With our journey from the UAE to Cambodia, the opening act of our Week Without Walls trip organised by Camps International had finally begun, and our wide-eyed motley crew from the Universal American School in Dubai were primed for the experience.
What is a Week Without Walls (WWW) trip?
Week Without Walls trips are organised by schools to offer students an educational experience they wouldn’t typically acquire through reading textbooks or learning from a teacher inside a classroom. They are designed for young people to step out into the real world, learn skills from local guides and understand the value of performing acts of service in underprivileged communities. The trips are also designed for students to connect with the land and people in the places they visit, including outdoor education and wildlife adventures, infrastructure projects, reforestation initiatives, river rides, hikes as well as meeting with local indigenous communities and visiting important cultural and historical sites. Over the past two years, our school has taken students as young as grade 6 on international service trips to Sri Lanka, Nepal, Tanzania, Kenya, Borneo and Cambodia – all in the aim of expanding their minds and contributing to community development.
From the UAE to Cambodia
We walked out of the airport in Phnom Penh and were instantly greeted by a wall of thick and intense humidity, and the outstretched hands of Dee and Bunlay, our local guides. Coming through the doors were 22 excited Grade 11 students, three jet-lagged teachers and our experienced expedition leader, Rich, from the UK.
Mrs. Amanda, our Maths department head from Texas, gathered the group together for our first group photo on Cambodian soil. Meanwhile Mrs. Hannah, our IB Geography teacher and Sustainability Leader, collected the students’ passports, carefully counting them to ensure we didn’t start the trip with a major glitch. I zoomed out on my camera to ensure no students would be excluded from the shot and in that moment was caught by the peculiarity of the scene, one of those ‘you’re a long way from home’ moments. As I snapped the exuberant young smiles of Lebanon, India, Iran, the USA, Egypt, South Africa, Iraq, Poland, Tunisia and Sudan, I basked in the amazingness of this moment: the beauty of being part of a temporary yet meaningful multicultural family, and that filling feeling that we hadn’t even gotten started yet.
Remembering Cambodia’s recent past
After checking into our hotel in Phnom Penh, we headed straight for the SN21 High School. This wasn’t like visiting any typical school. The site, in the heart of the city, was used to torture and execute accused opponents of the Khmer Rouge government. Between 1975 and 1979 approximately 20,000 detainees were murdered in this school. It has now been converted into a museum where visitors can wander through classrooms of blood-stained floors, some of which contain torture equipment, detention cells and lonely metal bed frames, all solemn and grim reminders of the evils perpetrated by the former regime. As our students listened to and read about the details of the prison, it was clear that they were all processing and comparing their own high school experience to this dark memorial. It was a heavy but meaningful way to begin our introduction to Cambodia
Throughout the trip, the tragic and traumatizing legacy of the Khmer Rouge genocide would resurface through the story portrayed in the presentation at the Phare circus, silently paying our respects to the mass graves as we walked through one of the country’s many killing fields and hearing family stories of resilience and tragedy from our local guides. We were there to enjoy ourselves but these harsh lessons were essential to really understanding where we were and grounding us with compassion and empathy.
Remembering Cambodia’s ancient past
The second morning, we made our way to explore the great wondrous temples at Angkor Wat, truly magnificent to take in. Construction began here in the 7th century as an homage to the Hindu God Vishnu and gradually over time additional temples began to honour Buddhist traditions, as was explained by our guide Dee who carefully narrated much of the art and stories carved into the walls.
It was a scorching day and as our group wandered through the complex, I couldn’t help contemplating how we were on a journey through time. Now, in 2024, here’s a tour of students from thousands of kilometers away, huddling and smiling together for photo opportunities and uploading them to Instagram. Just remarkable how Angkor Wat – like so many other ancient wonders of the world – has evolved over the ages.
Student insight into ethical travel
The following day we were once again on the bus to make our way to the camp for our service work, and took a quick detour to visit a floating village on the banks of Lake Tonlé Sap. We passed by a local school and as recess began, dozens of young primary students flooded outside to greet us. Our students quickly sprung into action and began to play with them, carrying them on their backs as others pulled out their phones to film the frenzy.
Back in the bus afterwards, Rich had some wise and challenging words for the students about what it means to be ethical travelers. What is behind the motive of taking a picture with a child you don’t know and posting it? Is it ethical to use children as commodities to make you look like a hero? Although our group was genuinely trying to entertain these kids, his words were important and timely to help our students reflect on certain behaviors and become aware of where they were.
This was one of many instances when our educational trip took a more pragmatic and real-time approach. Learning dates and events are important, but we leaders constantly guided our group to be conscientious about the world around them and to think critically about their actions.
Home is where the heart is
After spending the first couple of days exploring Cambodia’s remarkable and beautiful temples at Angkor Wat and walking through moving and infamous historical sites related to the Khmer Rouge genocide, we pulled into Camp Beng Mealea in the country’s rural northwest. Here, the students would be expected to carry out community service work, bond together and learn more about the local way of life.
