to actually conduct the game themselves rather than getting the volunteer to lead the game as one segment of the lesson before they returned to the usual style of teaching for the rest of the lesson. We’ve been working to ensure that our efforts here will not die off the minute we leave Siem Reap. The aim was always to find methods of teaching that the scholarship students themselves believed to be effective and would feel confident to continue after we left. We had neither the experience nor the intention to take over the class, teach for a month and then head home with a warm and fuzzy feeling. Some members of our team have built up an activities ideas folder which we hope students will return to occasionally when planning their classes.

Some of us were also very fortunate to have our very own class at the weekends. This was sadly due to one of the scholarship student teachers being involved in a motorbike accident (apparently a really common occurrence here in Cambodia). At first, we were incredibly nervous to be leading a two hour class, but quickly found our adult students to be very welcoming and helped us along even when we couldn’t answer their questions! We tried to focus on practicing pronunciation and writing since these seemed to be the two areas where students really struggled – punctuation and many of our English sounds are completely new to the Khmer students so take lots of practice. We also took time over areas we thought to be most useful, such as food and drink which we thought would be relevant for those working in restaurants. Stumbling blocks soon arose when trying to explain the concept of toast, jam or pasta! Once we leave, another volunteer will fortunately be here to carry on the classes until the scholarship student teacher recovers fully.

Many members of our team also found it beneficial for the lessons (and really lovely for us!) to spend separate time working with the scholarship student teacher. Many of the scholarship students have had little opportunity to practice their own English outside of the classroom. It was so nice to take time to sit and chat about family, our ambitions and the differences between our lives and cultures. The students are largely of the same age as us and at a similar point at university, making decisions about where they want to work and what they hope to achieve. We started an afternoon drop in session for any students (whether scholarship students or not) to come and chat with us and practice their English. Some of our team started daily, one hour, individual classes with their teacher where we would work on the pronunciation of certain sounds and practiced by reading aloud newspaper articles and stories. We also had lots of opportunities to see the students socially such as at Sunday, movie nights, during our extra curricular activity sessions during the week or whilst working on the well or microfinance projects. As the teachers got to know us as a team outside of the classroom, they seemed a lot less self conscious during their lessons, more relaxed and more confident to enact our ideas for the lessons.

The scholarship students here at JWOC really are incredible. They put so much time and effort into their lessons and improving their own English alongside their degrees which range from English Literature (reading Shakespeare and Austen!) to Law, Finance and Management, it was such a pleasure to work with them and feed off their energy! We were all really relieved and encouraged by how receptive the students were to us. I’m not sure how keen I’d be if someone walked into my classroom and started voicing their opinions! But the students were always so open and warm, allowing us a snapshot into their lives which has made this experience so much more personal. They have given us so much advice about bargaining in the town, which temples to visit and food to try. We were lucky to share a real Cambodian BBQ with some of the teachers and a few of us went out clubbing to a full on Khmer club and drove to watch sunrise at Ta Prohm!

I think we’ve also all been overwhelmed by how hard the Khmer people work here; often putting in 3 hours of work in the field before breakfast, working in hotels and shops to provide an income, studying at university and still turning up at JWOC with the kind of smile and enthusiasm that we volunteers worked to muster over our toast every morning. The atmosphere here is one that encourages strong friendships and devotion to the education of the students that return here day after day. I think we will all struggle to say our goodbyes.

