A Change of Guard

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Wednesday 31 December 2008

Students put school motto into practice

MEREDITH DIXON

A GROUP of 18 high school students from Georgiana Mooloy Anglican School travelled to Cambodia last month where they put the school’s motto, ‘rejoice in Service’, into practice.

The students, from Years 10, 11, and 12, spent 10 days in Cambodia visiting orphanages and building homes for Cambodian people in support of the Tabitha Foundation. The Tabitha Foundation is a community development program that aims to break the cycle of poverty in rural areas by helping poor people build homes, set up income-generating small businesses and purchase land.

In all, the students built 12 homes. They also raised the funds needed to build each house, and at $1200 per home, this was a massive effort. In total the group raised $24,000 through sausage sizzles, chocolate sales and a quiz night. They also approached organisations for corporate sponsors and were able to fund an entire house from sizable donations received from three local organisations – Escape Day Spas, Total Horticultural Services, and Naturaliste Medical Group – The Travel Clinic.

The trip provided a valuable opportunity for cultural exchange and the students formed some very strong relationships with local people – especially the children. They visited two orphanages, one for infants run by the Sisters of Charity and the other for older children, run by Awareness Cambodia.

The students took gifts for the orphans and spent time playing with them. Teacher Tim Russell who accompanied the group said that “we all found a connection and attachment to the land and people of Cambodia far more quickly than we could have believed possible”.

The students worked solidly for two days building homes and took part in the special ceremony at the handover of each house. “We were honoured to have been invited into their communities,” Tim said.

“We were sent off with a warmth and gratitude that we didn’t feel we deserved, given the generous and open nature of those we had worked with and who had so little, but were so very grateful.”

The trip was a real “eye-opener” for the students and the adults accompanying them. They were struck by the high traffic volumes and lack of traffic regulations and by the contrast between poverty and extreme opulence. They also visited the Genocide museum and the Killing Fields and learnt about the Khmer Rouge and how the Cambodian people suffered at the hands of dictator Pol Pot.

The students got an opportunity to do some touring through Cambodia and they visited some of the most historical sites of the ancient Khmer Empire. They had fun shopping at markets and at a special dinner, at least half the group savoured the local specialty – deep fried tarantula.

The group left on the trip with the intention of helping others. However, they returned home feeling that it was they who had been blessed by the Cambodian people they met.

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