Experience Cambodia

I saw this advertised through YMCA and immediately thought, let’s give it a try!

I have been involved in YMCA now for some forty plus years and I have had the opportunity to travel to Conferences, meetings and Festivals in many different countries. I think something like 50 countries but almost all, in recent years have been for work.

I had some serious surgery about seven years ago and my mobility as a result is not the best, so in the interests of an easy life I restricted myself to very lazy holidays on Gran Canaria. So to be faced with a question like ‘Experience Cambodia’ I had to give this some serious thought.

My decision was made. I would sign up for this visit. Now, I don’t believe I have lost my marbles entirely, (someone gave me a little bag of them for my last birthday) and knowing this was a YMCA Tourist Programme I was on my way.

Before proceeding further, let me explain what the programme is all about.

YMCA operates in 119 countries across the world. Many of these are in places of great interest. YMCA is a not for profit Charity and we depend on donations and social enterprise to enable us to deliver services to very often, the most needy in our communities.

A couple of years back in South East Asia YMCA recognised the potential for enabling people to come and visit not just their country as tourists but also to experience first-hand, the work of the largest Youth organisation in the world.

Out of this grew ‘The Global Alternative Tourism Network’. This is not restricted to YMCA people, it is open to anyone who wants to engage in a visit facilitated by young volunteers from the local YMCA. To visit the tourist sites with a perspective from young people and to experience the work of the YMCA is something really quite extraordinary.

There are many more YMCA Global Alternative Tourism programmes now available. You can get details here.  http://www.ymca.int/what-we-do/alternative-tourism/

So I headed for Cambodia!

I took a flight from London Heathrow to Bangkok which took eleven hours and a further hour to Phnom Penh. When I arrived in Phnom Penh I was met by the National General Secretary of YMCA in Cambodia and a member of the World YMCA staff. They took me to the hotel and we then went out for a drink. We drank wine under the stars on the banks of the Mekong River.

I had broken my journey to do an exploratory visit to Chiang Mai in Thailand and arrived a day early into Phnom Penh.

On the arrival day I met the rest of the group. There was 14 of use in total and we were to spend the next six days together to ‘Experience Cambodia’.

Rather than giving you a day by day account of the visit I would like to share it with you in images.

The sites we saw.

The Projects we visited

The food we ate

The environment we were in

The people that made it

This was such a fabulous visit. There were fourteen of us in the group, four from the Philippines nine from India, including a State Government Minister for Environment and Tourism and myself.

A very special thank you to Bunthok Deth the National General Secretary of YMCA Cambodia and all his staff and volunteers.

The visit was a super mix of culture, tourism and experiencing the needs of the local communities through the lens of the services provided by YMCA.

My greatest passion in YMCA is watching young people become the best they want to be and no matter where I go in the World I see YMCA delivering on this.

Once again, here in Cambodia,  I met young people who do not want to leave their country, rather they want to stay and rebuild a previously broken Nation.

Once again I find myself  #standingontheshouldersofgiants

Thank you YMCA Cambodia - you touched my soul and enriched my life!