Hannah Perry

West Point Cadets Volunteer AIAD experience in Siem Reap - Neil

In the summer of 2008, I spent three weeks in Siem Reap with Journeys Within Our Community. Working as a member of an eight-person team, I volunteered with a number of JWOC projects, including the Clean Water Project, the Village Microfinance Fund, and the English Language schools provided by JWOC at Wat Thmei and Wat Chork. The Journeys Within Our Community program afforded me the opportunity to explore a foreign country, immerse in a culture far removed from my own, and meet an exciting and motivated group of people, while at the same time participating in a rewarding and productive volunteer project. During my time with JWOC, I participated in one of the most innovative and exciting projects I could have imagined, a complete immersion in the nearby Veal Village for a forty-eight hour period. Our group was split up into two groups of four, with my group assigned to Veal Village and the other group assigned to nearby Tropeangses Village. These villages exist on the extreme edge of sustainable poverty, they are truly struggling to survive and provide a better life for their children on a daily basis. Each group was synched with an interpreter, and provided with bottled water and a food resupply plan. Within the villages, each group was further split, with two to three person teams pairing up with a village family for two days. My family, a multi-generational family of five, was extremely accommodating and gave me new insight into the mindset of the local people.

While living in Veal Village, my group was tasked with conducting oral hygiene training, an extremely rewarding project as we distributed toothbrushes and toothpaste provided by another JWOC contributor, and taught the village children how to brush their teeth, hopefully instilling a beneficial life-long habit. In addition, with the help of our interpreters, we walked throughout the village, talking to dozens of families and almost one hundred school-age children. We conducted a survey designed to gauge interest in free English classes at the new JWOC Community Center, the classes being one of JWOC’s many exciting upcoming projects. The results of the survey allowed us to glimpse the importance of education for the village children, many want to attend classes, but currently cannot because of the costs associated with government schools and their responsibilities at home. By providing free classes nearby, Journeys Within Our Community will aid these children by helping them escape the cycle of poverty currently existing in Veal Village, and I felt like I really was helping JWOC help the kids succeed.

In addition to an interesting and rewarding volunteer experience, JWOC provided a great overall Cambodian experience. The staff and all of the personnel were extremely helpful, Jesse and Melissa were awesome to work with, providing direction and resources while still allowing the eight of us to work together to solve complex problems and work to improve the JWOC projects. The scholarship students, interpreters, and especially the monks at Wat Chork were all incredible, and working with all of them made the trip one of the best experiences I have had. I’m excited to see what is in store for JWOC in the future, with such a solid foundation I believe they will continue to be extremely successful in providing benefit to the local community and volunteers alike.

- Neil Mittel

July 2008

West Point Cadets Volunteer AIAD experience in Siem Reap - Sung-Yong David Kim

JWOC has provided me the opportunity to not only travel to Cambodia, but to help others in need. The experience has been both exciting and eye-opening. Everyday I would learn something new about the people or the culture of Cambodia. I came to Cambodia not knowing anything about the people or their history, but after the missions set out before me by JWOC, I was able to interact with the people and learn so much more than I expected.

Some of the missions I participated in was surveying young "recycle" children and to raise an interest in a free education program for these children. I spent the afternoons aiding local university students in teaching English at a local school. It was amazing to see how the students were always eager to learn more, even the university volunteers. To them English is a necessary tool for success as the need for English speaking Cambodians are never-ending. The best mission yet was to live and immerse myself amongst a squatter village. I spent 2 days with a host family, and spent the mornings and evenings surveying the village looking for ways to improve the living conditions and lifestyle of these people. It was definitely a challenge as I was not used to sleeping and living in such poor conditions. However, through that experience, I felt a stronger urge to help the people as most of them work from dawn till dusk yet they only make a total of 3-4 dollars a day. Their meals are very meager and the children play in sewage. One cannot help but feel sorry for the people. Yet, the people live their lives with such perseverance that they were inspiring.

However, JWOC also made arrangements for me to view the breathtaking temples and learn the history of Cambodia through very knowledgeable guides. The accommodations at the Bed and Breakfast was a little unexpected as it is very modern and in no ways uncomfortable. I was able to try the Khmer food and visit the local markets. My travel in Cambodia was at no point dull as there was always something to do and something new to experience.

West Point Cadets Volunteer AIAD experience in Siem Reap - Owen

I came to Cambodia through the summer academic trips program that West Point has. I knew that I wanted to do a service trip in a faraway foreign country. I would say that I was a little disappointed with the amount of work which we got to participate in, but some of the blame for that could be placed on my own lack of initiative.

