American Youth Leadership Program: Cambodia
The ruins of Angkor Wat are magical. Once remote jungles house elephants, gibbons, and the endangered Indochinese Tiger. As tourists discover Cambodia, the spectacular natural wonders and rich cultural history are endangered by development, deforestation, and the illegal wildlife trade. The changes in a developing Cambodia raise pressing conservation issues for the country’s natural and cultural resources, and a fascinating place to learn about conservation and sustainable development.
Join us on this expedition as a part of the American Youth Leadership Program. Apply now for scholarships!
Sample Itinerary
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Chi Phat Service, Cross-cultural Exchange and Conservation Expedition
Day 10
Chi Phat Service, Cross-cultural Exchange and Conservation Expedition
Day 11
Chi Phat Service, Cross-cultural Exchange and Conservation Expedition
Day 12
Day 13
The orientation is our first opportunity to meet all program participants. Content focuses on team development and personal growth, leadership, conservation and sustainable development. We also learn more about Cambodia from Cambodians!
Working with our media partners, we'll explore the creative ways that digital media can be used to tell our the stories of our travels.
We head off from D.C. to Phnom Penh. It's a long trip but we'll make it a lot of fun!
Meet upon arrival, transfer to the hotel and provide orientation. Depending on arrival times, this day may include a one-hour tour through the center of Phnom Penh. Dinner will be at the Foreign Correspondents Club. Overnight at the Goldiana Hotel.
In the morning, we will visit the Royal Palace, built in 1866 under King Norodom. Adjacent is the Silver Pagoda, whose floor is covered with 5,000 silver tiles. Afterwards, we will visit Global Explorers Cambodia Page 30 ChildSafe International. The ChildSafe Network, created and managed by Friends-International, is a proactive child protection network involving key members of society that works to protect children from all forms of abuse and to prevent child exploitation and trafficking. Students will have a short presentation on the work of ChildSafe in Cambodia before having lunch at the restaurant of Mith Samlanh. Mith Samlanh, which means “Friends” in English, is another project of Friends-International. Mith Samlanh works with Cambodian street children, their families and the community to develop creative projects that effectively support the children to become independent and productive members of the community. The staff of Mith Samlanh restaurant are all disadvantaged youth who are receiving training to work in the hospitality industry. We’ll have an introduction to their work and discuss poverty in Cambodia. After lunch we will visit Choeng Ek, the location of the infamous Killing Fields, where thousands of Cambodians were murdered during the regime of the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1978. Continue to Tuol Sleng prison, the notorious Khmer prison where thousands of Cambodians perished in the darkest hours of Cambodian history. Return to the hotel. Dinner at Romdeng Restaurant. Discussion of history and how a culture evolves after a difficult past. Overnight at the Goldiana Hotel.
Today will be spent at the Apsara Arts Association (AAA). The Apsara Art Association aims to preserve Cambodian arts and culture by giving teachers the opportunity to teach Cambodian dance and music to disadvantaged children. The Apsara Art Association, an NGO, was founded in 1998 by Mr. Chhay Sopha and Mrs. Vong Metry, artists from the Royal University of Fine Arts. The association’s school provides performing arts training (dance, music, classical and traditional theater) and gives foreign language lessons. It also supplies schooling, accommodation, food and daily necessities to orphans and poor children. In the morning, we will teach English conversation lessons to the children of the AAA and will, in turn, learn some basic Khmer. Lunch will be enjoyed together. Next, the children of the Apsara Arts Association will perform a show of Cambodia dance and music. After this, the visiting American students will perform their own cultural show. Return to the hotel at 4 PM. Dinner at the Topaz restaurant. Overnight at the Goldiana Hotel.
