Our first real day in Cambodia kicked off with breakfast at the hotel after a well needed rest from traveling.
We had a short briefing in the morning about the day and then we were off in our 3 minivans.

With tools in the back, we headed out to the river barge. We drive onto the barge and put across the Mekong river while we head to the top deck to take in the experience.

 

 

We were met out in the small village by Pastor Kunty. We got a tour of the SALT school which has been started by teams before us and has been under construction for a lot of last year. The team had a chance to see the students at their existing “school” (which is not really conducive to learning).

From there we went about a Km up the dusty road to a bunch of houses built by previous teams. Our mini project here was to finish a house for a man in the village who is currently working for RAWimpact as the agricultural manager for the village.
The sad story behind his situation is that his mother was an alcoholic who died of alcohol poisoning then some time after his father remarried he committed suicide. His brother has learning difficulties and has subsequently dropped out of school. This man found it difficult fitting in and currently lives with his aunty. Having his own room will be a huge benefit to him and will allow him to establish himself better.

The team worked amazingly together to get things started and learning how to use power tools and what’s involved in building a house in Cambodia.

Lunch was an amazing array of food put on by locals. Everyone had more than enough to eat, and had time to play with some of the children after.

After lunch we put in a few more hours work before heading back across the river back to Phnom Penh.

Some of the team relaxed in the pool and others ventured out to the Russian markets to check it out before we headed up the road for dinner.

Awesome first day, and I think a few people will sleep well again tonight.

Goodnight…

After a long day of flying and exploring Singapore airport, our team have arrived in Phnom Penh safely.

We were met by staff from RAWimpact and then travelled by Tuk Tuk to our hotel before shaking out and then heading out by tuk tuk for dinner at Titanic restaurant on the Mekong river.

It was a first time in a tuk tuk for a lot of our team

Sun setting over Phnom Penh – view from the roof of our hotel

First dinner out as a team

Thank you to everyone who made this possible!

It’s so exciting to be part of St Stephen’s first trip to Cambodia. We are now onboard and ready for departure.
First stop, Singapore for a stopover then on to Cambodia.

Lachlan sporting our designer team t-shirts!

 

Happy New Year, and even more exciting because it’s the day we have been waiting all of 2014 for!!

Just a reminder that we are meeting near the Jetstar checkin section of the International Airport – Terminal 1. Please arrive at 9pm

Probably the easiest way to get there from north of the river is to head down Reid HWY, (which turns into Tonkin HWY) and then follow the airport signs to Terminal 1 (T1). It is a bit of a labyrinth due to all the new work being done on the road, so give yourself time so you aren’t rushing.

Park in the short term parking and then make your way with your bags to the departures section and look for the Jetstar checkin counters.

We will all meet near the Jetstar area and once everyone has arrived we will checkin as a group.

At the airport we will:

• Give you your team t-shirt to change into
• Distribute some containers of building screws for the house to whoever has some spare room in their bags
• Distribute some books we are donating to those with room in their bags

Parents will be able to stay with us after we checkin and continue upstairs where we can relax for a bit near Dome and fill in our departure cards. Only those flying are able to continue through immigration so we will be saying our goodbye’s there about 90 mins before our flight so that we have enough time to get through immigration prior to boarding.

Don’t forget to bring your passport, 2 x passport photos, a pen and some US Dollars (worst case you can change up some money at the airport).

In your carry-on luggage, you may want to consider a change of clothes (something cooler) to change into at Singapore airport. We are there for a while but there is heaps of stuff to do (pool, cinema, shopping etc) so you won’t be bored.

Any problems or issues finding the terminal, please give me a call – 0418 133 382

See you all tonight 🙂

With only a few more sleeps now until we leave there are a couple of points to consider when packing your bags…

1 – IF you have a softer travel bag (as opposed to a suitcase), please use that instead. We have limited space in our transport for lots of large bags, and suitcases take up the most space. Please don’t go buy anything different if you only have a suitcase, so only if you have the options.
2 – Maximum weight for your main (checkin) luggage is 20Kg. Please keep to one checkin bag and one daypack for carry on.

Please aim to pack a few Kg less than the 20Kg limit, for a few reasons…

(A) – We need to take a few Kg of screws with us for the house so I’ll distribute them across a few people’s luggage at the airport.
(B) – Mrs Legg (Duncraig Secondary Library) has some books to donate to the SALT school that RAWimpact work with so we will take as many books as we can from her at the airport. If each person takes just a couple of books in their bag then we can take quite a few without going over our baggage allowance.
(C) – You will no doubt buy some things over in Cambodia and will need to pack a few Kg less to allow you to stay under your limit for the return flight.

Happy packing…

I’ve just added 2 separate pages at the top of this blog for easy access to the following information:

• What to pack – A checklist of what you need to bring (downloadable as a PDF)
• Trip Itinerary – An up-to-date itinerary of the main things we will be doing on this trip and when

 

Other than a couple more medical consent forms to be returned that’s about all we need to organise. The next time I see you all will be at the airport with your team t-shirts.

