Published on: 13 February 2019




Students from Christ Church Grammar School and St Mary’s Anglican Girls’ School were in Cambodia over summer as part of a Service in Action (SIA) trip to support the Cambodian Children’s Fund (CCF).

Founded in 2004 by Scott Neeson, CCF provides life-changing education, food, healthcare and shelter to vulnerable children from some of Cambodia’s most destitute communities.

The team of students provided services in teaching English and Mathematics, helping with CCF’s nightly food distribution program and providing strong role models to the local children. Staff from Christ Church and St Mary’s also contributed by way of offering professional learning in teaching techniques and STEM to the teachers at CCF.

“A visit to the notorious Khmer Rouge S-21 prison and the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek, before their service work, was an experience both profound and confronting, but incredibly important to set a context for the journey ahead,” said Director of Service in Action, Mr Mark Tait.

“It is a real pleasure for us to spend time with kids who have nothing, but are so eager to learn and a group of teachers who enthusiastically embrace new ideas.”

“The changes to infrastructure and teaching in the six years we have been visiting CCF are remarkable. It’s been an incredible journey to be part of.”

In their final night blog, the students described the journey as “an amazing adventure that will stay with us for ever. With a big year ahead in 2019, the experience has given us a lot to think about, but also the inspiration to achieve our goals, just like the kids at CCF do every day.”

Christ Church’s SIA program seeks to inspire boys to learn about themselves and the world through serving those less fortunate – a process of service learning. Discover more about the program here.