“Spread Love to Cambodia!” Students of the Departments of Social Work, Foreign Languages and Literatures, as well as Leisure and Recreation Management at Asia University (AU) will head to Cambodia for volunteer service in the summer vacation for the fourth time. Starting from Apr. 20, a fund-raising charity sale at the atrium of the Management Building would last for one week. This year the students of the Social Work Department raised funds in a different way by selling Cambodian local products, including landscape post cards, fried instant noodles, hand-made cloth bracelets, hanging decoration accessories, small purses, and leather accessories made by the orphanage. The charity sale gained a great response that more than 30 pieces of post cards were nearly sold out. It was hoped that teachers and students could spread their love by doing good things and supporting in time.
The instructor Yu-Ling Hsieh said that some teachers and students of the Social Work Department started the volunteer service at remote villages in Cambodia three years ago. This year the International Volunteer Team will set off to Cambodia on July 1 during the summer vacation. Led by Qing-Yi Zhong, a senior of the Social Work Department, the team was joined by 16 students from the Departments of Social Work, Leisure and Recreation Management, as well as Foreign Languages and Literature. Training was arranged before the departure, such as understanding Cambodian culture and history, designing activities by group, and preparing teaching materials. Through learning how to plan and design service activities, the students would know more about Cambodia and optimize the team spirit while volunteering.
Two projects will be implemented by the summer team in Cambodia. One is a teaching program for the underprivileged children in remote areas, and the other is an innovation service program. “Teenage Photograph Camp: Community Image Story Program” will be held in the TAOM village to inspire the teenagers’ affection and care for their home land and start up the village self-help through recording the TAOM village with videos or photos.
Teacher Yu-Ling Hsieh said that the images of the “Photograph Learning Program” would be collected and displayed on campus exhibition at AU after the service trip finished. In addition, a charity sale will be organized to raise funds for the child care and education of the TAOM village in Cambodia.
Assistant Leader Cai-Qian Wu, who went to Cambodia for volunteering for the second time, said that it was because of the purity and simplicity of the Cambodians that she wanted to go to Cambodia again. She had been to a slum area near Phnom Penh and realized the huge gap between the rich and the poor. Poverty deprives the children of receiving education. She learned to be grateful and content with what she owned after volunteering in Cambodia.
