Volunteer with Children in Cambodia

If you enjoy working with young kids and want to support their education while travelling in Asia, then working with children in Cambodia is for you. You’ll become part of our ongoing efforts to improve early childhood education at disadvantaged care centres.

You don’t need previous experience to join. You’ll support local teachers and caregivers, and Projects Abroad staff are there to help you if you need it.

Before you start, you’ll receive a thorough induction to the project and your Projects Abroad Coordinator will explain in detail what’s required of you. You’ll have access to a database full of resources such as worksheets, class activities, and creative games. In addition, we run regular workshops for all our Childcare and Teaching volunteers in Cambodia. You can exchange ideas, discuss challenges, and more.

This is a great way for you to help where it’s needed most and learn new skills at the same time. You’ll gain childcare experience, and hone personal skills like communication and problem solving.

Our Childcare Project in Cambodia runs throughout the year, and you can join at any time from a minimum of two weeks. We recommend staying longer to make a bigger impact at your placement.

The aim of this project is to improve early childhood development in Cambodia.

Cambodia has a low level of education and many care centres are underfunded. Many families also cannot afford to send their children to daycare centres and kindergartens while they are at work.

This is something that our partner, the Khemara Organisation, and other NGOs are trying to improve. To help them, we provide financial support and help from volunteers. Children who get a solid foundation at pre-school have a higher success rate, and are more likely to go all the way to secondary school.

As a volunteer with children in Cambodia, you’ll work towards the following goals laid out in our Childcare Management Plan:

• Promote early childhood development
• Improve the quality of life for those living with disabilities
• Increase English
• Improve hygiene levels of the children
• Improve the level of stimulation of each child

Please note that Projects Abroad has elected not to work with children in orphanages in Cambodia. Instead, we rather focus on community-based programs that allow children to remain within their families.

Help us achieve these long-term goals by joining us as a Childcare volunteer in Cambodia.

The smell of a fresh Cambodian breakfast will greet you every morning as you wake up in the apartment to start your day. After freshening up and refueling, a tuk tuk organised by Projects Abroad will pick you up and drive you to your placement.

A typical work day will run from 8am to 4pm, Monday to Friday. You’ll arrive in the morning and start the day with English classes. After English classes, you’ll work on children’s cognitive, social, and physical skills. You can do this through activities like:

• Role play games
• Practise greetings
• Read stories
• Sing songs
• Dance to music

You’ll also be involved in day-to-day activities and lend a hand during mealtimes. The children have two meals a day and snacktime. Your day is also broken up with a lunch break.

In the afternoons, you can prepare your activities for the next day. Once you’re finished working for the day, you can relax at the apartment with other volunteers and have dinner together.

Over weekends, you can visit heritage sites open to tourists. We recommend visiting the Royal Palace, S21 Museum, or the Killing Fields, to get a deeper understanding of Cambodian history. Or, organize weekend trips to the famous Angkor Wat Temples and spend the weekend soaking up some sun at the beach.