Twenty-five Year 11 students and four staff members from Hennessy Catholic College embarked on the 2019 Cambodia Immersion trip on Friday, July 5.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The first half of the trip was situated in the northern Siem Reap province of Cambodia.
This involved travelling to the temple complex of Angkor Wat, including the Bayon and Ta Prohm temples, engaging in the organised community project which involved building two houses for local families, a visit to a local school and a Khmer cooking lesson.
Student highlights included witnessing the culture and heritage of the temples, assisting with the building and developing connections with the village families.
The second half of the nine day immersion experience was spent in the capital Phnom Penh.
An eventful stop at the spider village occurred during the trip to the capital where there was an opportunity to try fried tarantulas, cockroaches and crickets.
While in the city, students and staff were given an amazing opportunity to go to a primary school and interact with the staff and students. They participated in lessons, reading in the library and playing ball games.
Students witnessed first hand the violence and destruction of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge regime through their visit to the Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum which is at the site of security prison 21.
Other highlights included a trip to the Wat Phnom temple, eating Cambodia delicacies like durian fruit and fertilised duck eggs, a trip to Phnom Penh's famous Central Markets and a cruise on the Mekong Delta.
The group also visited the Sister of Mercy orphanage on the last morning where students were able to play games with the children and assist with housekeeping duties. Hennessy would like to thank the communities of Young, Harden, Boorowa, Cootamundra and Grenfell for their continual support of this incredible and life changing program.