One experience that I found very valuable was the 48 hours that we spent in a poor local village. It was interesting to be able to catch a greater glimpse of the life of the people in this village, who do not even have a right to the own land on which they build their homes. I was inspired by the level of dignity and grace that some of the families brought to what appeared to us a desperate situation. Getting to know those families has been my best experience in Cambodia.

I also enjoyed teaching at the language school. The dedication of the students to learn English and improve their lives was impressive, the grace and cheer with which they went about it was inspiring for me.

This is the fifth time that I have had a voluntourism type experience, and I love it every time. I think that the people of Cambodia are the most genuinely kind people of a country that I have ever met. JWOC really seems to be making an impact on the local community, but what is more important is that despite having found ways to help people on a large scale, they still have a touching personal feeling for individual hardships that individuals and families go through, and do their best to help people live joyful lives.

West Point Cadets Volunteer AIAD experience in Siem Reap - Andrew

I came to JWOC with very little understanding of Cambodia as a whole, what the situation was like in Siem Reap, or what to expect from the volunteer program here. After spending more than two weeks working with JWOC and its various programs, I will say that it is one of the most interesting and valuable experiences I’ve ever had. Coming from a military background, I didn’t quite understand how an NGO did business or how one could impact a community in need. Teaching English classes at Wat Chork, seeing micro finance in action, and embedding into the Weal squatter village for 48 hours broadened my horizons and afforded me a greater well of experiences on which to fall back.

Journeys Within Our Community is a very effective organization that is continually expanding its outreach into Siem Reap and other Southeast Asian countries. I was impressed with both the permanent staff and the corps of volunteer scholarship students that aid the programs. The amount of difference that a small donation to JWOC can make in Cambodia is astounding. Resources used effectively are allowing many Cambodians crammed into the edges of emerging tourist destination Siem Reap to break out of the cycle of poverty that gripes the majority of the populace here. I honestly feel that my time helping with JWOC’s programs has made a difference in many people’s lives and that JWOC as an organization will continue to do so in the future.

West Point Cadets Volunteer AIAD experience in Siem Reap - Jackie

Honestly, my trip to Cambodia would have never happened if it weren’t for Angelina Jolie. I have been her biggest fan for as long as I can remember and learned of her many trips to the country. I made my first trip to Cambodia a volunteer vacation through JWOC and absolutely loved every part of the trip. I couldn’t believe just how beautiful the people and the country were.

I would have to say the best part of my trip was having the opportunity to be fully immersed in the Cambodian lifestyle. For three days and two nights, I lived with a single mother and her two daughters in a poor village. Besides immediately becoming attached to the family, I also fell in love with the rest of the community. Every single person was welcoming and their actions during my stay were all so genuine. Starting from five in the morning, everybody was awake and smiling; children were running around ready to get on with their daily lives. It was such an interesting glimpse of how different their lives were compared to my own and I was completely shocked to see the degree of motivation and dignity within each family. I’ve never experienced anything like it.

The numerous activities JWOC arranged ranged from visiting the infamous Angkor Wat to teaching English classes. Although living with Cambodians who were just struggling to get by day-by-day was only a minor part of my travel, it had the biggest impact on me. This trip made me realize just how big of an impact little actions can make on people’s lives. Overall, my travel to Cambodia is definitely one of the few trips that I would like to experience again. I love it!

LMU Alternative Breaks Volunteer - Lorena

Joining Journey's Within our Community for two weeks was one of the best experiences I have had in a long time. From the moment our plane landed in Cambodia, I immediately knew I was in for a different experience. For two weeks, we visited several of the JWOC projects and got to know the scholarship students overseeing the various projects: Clean Water, Language Schools and Micro-Finance program. I was so impressed with the scope of programs that address such crucial areas in Cambodia. One of my favorite volunteer placements was teaching at Wat Thmei. Working alongside the teachers, we got to read stories, practice grammar and pronunciation. The best part of classes was just getting to know the kids, sharing our stories and hearing about theirs also. Before we knew it, we were alternating words in Khmer and English. I really looked forward to going to Wat Thmei in the afternoon. One of the students won the hearts of all the volunteers. She brought us personalized bracelets with our names on them. She said it was a gift for us. Witnessing the grace and dedication of the students was the best gift I could have received. For me, it represented that JWOC time and resources were invested in the right place: the people of Cambodia, the youth that can pass on the information and work ethic for future generations. My experience volunteering through JWOC has undoubtedly changed me and I plan to keep in touch with the organization. I'm excited to see how it will continue to develop.

