Welcome

Welcome to the unofficial Cambodian Alternative Schools Program 2016 blog.

This site will be maintained by Andrew Cornwall (CASP organiser and supervising teacher; occasional photobomber).

Also, there will be the occasional guest post from the other participants including the intrepid Ivan the Irritable, a slightly angry Russian national who also happens to be an alter ego of Andrew Cornwall (one of many!).

Ivan the Irritable, hard at work cutting down vines.

Not that anyone is counting, but the clock is ticking until we leave...

As a bit of a background for those who don't know much about the trip...

In 2014 we organised our first ever immersion experience for students of ASC St Mary's Maitland. The trip was planned for Cambodia and organised as an alternative to the traiditonal 'schoolies' trip. I came up with the rather pedestrian term 'CASP' for Cambodian Alternative Schoolies Program - a name that stuck. That year 10 Year 12 students and 3 staff went to Cambodia where they worked and helped at a number of schools and organisations.

Skip forward to 2015. With the teacher-leaders from last year unable to take on the job of organising the trip, Mr Ray Collins (Director of Schools) kindly granted me leave from my duties at the Catholic Schools Office so that I (and Ivan) could again lead the trip in 2015.

We had a number of interested applicants from staff and students this year, with a final group being formed of 9 Year 12 students and 3 staff.

Attendees for 2015 are:

Andrew (teacher)
Lyn (teacher)
Sarah (teacher)
Meg
Charlotte
Lauren
Joshua
Rhiannon
Renee
Alexander
Darcy
Rachael

This group has been hard at work all this year fundraising, raising awareness and preparing themselves for the trip. To date, almost $10,000 in has been raised by the group of which 100% will go toward assisting:

•  LaValla - A Marist founded school for physical disabled students located just outside Phnom Penh
• Siem Reap Catholic Church education outreach program providing basic education to rural and remote communities around Siem Reap and Battambang
• Stepping Out Cambodia, a half-way house for you people seeking tertiary and further education
• The villagers and students of Un Long Thom, a village located three hours north of Siem Reap in the Kulen Mountains

With only hours to go before departure all that is left is to charge phones and cameras, load up SD cards, lathe on the DEET and get ready for a LONG day in and around airports!

Over the coming days I'll keep you posted on what is happening!