CAS experience led to this …..
I am spending 6 months of my gap year
volunteering in Cambodia with an
Update from Lara Vella, Class of 2018.
NGO called RAW Impact. It’s difficult
to explain what Raw Impact does in a few
sentences, but basically they have a lot of
different projects all focused in different
areas that when put together give
impoverished families in Cambodia the
tools, knowledge and resources to lead a
better life independently. They are in the
process of building whole communities
and providing Khmer families with a
sustainable bamboo house. They have
started a bamboo plantation that will
eventually create many job opportunities
for the locals in that area. They have built
numerous schools and are providing local teachers with proper training in order for them to be able to
deliver proper lessons, and they have created a debt rescue program and are teaching locals about the
importance of saving and how to save, among other things.
I decided to volunteer with Raw Impact because I agree with the way they tackle social issues in an ethical
and sustainable manner, with the mindset of create lasting long-term impact. I think it’s important to be
mindful about the repercussions of your actions and how they are actually affecting other people in the long
run.
Being here has had it’s fair shares of ups and downs.
Besides obviously the initial culture shock,
homesickness and being totally alone in a
completely new environment, the thing I struggled
with a lot in the first few weeks is not being satisfied
with what I was doing. Even though I was part of a
much bigger organisation doing incredible things,
back home when I was doing the IB I was leading a
small project, while here I was following the path
already set out for me by previous volunteers. I think
I struggled with the thought that even though what I was doing was helping the organisation run smoothly
and improve their projects, I wasn’t driving any significant, unique change. With the project I was leading
back home, if I didn’t initiate certain things, the project wouldn’t have developed like it did. Whereas here
I don’t really have the opportunity to do that.