LMU Alternative Breaks Volunteer - Alexis

My name is Alexis Costales and I came to volunteer with JWOC along with 11 other Loyola Marymount students, staff and faculty. In a total of two weeks time I was fortunate to meet the crux of JWOC and see first hand what smart and genuine effort can produce. Three mornings were allotted for special projects. Richard Fox, a professor at LMU, and I were asked to conduct a survey in order to look at the school attendance of primary school age children(6-13) in two villages JWOC works in. I remember hearing about this opportunity prior to coming to Cambodia and immediately felt great interest in taking on the task. It was hard to estimate what the survey in Veal and Tropeangses villages would actually entail. Monday, May 19^th, was our first day of administering the survey; we were to cover most if not all of Veal Village. Chhin Se, our translator for the first two mornings, was so important to not only the survey itself, but to Richard and I for his commitment and patience with the process. Also, I would like to thank Phay Narla for his help on the third and final morning in Tropeangses village. I have always argued and desired for the application of my studies to the work and volunteering I do in Los Angeles and past experiences abroad. This education survey was unique and the direct application of my academic studies. Looking back I see a rare instance when I felt completely of use to a group of people I formerly imaged as being beyond my help. I did not anticipate the amount of work needed as well as the importance the survey would have with me personally. I now have faces and stories that represent the primary education report. They are faces and stories of the families that motivated Richard and I from the beginning and will continue to motivate us to work for worthwhile, just and necessary projects for the betterment of others in the future. The findings of the report pointed out some of the serious problems and challenges facing the families in poorer villages in Siem Reap. I am grateful for the opportunity, but more importantly, I am proud and hopefully to have worked on such a ‘special’ project for JWOC and the community of Cambodians they seek to work for and be with.

LMU Alternative Breaks Volunteer - Brock

During our time in Siem Reap, our group had the opportunity to work on JWOC’s recently acquired property which will be the future site for their community center. The center is located next door to the Journey’s BandB. When we arrived, the house (which is being transformed into a community center) and the land were in pretty bad shape because the property has been vacant for a while. One of the biggest problems with the house was the worn paint on the walls. Over the span of a couple of days, our group worked with JWOC scholarship students sanding the walls of the entire building and also applying primer to the walls. After the primer dried, we were able to paint three of the rooms in the building which resulted in a noticeable aesthetic difference. Other minor tasks included clearing cobwebs from the house, cleaning the ventilation, and weeding the yard (which afforded us the opportunity to see a variety of critters that live in the Cambodian soil). Even though we won’t have the opportunity to see the project through to completion, we feel that the work we put into the property moved it closer to being ready for use. It was also quite enjoyable to work side by side with the scholarship students, learning bits of the Khmer language, and joking throughout the day.

Jesse and Melissa explained to us that the community center will serve a number of purposes. The center will provide an office for the micro-finance project, serve as a place for community members to gather, provide housing for volunteers, and will also be home to a café which will give locals vocational training. The center will allow JWOC to increase its capability to work with impoverished individuals from Siem Reap. By providing educational opportunities and offering credit to the poor, JWOC is fighting poverty with a holistic approach. Assisting with the renovations of the community center allowed us to participate in this fight, even if it was only in a small way.

LMU Alternative Breaks Volunteer - Dre

Journeys Within has given me an incredible opportunity to travel much differently than I have before. I have been fortunate to understand the culture from the Khmer people themselves. Rather then being limited to the privilege of guided tours and hotel views, I have been introduced to the real side of Siem Riep.

