This month marks one full year since the last St Paul’s trip to Cambodia. St Paul’s Collegiate has been sending groups of Kiwi students to Flame annually for the last four years and the impact of these trips continues to grow. The trips have proved incredibly popular, and here’s why: 

Cambodia is known as the Jewel of South East Asia, a reputation hard won and maintained by the combination of sunny weather, great food and easy bargain hunting. See the students below on a shopping outing to one of the huge indoor markets in the capital, Phnom Penh.

Flame welcomes the St Paul’s team at Phnom Penh International Airport and, as the group pulls away in the tourist bus, they begin an unforgettable two week Asian experience. What makes this trip so unique? It’s not just the team-building activities. They actually get to meet and talk to young adults who have come the “Full Circle” - finding a way out of abject poverty and now thriving as bilingual university students. It’s not just a fun holiday - it’s meaningful interactions with those who are traversing self-constructed bridges to escape the poverty trap.

The last two years of high school are a pivotal time for an adolescent. For those who travel to Phnom Penh, spending time with the older Flame students gives an opportunity to connect with people who have pushed aside huge obstacles to achieve what their communities may have thought impossible - university education. The New Zealand students also spend a week with the younger Flame kids. They are split into groups and work daily alongside Flame staff in After School Centres. They not only see how people live, but come alongside and contribute to a project that is equipping children with an education - the most essential block in building a future. 

One of the girls after spending the day in the heat and stench alongside our Mobile Medical said, “This was the best day of my life!”

The impact of the St Paul’s Collegiate trip to Cambodia is seen most powerfully after their adventure is done. They process what they have seen, smelt, experienced and done over the months following the trip, some of them are very quiet, others change their subjects and some have gone on to study courses at university specifically to equip them to live lives that help the poor. The annual fundraiser in 2020 was somewhat inhibited by COVID-19 but was in fact bigger and had more energy than any previous year, bringing in NZ$18,000. That is an indication of how engaged these kids are. The experience with Flame has changed their perspective and opened their eyes not just to poverty, but to the potential they each have to bring about real change. We hope that in 2021 we will be able to host St Paul’s Collegiate once again.