Life in Samraong
Sarah recently completed a two week stay at Green Shoots Foundation AgriTech Centre in NW Cambodia.She booked her placement via WorldPackers,a very seamless and straightforward experience.We appreciate her time with us!check out what she got upto.
I recently completed two weeks volunteering with Greenshoots. A UK registered charity aiming to help rural communities through education, specifically on local farming practices and evening classes for English language. They are based in a small place called Samraong in north west Cambodia. Here there are no tourists, no distractions – I loved it.
Every morning from 8-11am I would help Mr. Loun who looked after the agri-tech centre. I helped him feed the chickens, ducks, frogs and fish. Then we would do various activities depending on what he needed. Some days we were clearing leaves, watering plants, preparing seedlings, removing weeds or preparing new soil. The centre was a gorgeous tranquil place, so quiet and I really enjoyed getting stuck in and helping in any way I could.
Mr. Loun didn’t speak much English but I found myself enjoying his company so much even though most of the time we were simply laughing about our broken equipment or trying local food his wife would bring us.
In the evening I would join the English lessons, I’m not a teacher so I was feeling really apprehensive about this. Looking back it feels silly. I met the two teachers, teacher Neht and teacher Chakreya and they were the two biggest rays of sunshine ever and they instantly put me at ease. I got to participate in the lessons to begin with and worked up to delivering them myself. I found that once I relaxed so did the students and I felt like I managed to create a really lovely bond with them, making it difficult to leave.
I enjoyed a few beers and dinner with the teachers on my last night and felt very sad to leave Samraong. I really believe in the work GreenShoots are doing and I’m so glad I got to contribute.
I can honestly say it was the best 2 weeks of my whole 6 months travelling. Immersing myself in local life and contributing to a local meaningful cause couldn’t have been more rewarding.