One of my favorite moments of this trip, and probably one of the greatest moments of my life, was when I was taken to see the water wells of the Clean Water Project. I was taken by one of the university scholarship students riding on the back of her motorbike. Having never ridden on a bike before, I thought I would be a bit apprehensive about getting there. Yet, not one moment did I feel unsafe. Feeling the cool air as we rode for about an hour on the countryside was an amazing sight that most tourists don’t get the chance to see. I couldn’t believe that just days before I was sitting at home in the U.S. We drove far from the main town where tourists tend to stay. Although the village that we went to had rarely seen foreigners around their area, they still welcomed us with open arms and big smiles.

I was able to see about six of the water wells that JWOC had installed within the last month. Providing clean water to communities that normally drink and cook with water invested with bacteria and waterborne disease, JWOC has given new life to these people. The scholarship students as well as the staff are so dedicated to not only the work they do, but the people they serve. Their open hearts are evident in their commitment and it’s no surprise Journeys Within continues to succeed. I hope they continue to change the face of tourism.

LMU Alternative Breaks Volunteer - Lynda

Here, men are so shy. There’s no doubt that I have probably noticed this more since I am a woman. On my first day at the Wat Thmei language school none of the men were comfortable talking with me! We attended three different classes across three days and they all started out the same. In the beginning you really had to initiate the conversations but it was really great to see these same individuals become more comfortable with speaking English. The students really enjoyed working on their pronunciation, so much of my time spent here was going over how to make some of the simple sounds we native speakers can make so easily. One sound in particular was the t- and th- sound. Many of the students would say “three” and “tree” as the same word and they were so happy when they actually learned how to say the two differently. I’m sure I looked pretty goofy standing at the front of the class demonstrating where their tongue should land when they say these words but it was tons of fun and so rewarding to share in their excitement.

I will never forget how eager the women in the class were to ask if I had a boyfriend. When I answered yes they were that much more excited about it. The series of questions often went as such: Do you have a boyfriend? Are you married? Do you have children? Why don’t you have children? This may not be considered a great conversation starter back home in the US but it was often a great one here and led to some neat conversations with these students. I’d say just about everyone asked us this.

Overall my experience here at Wat Thmei was amazing. I enjoyed getting to know the students along with the Khmer teachers. In the end I even gained a pen pal! Her name is Ek Chakriya (surname, first name) and I really look forward to keeping in touch over email.

Lynda Villagomez

Loyola Marymount University student

Los Angeles, CA

LMU Alternative Breaks Volunteer - Carol

I simplified the training modules for the micro-lending program. Keeping in mind that the borrowers are the targeted audience, I selected basic terms and phrases that they would understand. I tried to emphasize creativity when selecting a business. I noticed that many borrowers stick to typical businesses such as recycling and selling groceries. But to emphasize innovation and sustainability, I mentioned as an example a business where tourists can get their picture taken in traditional Khmer costumes. I kept the main information on the slides, and took out some of the fat. I hope that these new presentations will draw the audience’s attention and guide the borrowers to successful business paths.

For the micro-lending, the students drive their motorbikes into the villages to collect the payments. It is convenient for the villagers who have to stay home to run their business and look after their children. I went to collect the loans with Ra Ya. The first family we visited greeted us warmly. They invited us inside their homes and offered us chairs to sit on. This welcoming interaction was great. The borrower’s husband was a tuk tuk driver so he spoke English. He was interested in where I was from and whether or not I went to school. Likewise, I was interested in getting to know more about them. The students visit their assigned borrowers weekly, so there is a strong sense of trust between them. This is one of the factors why I think the lending program is a great success. Ra Ya respects the borrowers because they work diligently and repay their loans. The same can be said for the borrowers who respect her. One of the borrowers was not able to pay this week due to a medical expense. Unforeseen circumstances do happen, and it is difficult for people to save money for events like these. They are used to living on a daily wage. So JWOC is working on this problem. I am hopeful that this program will be able to decrease the number of defaulters and continue to grow strong.

