My Volunteering Experience in Siem Reap, Cambodia

April 3, 2013 by wahba Leave a Comment

Guest Post by Agness Walewinder of etramping:

Cambodia should be a must see place on your South-East Asia bucket list for the sake of its stunning wonders, local hospitality and affordable life. However, travelling is not the only reason why this country is getting more and more occupied by foreigners nowadays. It is also a great country to start your first internship or get some volunteering experience in various fields. A wide range of projects are available to all of those who are interested in spending a few weeks or months to help local people with their everyday struggle with poverty.

Most of volunteering offices are located in the capital city – Phnom Penh, and Siem Reap. You can join various projects depending on your skills and interest from working with orphans, street children or children with disabilities or infected with HIV / AIDS by giving them a chance for a better future. There are plenty of internships in the field of medicine in hospitals in Phnom Penh and journalism as well.

However, the most common volunteering job is teaching English in public/ private language schools. This is what I did when I was travelling in Siem Reap last summer. Before I headed to Cambodia, I had searched for some organizations helping foreigners find a volunteering position around the country. After sending a few e-mails and applications, I realized that all positioned had been already occupied. There was no chance for me to join any volunteering community neither in Phnom Penh nor in Siem Reap. A couple of weeks after when I finally arrived in Siem Reap and I fell in love with this place, hospitable people, amazing scenery and tropical weather. I knew I wanted to stay there longer and felt like I needed to do something in my free time. I visited a few local public and private schools and asked for a job and …. I got accepted!

I got a teaching job in one of private language schools called Florida International School. Firstly, I was getting paid for my classes ($5 per 60 minute sessions) but after some time the school could not afford to pay me even that, but I decided to stay and help kids improve their English for free. My schedule was the same every single week. I was working from Monday to Friday from 8am to 10 am. I was teaching Khmer kids aged 7-10. I had two classes in a row and could get one 10 minute break in between them if I felt tired.

Teaching two active groups of students was a challenge to me. There were more than 30 kids in one classroom who left me voiceless every morning. Their oral English was already good when I got there so we mainly focused on writing and reading. There were no shy students there and the whole class was extremely interested in everything I was teaching them. It was a real pleasure to work with them!

I need to admit that the working conditions were not good. Lack of fan and air conditioning was killing me. It was hot and humid inside the school and I was thirsty all the time. The school also lacked the teaching equipment. Apart from one blackboard, some random English books and some chalk there was nothing there. I was printing off my own flashcards, exam papers, oral tasks and handouts and brought them with me once or twice a week. I got dirty looks when I was using school printer so I decided to do it at home.

Despite tough working conditions, I still managed to enjoy myself a lot and make my students happy. We worked as a team and had a lot of fun together learning, singing songs and playing various games. After my classes, I was hanging out with a bunch of fellow travelers and travel bloggers exchanging our expat experience.

I don’t regret a thing. I gained not only teaching experience, but I also felt good to be a part of Khmer community. I picked up some local language and made my dream of living nearby Angkor Wat true. If you ever had a chance to do the same, don’t hesitate and go for it!

Links:
My website: http://etramping.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Agnesstramp
Facebook: http://facebook.com/etramping

BIO:
Agness is a Polish vagabond who, after graduation, left her comfort zone and set off for a journey of her lifetime to China in 2011. She has been constantly travelling the world since then (slowly, but surely as she says), living like a local for less than $25 a day. She became a passionate photographer and adventure blogger sharing her life enthusiasm and travel experience with everyone around.

Here are a few photos from my experience in Cambodia:

Filed Under: Featured, Travel Tales

Sundogs Sled Excursions

January 6, 2013 by wahba 4 Comments

My girlfriend and I headed up to Northern Saskatchewan last Christmas with hopes of doing some cross country skiing and some dog sledding. The skiing was great, but unfortunately there wasn’t enough snow to go dog sledding. This year we decided to try again. Although the temperature was frigid, there was plenty of snow, so we were off to the races.

Exit to the dog sledding.

Last summer, I had the opportunity to head north in Saskatchewan and go on a canoe trip with some friends. It truly is a fantastic place with lots to offer to the outdoor enthusiast. However, I’m not sure if I prefer heading up there in the summer or winter as both offer great opportunities. Anyways, I guess that is irrelevant… back to the dog sledding.