After breakfast, we will visit the Cambodian Community-Based Ecotourism Network (CCBEN). The CCBEN is a network of more than thirty members including communities, nongovernmental organizations, academic institutes and private companies who are working closely with ecotourism. CCBEN aims to support, promote and advocate for this unique style of tourism in order to conserve natural and cultural resources, to protect the environment and to raise the sustainable wellbeing of the local communities across the country. Students will have a presentation about the work of CCBEN and initiatives in Cambodia. Lunch at An Nam Vietnamese restaurant. After lunch, students visit the Ministry of the Environment where there will be a short lecture on the effects of global climate change in Cambodia. Students engage in an afternoon discussion about global climate change. Dinner at the Khmer Surin Restaurant. Overnight at the Goldiana Hotel.
Morning reception at the U.S. Embassy and discussion of how foreign governments support Cambodia. Return to the hotel for lunch. After lunch, drive to Chi Phat (two hours). At Andong Teuk we will board a local boat for a trip of about one hour to Chi Phat. After lunch, students meet local guides and communities involved in the Chi Phat project of the Wildlife Alliance. Group discussion of the challenges and rewards of conservation, sustainable development and ecotourism in this region. Welcome dinner. Overnight at a homestay in Chi Phat. Chi Phat is a group of four small villages totaling roughly 2,500 people located in the Cardamoms Protected Forest. Covering 6% of Cambodia, the Cardamoms are home to most of the country’s large mammals and half of its birds, reptiles and amphibians, including globally endangered and threatened species like Asian elephants, Indochinese tigers, Malayan sun bears, Pileated gibbons, Siamese crocodiles, and Irrawaddy and Humpback dolphins. The Cardamoms comprise a vast ecosystem with sixteen vegetation types, from dense evergreen rainforest to lowland swamps to coastal mangroves.
Morning visit to the local high school in Chi Phat. The visiting students will teach English and engage in training sessions, simulations and role-playing, teambuilding exercises, case studies, volunteer service and leadership training. Local students will teach Khmer. Afternoon bike trip with a visit to a tree nursery as students learn about and engage in a reforestation project at Chi Phat. Cycle back to Chi Phat and enjoy a swim in the nearby waterfall. Overnight at a homestay in Chi Phat.
Start of the two day/one night trekking program into the protected area of Chi Phat focused on biodiversity and conservation. Very early breakfast before we board local boats that will take us into the protected area. We will transfer to rowing boats where we will look for monkeys and colorful birds on the riverbank. After about two and a half hours we will reach the wildlife watching house where we will take a short rest before we start trekking through the forest. Trek through the forest accompanied by a naturalist guide. Our lunch will be in the jungle next to a small river. After lunch, we will continue our trek to the jungle camp where we will spend the night. Our porters and guide will set up camp and prepare the dinner while we make a foray into the forest towards a nearby clearing called “Veal Ta Prak.” Veal Ta Prak is a grassy opening in the middle of the jungle with a seasonal pond where wildlife might include sambar deer, wild pig, great hornbills and gibbons. Return to the camp for dinner. Overnight at jungle camp.
We wake up for a sunrise hike to Veal Ta Prak. After breakfast, we will pack up and start trekking back to Chi Phat. Visit waterfall and swim on return trek. Overnight at a homestay in Chi Phat.
Departure from Chi Phat in the morning. Take the boat back to Andong Teuk. Drive back to Phnom Penh and continue to Kampong Thom. Lunch will be along the way in a local restaurant. Afternoon reception and dinner at the Kampong Ccheuteal High School, a school funded by the Thai Royal Family. Overnight at a local homestay or school dormitory. The Kampong Ccheuteal High School serves students in grades 7-12. Curriculum emphasizes such themes as the importance of environmental protection, preserving archaeological sites, health care and English language training.
Full day of activities at the Kampong Ccheuteal High School including peer training/education workshops, teambuilding exercises, leadership development with workshop trainers, exercises related to increasing tolerance and cooperation and developing strategies for future collaboration and cooperation among participants and a local community service project. We will split into two groups for these activities. Overnight at a local homestay/dorm.