LMU Alternative Breaks Volunteer - Farah

My name is Farah Srichandra and I am Junior, Biology major at Loyola Marymount University. My volunteer experience through LMU’s Alternative Breaks in Siem Reap, Cambodia was both an unforgettable and rewarding experience. During my two-week stay, from May 14 to May 27, I had the chance to travel to many villages with Journeys Within Our Community (JWOC) and the university students from JWOC’S scholarship program. During my two week stay in Siem Reap I worked on the layout of an organic garden and courtyard at Wat Chork Buddhist Temple. My take on this project was to plan a blueprint of a 25 meter by 2.5 meter garden in the central quad area of the pagoda where students, monks, and teachers could have a central meeting area. We picked to plant flowers such as marigolds, which are commonly used to give offerings to the monks and for the temple. The purpose of the organic garden is to plant vegetables and flowers which the temple community could use on a daily basis. The students could in turn sell the flowers, grow their own food, leading them one step closer to becoming self sufficient. My work primarily consisted of closely observing and assisting our volunteer coordinator Melissa in a variety of procedures including planning an organic garden, purchasing flowers, and setting up compost stations at the pagoda.

It was a true gift to be able to learn one-on-one from excellent leaders about all steps in the process of building a sustainable non-profit organization. The men, women, and children I met at the squatters village were badly in need of clean water, and I am grateful that we were able to help them. They were also lovely hosts and were excited to show us their culture. As they showed me where they worked and lived, I was often struck by the fact that their health is important not only to their quality of life, but often also to their ability to provide for themselves and their families. It was at these times that I realized the importance of JWOC’s mission. The staff at Journeys Within Our Community in Siem Reap were hard-working, welcoming, and totally committed both to caring for the Khmer community and to helping us volunteers become comfortable in a foreign environment. Time and time again they went out of their way to share their own personal experiences along with the rich history of Cambodia. In addition to the volunteering aspect, I experienced enormous personal growth, now I can put a human face on the issues of poverty and global health inequity. Yet this volunteer work was only a small part of my journey through Cambodia. I had the opportunity to experience what so few foreigners ever see: the traditional life of a modern Cambodian family. I didn’t just travel to Cambodia, take a few pictures in front of a few historic monuments, and write off my visit as complete. Instead, I got to see part of the real Cambodia

Ultimately, what I took away from this experience was so much more than just an advanced understanding of the Khmer culture. In this end, this experience clearly reaffirmed to me how important education is for the growth and advancement of these communities. Learning about the Khmer way of life gave me a different perspective on how to view the world. Without LMU’s Alternative Breaks, I cannot imagine how I could possibly have seen and learned so much as an undergraduate about solidarity, Khmer cultures, and my own desire and ability to make a difference in others’ lives. I hope to one day give more to the underdeveloped world and make a significant contribution towards their advancement, access to better health care and reduction of poverty.

—Farah Srichandra, Loyola Marymount University Student, Journeys Within Our Community Volunteer 2008

LMU Alternative Breaks Volunteer - Kyle

I felt privileged to meet with the monks at Wat Chork. We got to see where this group of monks live, study, and worship. We visited Wat Chork early in our trip and came back multiple times which allowed us to develop relationships with some of them. Most of the monks I spent time with were 18-24 years of age and were incredibly friendly, curious, and down to earth. Some were more eager to practice their English than others, as their English levels spanned from giving you a quiet shy stare, to some monks who were inquiring about US politics and even interested in learning more languages. Getting to walk around and talk with the monks as they gave us a complete tour of the temples enhanced the intimacy of my experience there. They explained the story of Buddhism as it is displayed artistically in one of their worship temples. I got to hear about the alternative life style of a monk, as it is very different than the average life of a Cambodian citizen, which includes their sacrifice of dancing, alcohol, contact with females, no dinner policy, no killing of any living being and how all these sacrifices will bring them closer to their Buddha and allow for less distraction during meditation. I thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with the monks, hearing about their stories of pre-monk hood and exchanging both Khmer and English lessons with each other. We got the honor of having the monks shave our head as they do to themselves every 15 days. It was a surreal experience being that immersed in such a foreign culture's long time religious tradition. I would not trade my experience with the monks with any other, and can truly call some of them my friends.