Reminder: We meet at the Perth International Airport at 9:00pm on Tuesday 6th January 2015

Final Instalment Update

Just keeping everyone in the loop re the final instalment. I have calculated and confirmed with RAWimpact the final instalment amount for everyone today.

Shortly I’ll be sending an email to each family individually outlining their final instalment amount.

To clarify the instalment deduction for those who have raised over $1,000 by 7th December, basically it applies to the last instalment (of $625). Items such as flights and some expenses for our team can’t be deducted as a taxable expense, which for most won’t be an issue, but we just need to clarify.

What to pack

We are just finalising a what-to-pack list which will be available on the blog in the next couple of days.

Medical Consent forms

A reminder to please return any Medical Consent forms back to us by tomorrow (Wednesday 10th Dec). If possible, please just scan (or take a photo) and email as it’s easier and guaranteed to get to us. Please return via email where possible to dave.belson@ststephens.wa.edu.au

 

Thank you to all the parents and students who came to the dinner last night!!!!

We really appreciate all the support parents have given to the students throughout the year, and the effort each person in the team has put in to get where we are now. The team fundraising total is a testament to the hard work every person has put in and knowing that your effort is going to change the life of a family you haven’t even met yet is unreal!

To summarise the key points from last night:

International SOS – St Stephen’s (along with other schools) have partnered with International SOS to provide international medical and security advice, assistance and alerts to us as staff and students. For an overview of how their services can look after our team in Cambodia, please fee free to peruse the following link – https://www.internationalsos.com/elearning/comprehensive/

Medical Consent form – If not already handed in, please complete and return to one of the staff (email or in person is fine) by Wednesday 10th December. I may be in touch with some families to clarify requirements where necessary so we can make sure we understand each students requirements.

Final instalment – Fundraising cut-off is Sunday 7th December. This means that any amounts added to an Everyday Hero account after this date will not be included in the final instalment amount.

On Sunday I’ll be calculating every person’s fundraising amount which will effect the last instalment amount. Basically speaking:

• if $1,000 has been raised then the final instalment will be $625.
• For every $2 over $1,000 raised, $1 will be deducted from the final instalment amount.
• If less than $1,000 has been raised, the final instalment will be $625 plus the gap in raised funds.

Each family will receive an individual email from me by COB Monday 8th December indicating the calculated final instalment amount. This list will be given to our accounts receivable department and the final payment can be made to them as per the previous ones.

 

What next…

The next major post we will make will be a ‘What to pack’ checklist, so keep an eye on the blog.

In the interim, things to consider would be changing up some cash into about USD$50 and getting some (2) passport photos for the visa we will get on arrival in Cambodia.

 

Our venue has been booked and we are all set for our last group get-together before the trip. It’s been a great year, we are excited about the trip and we know the students are too. We would like to share a few last minute trip details over some nice Asian cuisine with our team and their parents to

Our reservation has been made for Thursday 4th December 

Restaurant: Tamarind
Time: 6pm
Location: 148 Scarborough Beach Rd, (Shop 44), Mount Hawthorn
Cost: Up to the family on what they order
Details: http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/338/1434284/restaurant/Perth/Tamarind-Mount-Hawthorn

Thank you to those who have RSVP’d already. So far we have about 35 parents, students and staff attending. If you have not RSVP’d yet, please do so asap by clicking here so we can inform the restaurant of extra numbers.

A couple of things we will go over at the dinner are:

• Overview of the team fundraising target
• Explain how we calculate the final instalment amount and when it’s due
• Team t-shirts
• Introduce Chub Sykes – our RAW team leader who will be joining us for dinner and our entire trip
• Share the project details that we will be working on and the family’s story
• Overview of medications for the trip
• When we are meeting at the airport
• Spending money and Visa entry requirements
• Any questions of comments parents or students may have

Looking forward to catching up with everyone 🙂

Just a few things as we rapidly approach the end of the year. I’ll be posting information about what to take/pack etc and last minute things, but below are some events coming up and an a couple of things to think about before things get too close to leaving:

Events

Cultural Awareness Training – Monday 24th November (that’s this coming Monday). Details on the original post (click here)

Cambodian Dinner – Thursday 4th December. Please click here to RSVP so we know how many to book for. Please come to this as we have a lot to share and I want to introduce our RAWimpact team leader to you who will be with us for the whole trip.

To do

We get out visas at the airport in Cambodia (VOA – Visa on Arrival), however each student will need to pay in USD and have 2 passport photos with them.

Spending money – How much students take is up to them, but things to consider:

• Will need USD$30 at the airport in Cambodia for the visa
• Would be a good idea to change up around USD$50 before leaving Australia
• Money can be changed up in Cambodia which is usually cheaper than doing it here
• Money can be withdrawn from ATM’s in Cambodia to save traveling with a lot of cash.

Passport photos – 2 photos are required to be brought with each person. This is for the visa and will save complications on arrival if students have them (there is no option to get photos taken at the airport)

 

More details to come, but if you have any questions, please ask on here, via email, or chat to us at the dinner.

Hoping to see all the students on Monday.

🙂