West Point Volunteers - Vincent

Since my arrival to Journey’s Within’ Bed and Breakfast, I have only been treated with the utmost respect and hospitality. The facilities are extremely nice and homely. The staff is warming and treats their guest like a close family. Throughout my stay, I have been afforded the opportunity to teach English, basic typing skills, Microsoft Word, and Excel to eager and underprivileged Cambodians. My volunteer work has been extremely rewarding. Siem Reap is also a nice place for visit and nightlife. I have gone out with the group that I am traveling with twice to enjoy Cambodian restaurants and lounges. The prices are extremely affordable for quality service.

11 July 2007

My arrival to Siem Reap, Cambodia was met with great hospitality through the warming staff of Journey’s Within. Our volunteer coordinator, John, briefed us on what we can expect to be doing over the next few weeks. Today was the first day that we taught at our respective schools as volunteers. My partner, Kevin, and I taught computer basic skills through Microsoft Excel, Word, Power Point, and basic typing skills. Currently, the students are utilizing a program named Mario typing as a means to enhance their abilities. Kevin and I have begun to evaluate the computers located at the school in order to recommend improvements and upgrades. Being around so many eager students is more than rewarding and I look forward to my stay.

13 July 2007

Since my stay in Cambodia, Kevin and I have been able to establish goals, standards, and general direction for our teaching plan with the students at our volunteer school. Once we teach a few of the students the basics to various skills (home keys for typing, spreadsheets for Excel, etc) they continually practice and improve on their own. We are able to provide a lot of hands on guidance as they learn these basic tasks and skills.

15 July 2007

This past weekend we visited the famous temples of Cambodia in Siem Reap. They were extremely fascinating and culturally enhancing. It is amazing to see the work of men from ages ago, especially considering that they did not possess the type of technology that we have today. There were many poor children around the temples that sold various items as a means to pay for their schooling needs. They were extremely aggressive and it was heartbreaking to see children have to work at such a young age just to get by. I made a habit of giving out a dollar or so at almost every site.