LMU Alternative Breaks Volunteer - Mark

For my special project assignment, I was placed with a group of two other volunteers and a scholarship student to work on researching potential business opportunities for JWOC in the local community. Our goals was to find a business opportunity that would both benefit the community and help raise funding for JWOC and at the same time giving the scholarship students real life work experience as they would manage the business. Our targeted industry was recycling, and for several days we went out into the local community, with a scholarship student as translator, to interview locals at various levels of the recycling chain to discover potential market entry opportunities. This was a type or service I had never before experienced. Being given the opportunity to utilize the business skill set I have been developing in college while pursuing my BBA and BSA was an empowering and new experience. As a result, my view of service and its role in my future life has been greatly reshaped. Through these experiences I now realize the synergies that exist between my desire to serve the community around me and my studies of business. No longer do I view these two pursuits as endeavors that are mutually exclusive. I now hope to pursue a career path that will enable me to fuse my love for business and passion to serve, a desire that has been greatly fueled by my two weeks in Siem Reap and experiences with JWOC.

LMU Alternative Breaks Volunteer - Chris

Prepare to take a step back into the tenth century. Angkor Wat’s magnificent construction draws you in and once you have the opportunity to walk around the site it is hard not to feel as if you were an ancient Khmer. The whole experience will leave your eyes dazzled and your heart pumping. Another one of the great aspects of the temple experience is the diversity in temples you get to experience. The large and regal Angkor Wat all the way to Ta Phrom with its beautiful integration of trees intertwined in the temple stones.

However always important in a tour is your guide. The guide was selected by JWOC and it was just yet another example of JWOC making a good experience, great. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable on the temples but it was his sincere passion for the subject that stood out to me. His commentary was presented with a strong sense of pride for his country and her history. Therefore his heartfelt presentations made you feel connected to the community with a people that might have otherwise seemed foreign.

When I think of JWOC one thing comes to mind. Community. Yes it is one of the words that make up their name but it is also their mission. It is a virtue that they excel in. Anyone can travel to Cambodia and visit the temples but JWOC allows you to experience Cambodia as a Cambodian, as a guest not merely a tourist.

Making Movies

Our names are Liron and Nitzan, 24 and 21 years old, from Israel. We have been traveling in Southeast Asia for the past three months; we already have been in Thailand, Laos, Nepal and Burma. We looked for a way to combine volunteering in our trip, and Cambodia seemed like a good place to do it.

The truth is we randomly contacted JWOC, but it turned out that one of the organization’s greatest needs, was someone to produce a movie about it, in order to help fundraising efforts and create awareness about JWOC's work. It just so happens that both of us have studied film making and did it for three years. We were happy to volunteer with something we liked and were good at, and we started a day after we got to Cambodia.

During the filming, we got to see all the projects that JWOC deals with, and meet all of the people involved, and it was a great experience. It’s different when somebody tells you that they are giving free English or computer lessons, than when you actually see it, all of a sudden you understand what a huge difference it can make in a person’s life and it is really inspiring. It made us feel sorry that not everyone could have the opportunities that JWOC can give. Also, when you see how enthusiastically the JWOC scholarship students volunteer in the projects, you understand another aspect of the organization – it isn’t just involved in the community, it helps the locals be involved in their own community.

So, after a week and a half, we are leaving, hoping our small contribution could make a big difference. We would like to thank all of the people that hosted us here. Keep up the good work!
Nitzan and Liron.

Brook's visit to new wells in the countryside

When I decided to donate a well during my stay at the Journeys Within B&B earlier this month, I asked John if I could visit the site of my future well. He said he could do one better: I could spend a morning visiting new wells with the scholarship students who oversaw the project.

