Seoul Foreign British School Week Without Walls
20 November 2019
CAMBODIA TRIP SFBS, their Footprints in Cambodia - Nick Choi
Last week, from November 3rd to November 8th, 20 students, accompanied by three teachers of Seoul Foreign British School (SFBS) devoted themselves to service in Cambodia. In a parentsfree and electronics-free 6 days trip, the students found themselves enhancing the lives of Cambodian children while improving their own mindset and character. November 3rd, 2019, the 20 SFBS students began their 6 days journey. For the majority of the members, this was their first time participating in a voyage away from their parents for this long. Their passion could be estimated by the exclamation of one student: “Aye, it’s lit fam!” Bracing for the upcoming 5 hours flight, the students tried hard to keep in their overflowing enthusiasm. Students arrived in Phnom Penh at 2 A.M. Although fatigued by the long flight, the children found themselves unable to sleep at ease from the bizarre environment around them and their excessive excitement. However, the students haven’t been able to utilize their phones during that night (as they had been generally doing), so they had to find other ways to entertain themselves during their insomniac life on the first day. To highlight one of these ways the students attempted to spend time with, Sungjun Hwang and Nick Choi found themselves recreating scenes from famous dramas and recording them. During the first-day orientation, students met their tour guides: Sothea, Sanhong, Gage, and Madelynn. Along with the teachers, these guides supported the trip and assisted us during their service days. The trip was managed and planned by Rustic Pathways, a youth travel program, in cooperation with Buddhism for Social Development Action (BSDA): BSDA’s partnering school and initiative were also where the students spent their service days in.
Photos by teachers and Audrey Bae
On the second and third days of the travel, students participated in tours to immerse themselves in the Cambodian culture and learn about the history of the Khmer Rouge. Students were devastated by the heat of Cambodia, yet they remained passionate about the learning opportunity. Students were especially shocked during their visit to the S-21, a former high school that turned into a prison during the Khmer Rouge regime. In there, students met survivors of the massacres and interacted with them. With this, students were able to further absorb themselves into the trip, and hear direct stories about the Khmer Rouge. Other than the S-21, students visited the royal palace and the killing fields, also to have enhanced background knowledge and understanding of Cambodia before serving. In the fourth and fifth days of the trip, students were divided into two groups for service. One group was assigned to a school in Cambodia and the other was sent to The Happy Happy Centre, a 1