Berke and George in Phnom Penh

We had two students who did their service work in Phnom Penh. Berke and George both continued to live with their study families, but their days changed dramatically once they began the service portion of their time here.

Like Sam in Siem Reap, George is serving with Rajana. He is putting his art major to good use.  He is photographing, describing and cataloging the myriad of new products Rajana wants to share with their wholesale customers.  George also helps send photographs and information about prototypes for which overseas customers have sent ideas and designs. In addition, George has had the chance to do the design for a number of products himself, including a medallion that will be used for a UN conference in Cambodia later this year.

Berke is working with Youth for Peace (YFP), an NGO that, as its name implies, works to teach and promote peace through education and advocacy. Under the umbrella of YFP, Berke has been working with the Peace Institute of Cambodia. Berke is a broadcasting and television major and YFP has been thrilled to be able use his video-graphic skills for a project the YFP director envisioned. Berke is interviewing those Cambodians who were involved in the 1991 Paris Peace Agreements that brought the United Nations into Cambodia after the Khmer Rouge period and the subsequent Vietnamese occupation. Berke has been involved in interviews of some very high level people, and has thrived during this experience.  He will leave YFP with plenty of footage to be used in future projects. In addition to the video work he ha been doing for YFP, he’s been working on a video for his SST final project.

Berke and George both look forward to welcoming the rest of the group back to Phnom Penh from the provinces next week. Both have had positive experiences, and hope to come back to Cambodia some day.