By Kath Gannaway
A DINNER at Gladysdale Bakery on 5 August to support Upper Yarra Secondary College’s (UYSC) work with villages in Cambodia has raised almost $3000.
As part of the Rotary Club’s World of Difference program, Upper Yarra Secondary College students and teachers will build on the school’s first trip to Cambodia when they return in November.
“Our main focus is to assist the two villages and their associated schools,”UYSC teacher and team leader, Bronwen Foley said.
“We began this work in 2014, and we are now building on that to further support these two communities.”
Their work will include a range of agricultural and economic sustainability measures for the villages as well as providing school supplies and sponsoring students to be able to attend school.
Ms Foley said they would be hands-on with construction and fitting of water pumps and biosand filters and then pass on those skills to local villagers.
She said it cost $300 to send a Cambodian village child to school for a year which included a bicycle, uniform and books.
The 12-day itinerary is a combination of work, play and study with students visiting temples and cities, working in an orphanage as well as exploring the country’s dark past with visits to the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum and The Killing Fields.
Dinner guests heard from students of the life-changing experience and the joy and reward of their hands-on involvement in the villages and orphanage on the first trip.
In 2014, part of the money raised for donations bought bicycles for students in a village to facilitate their travel to school.
Ms Foley said students and teachers part paid their own way, ensuring that all money raised would benefit the Cambodian communities they visit.
She thanked Jason and Melanie Rush from Gladysdale Bakery for hosting the night, and said the group was very grateful to all the local businesses who had donated goods for prizes and the auction.
The students will leave in November. Anyone wishing to support the program can contact the school on 5967 1877.
