A glorious end to the program

Our program officially ended on Friday with a farewell lunch at Treak Community Centre with the teaching staff, and a dinner at Haven Restaurant, our favourite place to dine after not only sampling the wonderful food, but hearing about the wonderful work they do to educate and train local young adults to give them a positive future. I developed an award for each of the students, based upon their demonstrated skills and strengths and had a lovely little award ceremony to honour their achievements over the last two weeks. There may have been a few tears shed! Saturday was a free day, with one student leaving at 8am, and the rest with a 2pm departure. Most of them used the day to quietly stroll around the city buying a few bits and bobs before departing. At farewell time, some more tears were shed, and I made sure the students got a grand send-off, running alongside their bus waving. What a laugh. I am utterly proud of the way our UniSQ students have conducted themselves and persevered through the challenges presented during their time in Cambodia. They openly admit that the sense of achievement and transformation they feel is in no small part because they faced and overcame obstacles. While they're all very excited about going home, they felt a sense of wistfulness in leaving the peole and place they've come to love.Read more