If you enjoy working with young kids and want to support their education while travelling in Asia, then working with children in Cambodia is for you. You’ll become part of our ongoing efforts to improve early childhood education at disadvantaged care centres.
You don’t need previous experience to join. You’ll support local teachers and caregivers, and Projects Abroad staff are there to help you if you need it.
Before you start, you’ll receive a thorough induction to the project and your Projects Abroad Coordinator will explain in detail what’s required of you. You’ll have access to a database full of resources such as worksheets, class activities, and creative games. In addition, we run regular workshops for all our Childcare and Teaching volunteers in Cambodia. You can exchange ideas, discuss challenges, and more.
This is a great way for you to help where it’s needed most and learn new skills at the same time. You’ll gain childcare experience, and hone personal skills like communication and problem solving.
Our Childcare Project in Cambodia runs throughout the year and you can join at any time. We recommend staying as long as possible to make a bigger impact.
At the Childcare Project in Cambodia, your work focuses on the children and their development. Many of the children we support come from underprivileged backgrounds. Our goal is to give them the same opportunities as other children around the world. Here are a few of the things you will be helping with:
Organise educational activities
In Cambodia, promoting early childhood development is one of our main goals. We want to make sure each child we work with learns the skills they need to succeed at school. You’ll help us work toward this goal by improving literacy and numeracy, and teaching English. You’ll also play games and sports to help children improve their motor skills, like catching and balancing.
Each week, you’ll spend a minimum of five hours teaching English. This is important work, as the children benefit significantly from having an English speaker to practice with.
Hygiene and health initiatives
One of our other goals is to improve hygiene levels of the children. We focus on sharing knowledge with the children, telling them about the benefits of practicing good hygiene everyday. This will help prevent the spread of disease, and improve their overall wellbeing. In Cambodia, we mainly do this through educational campaigns, hands-on demonstrations, and role play activities.
You’ll assist with health check-ups every two weeks. This includes recording if they are at a healthy height and weight. Showing them how to do it first and a good congratulatory cheer at the end will make them grin and encourage them to be first in line next month!
Support local staff
Many of the care centres have reduced their staff to child ratio. This means that each child is able to receive a higher level of attention that is vital during their early years. The local staff are very hands-on, but they need extra support. As a volunteer, you’ll alleviate some of the pressure.
By taking over a few responsibilities, you’ll free up their time for other management tasks. This helps ensure the smooth running of the care centre. You’ll also assist with a few day-to-day activities at the care centres such as setting up of tables, cleaning, and maintenance work.
