Cambodia is one of Asia's most mysterious countries, which has evidence of the towering accomplishments of ancient civilizations alongside the darkest depths of human cruelty. Although the war in Cambodia has long since been over, its remains are very much present. The famous Angkor Wat Temple, Sambor, and pristine beaches are Cambodia's wonders.
Internship is an integral part of the learning experience and an initiation to future employment. Asia Horizon organizes internship in Cambodia in collaboration with a network of various local organizations in Phnom Penh and the provinces that focuses on community and rural development, democracy, gender issues. Interns of Asia Horizon help in community development, health, HIV/AIDs awareness, prevention and rehabilitation, conservation, women and child issues and advocacy. By working and interacting in Cambodian communities you can help to restore their confidence and help them on the road to recovery. Internship program gives you a rewarding travel experience that feeds your soul by knowing the local cultures and different ways of life while helping the local communities.
Volunteer’s Activities
Internship program is designed to bring foreign interns to Cambodia to share cultural and work experience and to contribute new impulses and fresh ideas that may be helpful to Cambodians and the interns' home society. Asia Horizon manages individually developed placements and arranges volunteer’s activities in advance as per the intern’s skills and interests. As an intern you will support organization to write reports and proposals for fundraising, organizing income generating programs for the poor and also develop a saving program for community. You will also help providing psychological support to the children, developing a curriculum of the English classes for the child care centers, legal advocacies and other activities depending on your skills and interests.
As an intern, you will have the opportunity to support the effort of the Cambodian communities to fulfill their dream of better future. At the beginning of the project, the intern gets an outline of the organizations and its activities that certainly helps them getting necessary background information and conditions of the project. The intern is supervised by the director of the organization or the coordinator of the specific program. Intern requires a minimum stay of 4 weeks to participate in these projects
Project Skills Required
No specific qualification is needed for internship program . The basic requirement you need is genuine interest in and committed to the Cambodian country and culture. Intern should have basic skills in the field he/she wants to be placed. Intern should also be flexible, self-motivated with open mind to learn and serve to the people of new culture and religion. Interaction, friendship and support are the key things you will need to offer when on this placement.
Asia Horizon welcomes interns from any background since this project cooperates with various sectors. We are open to ideas you have to help in uplift the underprivileged societies of Cambodia. The intern should at least be 20 years of age.
Arrangement of Food and Accommodation
Asia Horizon makes an appropriate provision for food, room and supervision for its volunteers from the very beginning of their arrival to the country to the end of their project. You will get a brief orientation about the premise and the schedule of the program, living with the Cambodian host family is a great opportunity to understand the Cambodian life, language (especially Khmer), culture, tradition and people. In your volunteering programs, volunteers’ accommodation and food management is provided by a host family and in the placement, cooks prepare a variety of Cambodian food three meals a day (rice, noodle, drinks, various soups, salad, a main fish dish and a Cambodian dessert). You can also get the food from outside if you wish; there are numbers of affordable restaurants and hotels in Phnom Penh. You can’t expect a luxurious bedroom while staying with the host family. However, volunteers joining Asia Horizon-Thailand’s orphanage program stay with the children in a hostel. Asia Horizon arranges a separate room along with a communal bath with cold water and fan for volunteers in both the host families and hostel accommodations but sometimes they may share the room if the number is large. Volunteers are expected to share same life style while staying with the host family; they may join the daily activities such as cooking, cleaning, washing and so on. Though the local fare will be provided twice a day, you will be really enjoy the way of Cambodian hospitality and generosity to the guest.
Project Location
The orphanages are located in the nearby areas of Phnom Penh city, the distance of half an hour drive by motorbike or taxi from the center. Phnom Penh is a charming, rapidly developing city situated at the convergence of three great rivers: the Mekong, Tonle Sap and Bassac. The town offers many tourist attractions such as the Royal Palace, Wat Phnom, National Museum, majestic temples of Angkor Wat in Siem Reap province, Toul Sleng Genocide Museum, the beautiful coconut beaches of Sihanoukville and is an ideal initial point for daily or weekend trips to the provinces and the beach.
The orphanages in Pursat and Kampot are in the province capitals. Both of these calm and average sized cities are situated by a river that invites the volunteers to enjoy sunset on the riverside. It is a half day trip from Pursat to the temples of Angkor Wat and the Tonle Sap. Kampot is close to the beautiful beaches and islands in the gulf of Thailand. In Pursat and Kampot the local people take pleasure in showing the volunteer around and giving the volunteer an idea of country life in Cambodia. The more volunteers have interest, the more will have the opportunity to discover the country and the culture of Cambodia
Visa Information
It is the responsibility of volunteers to manage their own tickets and visa.Any traveler to Cambodia can stay on a tourist visa (20 US $) or a business visa (25 US $) for one month. The visas can be obtained at the Cambodian Embassy in your country or at the Pochentong International Airport in Phnom Penh upon arrival. But we strongly recommend you to get a tourist visa prior to your arrival. It saves time and hassle of filling out the form in the airport, making sure you have all the documents required, and queuing up to apply for the visa.The tourist visa can be extended for one month (40 US $) and the business visa can be extended for a maximum one year (for 3 months 80 US $, for 6 months 160 US $ and for 12 months 290 US $). Lastly, if you wish to stay for longer period, we will take care for that.
Project Information
Program Date: Asia Horizon volunteer Program begins with your arrival at Pochentong International Airport in Phnom Penh on Sunday, the day before of your project. A one-day orientation about the program including project sites, types of work, local food, climate, safety issues, health issues, culture people etc. will be provided in Phnom Penh office before you start the project.
Program Fees: Our program fee is 80-100% less than most international volunteer organizations.
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Living, Working and Safety Issue
Living and working in a poor and developing country is really challenging. It demands courage, some experiences and the ability to adapt. It can be overwhelming to adjust in a completely new environment. The climate, food, and atmosphere – everything is different than your hometown. You will be faced with a harsh social reality every day of your volunteer work and experience things a tourist never sees.
Independence, maturity, flexibility and the desire to do social work are required if you want to take part in the volunteer work program. Asia Horizon takes full responsibility for your safety and tries its level best to bring sense of security and peace of mind in you from the time of your first arrival to the completion of your project in a host country. When we receive your flight information, we will make the necessary arrangements here for your airport pick-up. Generally, volunteers arrive on Sunday. Our country coordinator will be there to welcome you at the airport, to pick up and take you to your accommodation, and you will receive basic orientation about your itinerary and placement along with a comprehensive briefing on the country and specific locale by the coordinator and transfer to the project on the following day or after the one week orientation. The staff/ coordinator will accompany you until you have a sense of complete safety. You are allowed to contact 24/7with an assigned person directed by Asia Horizon during your stay. We will be fulfilling our additional duties such as monitoring, guiding and counseling. Our staff/ coordinator will be there all the time supporting, assisting and coordinating you. |
