Cambodia Study-Service Term
Cambodia SST was last offered in 2016.
The country, which is the size of Oklahoma, is located on the Gulf of Thailand and shares borders with Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. Most of the country is flat except for a few highland areas including the Cardamom Mountains near the southwest border. Cambodia is also the location of the Tonle Sap, Southeast Asia’s largest freshwater lake.
For both the study and service portions of Study-Service Term, students live with Cambodian host families, many of whom are Buddhist. Students stay first in the capital city of Phnom Penh and later in various locations in the rural countryside.
Study
The first six weeks of the term are spent studying at the Royal University of Phnom Penh. Students practice language and culture, and learn about the history, politics and religions of Cambodia. There are also field trips to places of social and historical significance such as the Angkor ruins and the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum, a former interrogation prison during the Khmer Rouge.
Service
For the service portion of the term, most students move to the countryside. The many non-governmental organizations in Cambodia provide service possibilities including working with children, HIV/AIDS programs and rural development.
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