The accommodations were great but we were far from the comforts of home in Dubai: sanitizing and washing our own dishes, mosquito nets over single mattresses, a few welcome bugs in the shower and no cold water on site to refresh against the sizzling sun. The students may have had some initial reservations to this adjustment but after Han, our main host at camp, shared his humbling life story during the welcoming speech, the students soon took stock of their privileged life back home, and swallowed their pride. I should also add that meeting Han, Dee, Dara and the rest of the camp leaders was like love at first sight! Our students developed a strong bond in such a short time for this amazing group of people. It was really sweet to see it all unfold.
Our community service trip: the activities
Now, the reason we came to Cambodia: the community service work. After receiving a blessing by the monks inside the local temple, we were ready to do what we traveled so far to accomplish. It was hot, it was physical and many of the students had never so much as picked up a shovel in their lives. One team worked on building claypots for local farmers to store water; this involved stepping endlessly on clay to refine it, then placing it into a mold, while mixing cement and eventually covering the mold with the cement. Meanwhile, another group was split in half: one team laid down cement tiles to extend the school playground, and the other team gave English lessons to students aged 7 to 12 years old. Laying down the tiles meant the group had to clear brush, dig to level the terrain and lay the cement tiles. Teaching meant it was now their turn to take the lead and inspire a classroom. The teams rotated and everyone was able to participate in each task.
I was amazed at how motivated and determined our students were to contribute and never did I hear a single word of complaint! The work was not easy by any means, but it was clear they understood the higher purpose behind what they were doing. They worked collaboratively as teams and their smiles told me that they really enjoyed doing something to benefit others. Although in our Dubai classrooms you can see them put their minds to work, during those days I saw the size of their hearts.
Our community service trip: the holistic student experience
Perhaps the most beautiful and unexpected moment of the trip occurred just as we were finishing the final workshift of the expedition. As the group I was working with was laying the final cement tiles, our efforts were interrupted by the spring’s first rain storm, bringing fresh winds and flooding the courtyard. It seldom rains in the UAE, and so when it does our students take it all in. What ensued was a moment of wholesome humanity. Our students and the local kids set into splashing each other, kicking the puddles, shrieking at the thunder, playing football without a net, piggy backing each other and authentic, joyous laughing. During that rain, time stood still. Just kids being kids, and it was profound pure happiness. None of us will ever forget that rain.
The experience back at camp was marked by countless, truly human moments and good vibes. It was returning to the roots that many adults my age remember fondly, and evidence that you don’t need to be on your phone to enjoy yourself; good company and nature are always more than enough. Hearing the gasps and wonderment of students looking up and seeing a night sky with more stars than they had ever seen before was particularly moving to me. Disposable cameras, singalongs, card games, hand washing our dusty and sweat-soaked clothes, and the final crescendo: a campfire with traditional dancing. You honestly wouldn’t have known what decade we were in by looking at us.
The impact of charity activities for students
Looking back at our initial planning meetings making sure our students all had the necessary supplies and visas, and while we wolfed down Mrs. Amanda’s homemade cookies, I felt some of the students were thinking “I’m glad I’m going on a trip with some of my best friends, but why Cambodia? Why can’t we go to Europe, do some shopping or see some museums?” By the end of the journey, there wasn’t a student left wondering that any longer. We all entered the heart of the experience, and became enriched by Cambodia’s graceful culture and history, some special individuals and an adventure we could never forget.
One student remarked: “I lived in Africa for 12 years and was always certain I would never be able to find more down to Earth and humble people in my life, but Cambodia proved me wrong. Even the dark past etched into their recent history couldn’t stop people from sporting the most beautiful and brightest smiles. I was so moved the whole trip.”
Week Without Walls: how to integrate service trips and charity work for students
The Week Without Walls movement is gaining traction around the world. For schools promoting international-mindedness and global citizenship, a Week Without Walls is a great opportunity to take students to see not just the tourist hotspots, but the diversity and wonders of all corners of Earth. Camps International did a fantastic job taking care of almost all important logistics and the company offers service learning trips for schools from both the UK and the UAE.
There are a number of other organizations that you can partner with including CASTrips and WorldStrides, so do your online research and find the one that best suits your school’s objectives and that operates in your country. Also, you don’t have to travel very far from your own backyard to make a difference: when I taught in Mexico City, we partnered with Outward Bound to conduct similar service trips within a few hours of the city.
Personally, as an avid and curious traveler, I have always loved to be a part of leading student trips, because I can shed my classroom self and share the authentic version of myself with the group. I’m talking about those real and unique conversations, the magical moments in nature and the example I try to impart on how to connect beneath the surface with people from a different culture. I love that I can share this essence and all the knowledge and experience I have acquired over the years and from the places I have been to.
But part of being a leader on these kinds of trips – and being human – is also about opening yourself up to be taught a few new lessons from the younger generation. Our group of students carried with them a genuine beat of enthusiasm and wonder, shined their special and unique personalities and humour and, most lovely above all else, they touched my heart by reminding me of how beautiful it is seeing young people learn and discover new things in an unfamiliar environment.