Talk about a unique experience. We organized our half day trip with Sundogs Sled Excursions and the owner of the operation, Brad Muir. When you pull into the Sundogs ‘office’ you are welcomed by the sounded of 34 Alaskan Huskies barking up a storm. They seemed to know that some of them were going to go out running that day. They were hopping around and doing circles with great anticipation. Brad took about 40 minutes to get the dogs ready and attached eight to the sled. The incessant barking continued until Brad gave the command to start running. Once they started, all you could hear was the sounds of the dogs paws hitting the trail.
[Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: canada. saskatchewan, dog sled, winter

Canoeing in Saskatchewan’s North

November 9, 2012 by wahba Leave a Comment

Canoeing in Northern Saskatchewan

A couple months ago I went on a canoe/camping trip to northern Saskatchewan. I went with friends but it was essentially a guided tour. There were six of us. Three that can be categorized as dead weight (myself included) and three grizzled veterans of Saskatchewan’s great north. Two to a canoe, so the numbers worked out well to balance the anchors and the old hands.

Northern Saskatchewan is an amazing place. The rivers and lakes seem endless. On top of that, it is pretty easy to get to spots where you won’t see a person all day. Mycanadatrips.co.uk offers trips throughout Canada.

Photos courtesy of Chad Chicilo

Our northern trip made me think about a couple of Canadian adventurers. Recently, I finished watching the travels of fellow Reginians Dustin Corker and Adrian Traquair as they make their way by raft 2500km down the Ganges River. Around the Next Bend is definitely a crazy adventure. I have never been to India, but it sounds like a challenging place travel if you stray the path. These guys decided to thke a path that no one has ever taken. If you watch the series, you quickly get a sense as to why this may be!

The series made me wonder about other Canadian adventurers. Through a bit of googling, I came across an adventure which may even out do Dustin and Adrian’s trip. Don Starkell of Winnipeg and his two sons, Dana and Jeff undertook quite a journey. The threesome set out from the shores of the Red River in Canada with Brazil as their destination. This seems pretty crazy… even crazier when I learned that their transportation mode of choice was a canoe! Check out their story here.

Filed Under: Travel Tales

My Short Lived Thai Soccer Career

October 10, 2012 by wahba Leave a Comment

I was going through some old stuff and found this article I wrote when I was working with Right to Play in Thailand:

I sometimes wonder how I get myself into such strange situations. However, they do make for good stories. I think this one is near the top of the list.

A few days ago a friend of mine from Canada was in town. We decided to go and see if we could play football with some of the locals. We ended up playing on a field about half the side of a regular field without about 30 people. Needless to say it was a little crowded. A guy who was watching from his truck hammered on his horn and waved us over. Through the help of a translator he asked us if we were interested in playing for his team on the weekend. We weren’t sure if we were 100% clear though as to what exactly he was asking. At first it sounded like an over 35 league. I’m suffering from no disillusionment about the state of my growing forehead. But, the hair on my head must be going on vacation at a much faster rate than I previously thought if I’m getting asked to play in a 35 and older league. My friend told them he wasn’t going to be around on the weekend, so he was off the hook. I said,

“I’m 29”

“no problem, Sunday at 1”

“but isn’t it for 35 and older”

“no problem, Sunday at 1”

“Okay, I’ll try and make it, but don’t count on me”

“okay, see you Sunday at 1”

“I’ll try, but don’t count on me”

“See you Sunday at 1”

“Okay, bye”

“Bye”
[Read more...]

Filed Under: Travel Tales

Rafting down the Ganges

August 13, 2012 by wahba Leave a Comment

Want to take a Raft down the Ganges?

I’m always looking for interesting trips and ways to go somewhere and do something different. That was part of the inspiration for making this site, hence the name True Travellers (from the idea of truly travelling).

Here is a great adventure series coming up from a couple of guys (Adrian Traquair and Dustin Corkery) from my home town; Regina, Saskatchewan. How does a trip down the Yamuna and Ganges rivers from New Delhi to Dhaka sound? How about going in a small rubber raft and camping on the side of the river and having absolutely no idea what you are getting yourselves into? Sounds great to me (at least to watch)!

Check out this clip: