The most amazing experience of my life!

I spent 7 weeks volunteering in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. I was placed in a school through an organisation called the People's Improvement Organisation (PIO). PIO provide free education for underprivelaged children, particularly the children living in the slums and working on the garbage dump.

Each day starts at about 7:30am when the children arrive until 11:00am when there is a 3 hour break for lunch. The children then come back to school for another three hours. At first I hired a tuk tuk to take me to my placement and back home each day. After the first week I wanted a cheaper and more flexible option so I chose to rent a scooter for the remaining 6 weeks of my stay. This gave me greater flexibility, meaning I could leave the school for the three hour break and return for the afternoon shift.

I spent my days teaching the children how to read and write English. I taught children from as young as 3 years to 13 years. We played games, read stories, created artwork and did a lot of reading and writing. The children were amazing and inspiring, I didn't want to leave!

My highlights were:
- Meeting many inspiring people and making some amazing, lifelong friends in the fellow volunteers, the volunteer coordinators, the family owners of the guest house, the children I taught and the teachers I worked with.
- Experiencing the culture of Cambodia; the people, the language, traditions, religions, history.... it was all so amazing, eye opening, heart wrenching and inspiring.
- Travelling! I had a lot of time to travel around and see the sights! Every weekend I caught a bus with other volunteers... we travelled all around Cambodia and experienced so much!