Seven university students showed up at the B&B early on Sunday morning. All have received a full scholarship from JWOC, and in return donate five hours per week to the well project. Kimpouv Nou, a slight 21-year-old, sat down next to me and told me about herself. She lives inPuok district, 16 kilometers from Siem Reap. Her father died 10 years ago, so of course it was even harder than usual for Kimpouv's mother to support her nine children. Kimpouv was the only child to enroll in university, where her friend Se told her about the Dollars for Scholars program. Not wanting to burden her mother further, but also not earning enough from her teaching position at the local high school to pay for college tuition, Kimpouv applied for the scholarship a few months ago. Now she devotes her only free day(Sunday) to the well program.

Once the students had all arrived at the B&B, I jumped on theback of Kimpouv's motorbike and we headed out into the countryside. You see donated wells along many of the tourist routes, but JWOC's locations are far from any idle visitor's path. We drove for 45 minutes over bumpy dirt roads, passing a man with one son on the back of his bicycle and another in the basket, a game of pickup volleyball, and shrubs stained ochre with dust.

At the first well, which had just been dug earlier that week, John showed the students how to test the water for e. coli and coliform. This, I believe, is one of the most important aspects of JWOC's programs, letting the Cambodians take charge. Progress was slow at first, but by the fifth or sixth well, the students had naturally taken on an efficient rhythm: Some would squat down to squeeze a few milliliters of water into a sample vial, others could record the GPS coordinates of the site, and the rest would gather the local families for a photo that would be sent to the individuals who had donated the well.

Toward the end of the morning, we took a detour to the site where the well I'd donated would soon be installed. I played with a five-month-old girl who lived there. They say that in Cambodia, one in five children doesn't make it to his or her fifth birthday. With the help of my well, this little cherub would have much better odds. The cost of the well:$100. The smile on her face: priceless.

Brook with JWOC's loan recipients

While visiting Cambodia earlier this month, I had the opportunity to meet some of JWOC’s loan recipients.

Here are their stories:

Kheng Lerb lives in a small, thatch-walled house with her husband and eight—that’s right, eight—children. She operates a makeshift general store on her porch, selling skewered chicken wings, oranges, bananas, cigarettes, and other small goods. Before she received her first loan from JWOC seven months ago, she also had to collect recyclable cans and bottles in order to make ends meet. Lerb heard about the program from one of the Dollars for Scholars students, and eagerly applied so that she could expand her business. She’s now on her way to paying back her second loan, of $125. I asked her what she’s done with the extra money she now earns. Her father was sick several months ago, she told me, and she had to pay $300 in medical bills—sadly, however, the treatment could not prevent his death. But she also proudly showed me a silver bracelet that she’d bought for herself. A rare reward for a life’s worth of hard work, I thought to myself. When I asked her what she pictured in her future, she told me that she wanted a university education for her kids, and a better house for herself.
Meas Sreipech, the scholarship student who was collecting loan repayments for JWOC and translating for me, then brought me to the house of Tarb Chour. As we talked, Chour related a heartbreaking story. One of her sons had lost his wife during childbirth several years ago. The son gave up his single son for adoption, then left his four daughters with Chour’s sister back in their home village. With the children all off his hands, Chour’s son remarried and ran away. He doesn’t send a penny back to help raise the girls, so Chour and her sister must support her granddaughters themselves. Because of the loans she’s taken out from JWOC to expand her own small food and dried goods stall, Chour hopes that one day the girls may be able to attend university, something she was never given the chance to do.
Sitting next to Chour was Soeurn Srey, a meat and vegetable retailer in the same village. Hers was a happier story. She bought her own house one month ago—one bigger than her previous rental—with some of the extra money she’s earned since getting a JWOC loan five months ago. She’s also saved $500 for the motorbike and cart that she’d like to buy to sell fish snacks around town (the total cost will be $800).
It’s amazing what $100—the amount that you or I might send on a moderately extravagant dinner—can do in a place like Cambodia. There are numerous other stories just like these three among the recipients of JWOC’s microloans.