Volunteer Experiences
We welcome volunteers to share their engagement experience with us and are happy to share these with our readers. A few of them are as follows:
Dr Felix Han
Recently graduated Dentist, Dr. Felix Han from South Korea volunteered in our clinics including our mobile clinic for over 2 months, the longest ever by a volunteer dentist.
“Our skills and knowledge shouldn’t be used blindly as a simple tool to earn money. With our talents and gifts, we have a responsibility. And that responsibility is to use our skills to the best of our abilities to improve the wellbeing of others. I never realized this clearly and the fact that there are countless number of people in our society needing our help. It occurred to me that help should not be limited to providing a dental service to the society because there are many ways to giving and sharing. Even a smile is a gift that anyone can give. And I am fortunate that in my work as a dentist, I am able to help a child not just in health but to give confidence to a child to smile beautifully. I also had a similar positive life experience when I witnessed the children’s enthusiasm and improvement after my short stint in teaching English. I strongly believe that with my experience of being a volunteer with BLCP has forged me to become a better person than before”
- Dr. Han
YourAid and BLCP very much appreciate Dr. Han for his valuable time and excellent work done at our clinics and in helping with our English classes.
Anna
“Our skills and knowledge shouldn’t be used blindly as a simple tool to earn money. With our talents and gifts, we have a responsibility. And that responsibility is to use our skills to the best of our abilities to improve the wellbeing of others. I never realized this clearly and the fact that there are countless number of people in our society needing our help. It occurred to me that help should not be limited to just giving money because there are many ways to giving and sharing. Even a smile is a gift that anyone can give. And I am fortunate that in my volunteer work as a computer instructor I am able to help a child to not only gain technological skills but also open up another world of learning. I had a most positive life experience when I witnessed the children’s enthusiasm and improvement during my time with BLCP. I strongly believe that with my experience of being a volunteer with BLCP has forged me to become a better person than before”
- Anna
Anna continues to help guide BLCP by providing guidance and other valuable inputs as a director with YourAid.
Mark
Mark has been supporting BLCP in its various programs including teaching, water tanks and other improvements for a number of years.
“It has been such a rewarding experience to have volunteered with BLCP. I was able to interact with the students who were ever so curious to learn English, asking me all types of questions and always wanting to know more. They were never satisfied with my answers! As I am a technical person involved in structural design, I was also able to contribute ideas and work alongside the WASH team in helping build water tanks. “
- Mark
Mark’s connection with BLCP did not end with his return to Australia. Mark is now a board member of YourAid and actively guides the implementation of projects.
Jasmine
Jasmine has been supporting BLCP education projects, especially our mobile libraries with her group CLUB 500 for a number of years.
“I have so many memorable moments as a result of my involvement with BLCP. Traveling for hours in tuk-tuks on red dirt roads wondering where on earth we could be going only to arrive at remote schools and villages in places that you most certainly would not find on a map. Making lifelong friends, who I affectionately refer to as my Cambodian family and sharing my Cambodian experiences with family and friends. I organised a group to visit Kampot with me and see first-hand the difference that we can make by all working together, are a few of the things I did to be mentioned. Above all, BLCP has an amazing staff in Cambodia who works tirelessly to make a difference in the lives of the children”
- Jasmine
Jasmine’s connection with BLCP did not end with her return to Australia. Jasmine and her friends formed Club 500 to continue their journey of giving. The Group’s support and funds have enabled a number of initiatives to be completed including – handwash and tooth brushing facilities at remote schools, secondhand laptop donations, building a preschool in a remote province, mobile computer classes, new houses for poor families, reading glasses for students, and gifts of bicycles and food parcels.
Lyn
Lyn volunteered to provide training to our English teachers
“I was really glad to share my knowledge and experience in teaching English to BLCP’s group of teachers. During the workshop I found the teachers to be very keen in wanting to gain skills on how to improve their classroom delivery and to learn of ways to motivate their students. The people in BLCP are so dedicated and are doing excellent work to help the children to have better general knowledge and education to improve their future. I hope that there will be more international teacher instructors who can volunteer their time to help the teachers and students in Cambodia. I hope to come back next year”
- Lyn
Lyn and her partner, John continue to be involved with BLCP and are regular visitors to Cambodia to help improve the lives of children there. They make monthly contributions through YourAid to help fund the expenses of Anglungkuki Community School and provide guidance to the principal, Sok in managing the school.