A group of Elon University students returned from Cambodia last week after a “scouting mission” of sorts to develop an annual service program that will take volunteers each summer to the southeast Asia nation.
Elon senior Sarah Babcock and BJ Williams co-led the project. Kathleen Edwards, assistant director of the Kernodle Center, and Jim Brown, a professor of history, served as advisers. Students included Tori Davis, Mimi Hsu, Chelsea Krieger, Kara Moore, Nicole Olavarria, Catherine Waters, and Blythe Westendorf.
“This trip gave students an opportunity to experience a new culture and learn how that cultural context relates to the service we participated in,” Babcock said. “The students on this trip constantly commented on how strong and resilient the Cambodia people are even though most have nothing by our standards.”
The group traveled to Kampot, in the southeast region of the country, where they began construction of a fourth house in a village outside the city and were welcomed by the villagers to be guests at a housewarming party. Students also stopped at Siem Reap, location of World Heritage site Angkor Wat and the temple complex surrounding it, which they spent a day exploring.
“In Siem Reap they visited the Cambodia Landmine Museum, studying the landmine issue in Cambodia, where millions of landmines left over from nearly three decades of warfare endanger people throughout the countryside,” Brown writes. “Another day they toured the Angkor Centre for Conservation and Biodiversity where they examined environmental challenges created by poverty and development, and met with nearby villagers to learn about village life and issues they face.”
The trip included briefings at the Sangkheum Center for Children and Handicap International, where they learned about disabilities resulting from landmines, traffic accidents and birth defects in Cambodia. Up to 20 percent of the population is disabled.
Despite a gruesome history at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, which killed millions of people over the span of four years, many people today are working hard to rebuild the country, Edwards said. Students were able to see that rebuilding process, as well as understand how Cambodia is not a country shaped by only that portion of its history.
“They were really able to put some things into context in Cambodia … it was a holistic experience,” she said. “Often when students just work with an agency, they risk developing a narrow idea of a community – they think of everyone only in terms of the issue the agency serves.. What this trip showed us all is that the Khmer people are strong, resilient, and very welcoming. We were honored to share in their rich traditions and the beauty of their country, as well as learn about the challenges they face as a result of their recent past.”
Plans are already in development for a return trip to the region in summer 2009. For more information, contact Kathleen Edwards at (336) 278-7222 or kedwards7@elon.edu
“For next summer’s trip we are interested in students that are taking the initiative to ask questions and look for the answers both before and during the trip,” Babcock said.