March 30, 2012 | 10:00 AM | By KPLU
“We didn’t realize how much of an impact – and how mutually beneficial – this experience would be.”
Students from Washington and Cambodia pose at the school in the village of Pailin built in part with money raised by the Overlake School in Redmond.
By Claudia Rowe, special correspondent
In a lesson showing just how far one unlikely idea can travel, 18 upper affluent kids from suburban Seattle are this weekend en route to Cambodia, where they will teach science, art and English to some of the poorest children on Earth.
Foreign aid is a messy business, often stymied by inefficiency and corruption. But students from the Overlake School in Redmond wave off such concerns – not to mention parental worries about residual landmines and mandatory inoculations.
They believe their two-week trip to the village of Pailin will benefit them as much as their young pupils.
“I’ve never been anywhere close to the Third World,” said Louise Chouinard, 18, who will teach health there and plans to pursue a career in sports broadcasting. “I know I’ll have a whole different outlook – not only on my life but on the lives of others – when I get back.”
Her confidence is based on three previous visits that Overlake kids have made to the elementary school halfway around the world since 2003. See more pictures and read the rest of the article here.
No comments:
Post a Comment