Upper Yarra Secondary College | 3rd Visit to Cambodia

This year sees UYSC visiting Cambodia for the 3rd time, with 20 very excited students busily making preparations. Whilst parents are working their way through payment plans, booking forms, and passport applications, students are hard at work fundraising for humanitarian donations.

So what are students doing to raise funds?

Well they will give anything a go! They are selling boxes of Cadbury Chocolates (60 so far), this month they have a Garden Bulb fundraiser and a school car wash planned for the last week of term.

Students have been using the WOD donation forms to collect funds for specific items, with pigs and school supplies being popular choices, in fact, I believe a pig buying competition is a foot amongst the staff at UYSC presently.

Other planed events for this year include a Bunnings BBQ, barefoot bowls evening at the Warburton Bowls Club, and a Gala Dinner at a local venue which, includes music performances by students. I am not sure if I should also mention that my Year 12 VCAL class has a swear jar with $27 in it, all proceeds to WOD!

Students put in their time and effort for these activities so that when in Cambodia they can make a difference to those less fortunate. The fact that a WOD tour offers students an opportunity to engage with the Cambodian people at such a personal level is, I believe, key to our success.

Our students compare their lives to the Cambodian students they interact with and in an instant they realise, not only are they very fortunate, but that the world is not at all how they imagined.

They return home changed by their experiences in Cambodia and this then has a ripple effect through our school and greater community.

Are we making a difference to families and children in Cambodia? Yes, most certainly, however, as an educator, I would say that my students come away from a WOD tour with far more than they give. Thank you WOD, for changing lives, including mine.