A guide to your journey..
Cambodia Community WELCOME PACK
Welcome to Challenges Abroad Welcome to Challenges Abroad and your Summer Challenge of 2021. I am delighted to present your Welcome Pack for your trip next summer. Working with local and rural communities, Challenges Abroad relies on our volunteers like you to help sustain the ongoing work at the projects. The sustainability of local communities is a top priority for us and for our volunteers and we are proud of the fact that we are committed to meeting the UN goals for sustainable development, helping disadvantaged people around the world have a brighter future. This experience overseas would give you the opportunity to become a global citizen with the first hand understanding of the challenges of global development and how you can contribute towards solutions. This pack has information on your in-country programme as well as other integral components of your challenge in summer 2021. Please read through the pack carefully as it contains important information about flights, visas, travel insurance, DBS/PVG checks and your programme! Thank you for joining the challenge and I wish you all the very best with your fundraising! Best Wishes,
Prakriti Prakriti Malhotra Director Challenges Abroad
Supporting the . . .
Cambodia
Programme Overview Become a Global Citizen on the Cambodia Challenge by spending two weeks immersed in the local culture in and around Battambang, the 'rice bowl' of Cambodia. Battambang is home to 150,000 people and is known as “the rice bowl of Cambodia”. Our programmes are focused in the Ek Phnom District, just north of Battambang city. We support 10 rural villages in the district, where the majority of the families live below the poverty line. Our programmes focus on delivering quality education, health and well being for the community, and reducing inequalities. Our Education, Health and Livelihood based programmes also seek to tackle major environmental issues and bringing awareness to issues surrounding gender. Our goals ultimately support our desire to see no poverty and no hunger in the communities we work with, and your time in Cambodia will be working toward those goals!
Cambodia Key Focus Cambodia’s recent and tumultuous history has affected many of their current issues. Largely major systems such as the economy, health, and education were destroyed and although they have made big strides towards redevelopment, they are still far behind other countries in the region. In order to drive change and bring impact to our communities, we must acknowledge some of these major challenges that Cambodians are facing on a daily basis. Our long-term development programmes in Cambodia seek to partner with local communities as well as being guided by the UN SDG’s, to provide access to valuable information, education, and skill development to see improvements in education, health and livelihoods. We focus on SDGs 1-6, 10, 13, and 17 to see the Ek Phnom District and the country of Cambodia reach and succeed these goals.
programme overview
Week 1: Bright and early on Monday morning you'll begin your work with the community. Your focus will be on delivering education based workshops based on life skills, STEM and conversational english. As a volunteer, your role will be to engage our students in interactive and exciting lessons that will not only give the children confidence to speak, but inspire them to continue in their studies and see the successful completion of grade 12 increase. Due to strict government school curriculum and timetables, many children are not able to learn other valuable skills and access classes that inspire creativity and critical thinking. We want to engage students in sessions that bring out new types of learning and provide opportunities to expand their education outside the “Rote learning� style they are used to. Sessions surrounding STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) provide students the opportunity to problem solve, engage in team or group work and allow for leadership opportunities, especially in young girls, and see critical thinking skills sharpen.
Week 2: building on your week 1 workshops, you will really begin to see the development and learning amongst the year groups you are working with. You will see your projects coming together and will identify developments from your hard work. You may wish to hold a showcase at the end of the week for parents and communities! If you are undertaking a renovation project, you will see the progress you have made.
Extension Trip: After your programme finishes, you will either depart to the UK or you can take part in our Koh Samui extension trip. You will receive an email with the full itinerary so you can decide if this is something you would love to do!
IN Country Information Accommodation The volunteer house has everything you need for a simple but comfortable stay. You will be in a dorm-style room with en-suite toilets. Rooms sleep up to 6 but oftentimes you will have 34 roommates for your time in country. Additionally, the house has a large dining room, living room serving as a great space for lesson planning and debriefs, relaxing spaces, and a gorgeous rooftop. Our in-country team offices are also on site so stop in and say hi! Sheets, pillows, and pillowcases are all provided for you. Please bring your own towel. At the volunteer house they have individual bed fans, mosquito nets (on request), lockers, plug sockets and electricity. There is an individual bathroom per dorm and staff will wash clothes at a nominal fee. Please be aware that the volunteer house doesn’t have hot water – but it’s HOT in Cambodia so a cold shower is a great way to stay cool.
