OSE group adventure begins

Our Overseas Study Experience (OSE) group, along with Dr James Ward, Academic Dean, left last Thursday morning to start their tour of South-East Asia.

They begin their adventure with a 14 day stay in Phnom Penh where they will be working with the not-for-profit organisation, Street Children Assistance Development Program (SCADP).

They will be visiting and teaching at various SCADP teaching sites, distributing school resources like notepads and pencils; as well as visiting a very rural community in Prey Vang.

Wesley College is the major supporter of the school in Prey Vang, and the students will experience life as locals in their Prey Vang home-stay.

As part of building a greater cultural awareness, the group will be visiting Siem Reap and Angkor Watt, and the Killing Fields near Phnom Penh.

They then head to Vietnam where they will be checking in with the Australian-run Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation in Hanoi; then travelling to Haven Home, which is a small residential facility in Hue where disadvantage rural kids can access school; and finally assisting in Starfish Education projects in DaNang and Hoi An.

The students have raised in excess of $24,000 which they will be distributing to these charities.

During the final phase of their tour, students will move onto the placement phase, which will run through the month of January:

• Will will be heading back to Hanoi to do a placement with the Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology (VAST). He will be assisting a PhD student who is designing a machine to measure the intensity of ocean waves.
• Meg will be working with CSAGA, who provides support and assistance for women who are victims of domestic violence. CSAGA has a number of shelters around Vietnam, Meg will be based in Hanoi.
• Nishtha will be travelling to Lao to work with SAE LOA, a community development project in Nathong Village, just outside the city of Vang Vieng. Nishtha will be working on awareness programs for school children with village locals; as well as community based sustainable fundraising programs.
• Rafael and Ed will be travelling back to Phnom Penh and completing a month-long internship with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). In particular, Raf and Ed will be assisting with research into the use of environmental controls, such as specific insects, in pest management in rice fields.