Cambodia In Numbers: An Economic Story

Anyone that knows me even remotely well knows that I am passionate about economics, a subject that I can’t wait to study at university in September. I applied for ICS Entrepreneur because I wanted to continue to learn about the economics of the world during my gap year, particularly relishing the idea of learning first-hand…

You Know You’re in Cambodia When…

After drowning myself in coursework essays (WHY did I agree to resit 75% of A Level English Lit…?), I haven’t really felt “in the mood” to blog about life in Cambodia, but I have finally realised just how much I have adapted to my new daily routine that is life as a volunteer. Here are…

International Women’s Day 2016: Pledge For Parity

Yesterday – 8th March – was International Women’s Day, but life in a rural Cambodian village means that I do not have regular access to the internet, and so here I am writing about it today. IWD2016 is a celebration of the social, economic, cultural and political achievement of women across the globe, recognising positive change and…

Cross Cultural Working

One of the most challenging, and yet rewarding, aspects of ICS is cross cultural working. The language barrier between English and Khmer volunteers is an obvious difficulty, but other cultural norms can become challenging when working cross culturally. Eye Contact In the UK eye contact is very important – when speaking to someone you are…

Volunteering VS Voluntourism

As a gap year student looking to undertake international volunteering, I had to wade through the options available in order to separate volunteering from voluntourism. So what is “voluntourism”? Voluntourism is the term used to describe the ever-growing volunteer travel industry. More often than not such travels consist of privileged, wealthy and idealistic young travellers…

Live Below The Line

Tomorrow I will start my latest challenge: Live Below The Line. Around the world roughly 1.2 billion people live in absolute poverty ($1.25 per day at purchasing power parity) according to 2013 estimates. In Bangladesh, around 32% of the population live below this poverty line. For five days, I will live on £1 per day….

Pre-Placement Training Weekend

I have now completed my Pre-Placement Training Weekend in Slough. It was a fantastic opportunity to meet like-minded young people who will be undertaking ICS/ICSE in both NW and SW Bangladesh and Tanzania. The discussions and work we carried out over the weekend covered a wide range of vital topics, including: Introduction to ICS and…