Food Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are provided Monday – Friday as well as dinner on Sunday nights. Breakfast is simple and consists of baguettes, various spreads, fruit, coffee/tea and even eggs a few mornings a week! Lunch and Dinner are served family style and cooked at our volunteer house by our wonderful house manager. She will cook delicious Khmer foods, but will occasionally sneak in some mashed potato or spaghetti! All meals are vegetarian to do our part toward increased sustainability! Keep an eye out for emails from Support@challengesabroad.co.uk with more information and detials on your destination throughout the year!
Contacts and Thailand Visa Support
Throughout every stage of your Challenges Abroad journey there are members of staff available to support you. Different people will be able to answer the different questions that you may have. Your Challenge Leader and SEM can act as your first point of call for most issues, but there is also in-office support who are there to deal with more specific queries.
First point of contact Contact your SEM first for queries about your programme, vaccinations, fundraising advice and any other little queries you may have: Lizzie George: Lizzie@challengesabroad.co.uk Your SEM then may direct you to the In-office support team who can deal with more specific, bigger queries: Support@challengesabroad.co.uk - 01635 285666 for queries about flights, visas, and medical/allergy/dietary requirements, extension trips, DBS/PVG, general programme information and any changes to your personal information. Support@futuresensefoundation.org - 01635 285669 for queries about your fundraising, if you’re struggling with fundraising events, donations, VMG pages and extra merchandise. Out of hours emergency: +44 (0) 7741311855
What to do next DBS/PVG It is important for us that all our volunteers should require an advanced DBS (The Disclosure and Barring Service Check) or as you will be working with children. If you already possess a valid DBS certificate, then we request that a scanned copy or photograph is sent to us via Support@challengesabroad.co.uk. However, if you currently do not obtain a valid DBS check then please follow the link to apply for your DBS check: www.carecheck.co.uk. Your Organisation reference is - THEFUTURESENSEFOUNDATION Organisation code – Leave blank Purpose of check – Volunteer Position applied for – Challenges Abroad Volunteer As Volunteers, we have an arrangement with care-check that you only pay the administration fee of £8.40. ID will be checked by a member of Challenges Abroad either face to face or via Skype. Scottish Volunteers will be done through the PVG Scheme.
Flights Regarding your trip dates, arrival / departure times etc. then please contact support@challengesabroad.co.uk or call the office on 01635 285666. If you have booked onto one of our extension trips, due to minimum numbers please wait for a confirmation from us that your extension is going ahead before booking your flights. Expect this to be confirmed in January 2021 latest. For your trip to you must make sure that you arrive into Siem Reap Airport on the Saturday by 2 pm. When departing your programme, please ensure your flight is after 12 pm. If you are on the extension trip, your international return flight to the UK should be from Bangkok and depart after 9pm (you will receive more details regarding this).
What to do next Insurance We require for every participant to have travel insurance and as each participant has different circumstances we let individuals sort their own. Please do ensure that you are with a reputable provider. If you need any further help on this then you can always contact us at support@challengesabroad.co.uk. Once you have received your insurance policy then we request that the following details are sent to us; What Insurance company, your policy number, and the emergency medical assistance number.
Vaccinations We recommend that you visit your GP and tell them the country you are travelling to and the areas you will be situated in so that they can give you suitable medical advice. Please refer to the following link: https://www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk/home  For more information on vaccinations for travel visit: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/travel-vaccinations/
Fit to Travel For anyone that has a severe allergy, or medical condition then we must require a fit to travel form from your GP. Most surgeries have their own format for paperwork, but in case they ask you to supply your own, let us know and we can provide you with this. You should receive it in an email from the Support team anyway.
