This year’s PDXChange program has 10 students traveling to Southeast Asia with Carpe Diem. Here’s what is in store for them:
The group will take a few days in the historic Siem Reap to settle in and adjust to their new surroundings. With expert guidance, students will orient to travel and to Cambodia, learning about it’s ancient and recent history and the country’s regeneration and reconciliation efforts.
Angkor Wat from kimkim.
From there, the group will spend over a week in Battambang to learn from a local NGO about community and youth development.
The group will venture down to the lake to stay with homestay families who live off of the lake. Students will learn about some of the challenges affecting the communities on the lake and meet with local NGOs working to address them and contribute to environmental and educational projects.
The group heads back to the big city of Phnom Penh to take in the solemn sites of Tuol Sleng and the Killing Fields. Here the group will continue to learn about the not so distant genocide that took place in Cambodia. The group will also take some time to see celebration of life, where young Cambodians meet and mingle and learn about an NGO using dance to give kids a different kind of outlet.
From Go Guides
The group will continue to learn from young people when they visit an intentional community dedicated to resilience and regeneration while sleeping in tents under the open sky.
Then, in Kampot, students will spend a few days planting mangroves and stand up paddleboarding while learning about the impact on the local community.
From Workaway
Students will get a brief introduction to Theravada Buddhism at a retreat before heading off to the big city of Bangkok in Thailand.
Students will get their first taste of planning as they arrange their time around arts and culture in the big, dynamic fast paced city of Bangkok.
From there, students will travel to the northern Thai city of Udon Thani to spend a week in an eco village. Here students will learn more about yoga, permaculture, natural building and explore creative solutions to increase sustainable practices.
Tourism Authority of Thailand
Students travel even further north to learn about the diverse hill tribe communities and human rights issues through homestays and local NGO’s while participating in service learning.
The time in Thailand finishes up with students guiding the direction of the group’s time before they head back home from Chiang Mai.