Cambodia ThailandVISA Visa
All nationals require a visa to enter Cambodia, which costs $30 (US Dollars), and lasts for 30 days. If you would like to get your visa before arrival in Cambodia, which we strongly suggest, then there are two options: You can either apply for a visa from the Consulate of the Royal Embassy of Cambodia in London. For more information on this please visit www.cambodianembassy.org.uk/index_mainbc61.html Alternatively, you can apply for an e-Visa. To do this please go to https://www.evisa.gov.kh/ Visas are also available on arrival at the Phnom Penh or Siem Reap international airports. To get a visa on arrival please ensure you have a passport-sized photograph available. Irrelevant of how you obtain your visa you will need to be aware you are entering Cambodia for tourism purposes, as your trip is a form of cultural exchange and this falls under the tourism category.
Where does my Thailand Visa money go? Clarity is extremely important when you are fundraising, both for you the participant and those that donate money. As such, the information below details how your fundraising total is used by Challenges Abroad and The FutureSense Foundation. Each participant is required to raise £1,850 towards their trip. This amount is split between the costs of your actual trip and fundraising to support the charity as follows:
Programme Costs - £850 We believe that our programme costs are extremely competitive compared with any other similar programme. Within these costs we cover the expenses for your: Pick ups and drops at every point Accommodation in country Daily transfers to and from project All other transfers in country Meals during project time 24/7 support from in country and UK Teams Planning and delivery of your entire programme
Fundraising - £1,000 The fundraising contribution goes towards supporting the work of The FutureSense Foundation and the programmes that we run for disadvantaged communities worldwide. The charity prides itself on keeping its overheads low, with the aim of ensuring that 90% of income being spent on overseas programmes rather than on administrative costs.
The FutureSense Foundation The FutureSense Foundation work to support over 8000 beneficiaries across Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, India, Tanzania and Peru. Guided by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, our programmes focus on improving education, livelihoods, and health in some of the most disadvantaged communities overseas. To give you an example, 617 million children in education are not learning. We inspire children in our partner schools to aspire and achieve, so they are able to progress with their education and improve their livelihoods. As a grass roots organisation, we are committed to keeping our cost per beneficiary low, ensuring that every penny makes a difference and ensuring your fundraising money will go further in supporting our ongoing projects. We are 100% dedicated to sustainable and ethical volunteering which is why our volunteers are at the heart of what we do. This is where you come in. Our volunteers play a fundamental role in supporting our in-country teams delivering our long-term programmes in our partner schools and communities. To find out more, please visit www.futuresensefoundation.org.
How your money can help
£10 per month
£50 per month
provides a child in Cambodia with supplementary Education, books and a medical check-up.
enables us to provide children at school with clean drinking water.
£250 donation
£1000 donation
enables us to build a hand washing station at a school in a rural community.
provides running water for children at a school by installing a rain water harvesting system.
Thailand Visa WHAT TO eXPECT To fully prepare for your programme, you can expect to hear from us at various points throughout the year, providing you with further information about your programme, as well as requesting further documentation from you. Below we have outlined what you can further expect over the course of the year. Key:
Challenges Abroad Contact
What you can expect from us Receive welcome pack and invitation to join Facebook group from Challenges Abroad
FutureSense Foundation Contact
What we expect from you Join facebook group Create and Personalise VMG Page
Receive welcome email from the FutureSense Foundation Receive T-shirt within 14 days of registering Fortnightly email with hub updates and fundraising Ideas Receive monthly emails from CA Support Pre-departure briefing 8 weeks prior to departure
Attend team meetings and socials Hit monthly fundraising deadlines Complete DBS check 5 months prior to departure Send Flight and Insurance Information 5 months prior to departure Motivated Volunteer!
An Incredible experience! To stay connected with your team, your Challenge Leader will organise various socials and events throughout the year so please do try to go along to meet your team! The Futuresense Foundation will also be in touch regularly to chat to you about your fundraising. We will also hold fundraising workshops and team meetings. Please keep in touch and reply to any emails within the time frame requested to ensure a smooth journey with Challenges Abroad! We look forward to having you on our programme!!