Cambodian experience an eye-opener for [Colorado's] GSHS senior

Erica Arensman of Glenwood Springs returned from Cambodia last month. In this photo she is wearing a traditional checkered Cambodian scarf called a krama. The scarf is typically used for many purposes including style, protection from the sun, as a sling for infants and as a towel.

Kelley Cox Post Independent

Erica Arensman, kneeling right, and other participants in the American Youth Leadership Project pose with their first host family in Chi Pat village, Cambodia.

Contributed Photo
Glenwood Springs, Colorado CO 

Arensman encourages others to apply for youth leadership opportunity

By John Stroud

Post Independent Staff

GLENWOOD SPRINGS — When Erica Arensman began looking for a chance to travel abroad during the summer between her junior and senior years at Glenwood Springs High School, little did she know she would land in the region of her birth.

“I thought about China, because I was born in Hong Kong,” Arensman said.

Her parents, Russ Arensman and Debbie Crawford, worked for publishing company Asia Ink before moving to Glenwood Springs with Erica and her older sister, Cailey, in the late 1990s.

But Erica also wanted to pursue a service-oriented trip to an impoverished region, and considered traveling to an African country to help with AIDS awareness.

Then an opportunity came up to apply for an American Youth Leadership Project (AYLP) cultural exchange trip to the southeast Asian country of Cambodia, which piqued her interest.


“A friend of mine had applied for it last year, but didn't get it,” Arensman said. “So I thought I'd give it a try.”

Arensman, 17, ended up being selected as one of 30 high school-aged students from across the United States to participate in the program, which is sponsored by Global Explorers of Fort Collins.

She recently returned from a nearly month-long trip to Cambodia that was focused on sustainable development practices and the impacts of climate change on the region.

“Ecotourism is a big industry in Cambodia,” she said. “We talked to a lot of people who had been doctors and lawyers, but decided to become tour guides because they make more money.”

Her visit included home stays with host families and tours of the major cities, including the capital city of Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, where the Temples of Angkor Wat are located.

They also paid a visit to the Cambodian Embassy, spent time in the many markets, learned how to plant rice, and spent a week helping teach English to high school students in some of the rural communities.

“It was fun, because we also got to teach them American slang,” Arensman said.

Sayings like “yo dog” and “wha'sup,” and words with dual meanings like “cool,” “hot” and “sweet” were commonly exchanged by the end of the week, she said.

“It was cool to be able to spend time with some kids our age from another culture,” Arensman said, making use of one of those dual-meaning words. “We also got to play soccer and watch movies with them.”

Cambodia has a lot of contrasts between the wealthier cities and the poorer, rural regions, she said.

Students often drop out of school for periods of time to help out on the family farms or with other household chores. And private schools are coveted by those who can afford it as providing a superior education, Arensman said.

“The cities are very Americanized,” she said. “We met a lot of amazing people and saw a lot of things you wouldn't see on a normal tourist trip. It really opened a lot of doors for me.”

The American students were also asked to bring photos to show what life is like in their hometowns. Arensman said some of the sights around Glenwood Springs were a big hit.

“The general reaction from people there is that we live in the most beautiful place ever,” she said. “Of course, I already knew that. But it's always nice to hear it from someone else.”

Her strict vegetarian diet wasn't a problem either, as the Cambodian diet includes a lot of vegetables and rice is served with every meal. Arensman admits she couldn't pass up the opportunity to at least try some of the local delicacies, such as tarantula and snails.

Politically, the country is far more stable today, though the scars of the brutal Khmer Rogue rule in the 1970s are still evident, Arensman said.

“Anyone we encountered who was there during that time was affected in some way,” she said. “But they're not scared to talk about it.”

So many people from that time were killed, though, and the demographics of the country reflect a gap in that age group, she related.

Students selected for the AYLP exchange trip are required to follow up their experience with a related service project back home.

“I'm looking for something that will demonstrate global citizenship and ways to be responsible in our own community and the world,” Arensman said. She hasn't determined exactly what that project will be.

“I would like to be able to go back some day and visit our host families again, and see how things have changed,” she said of Cambodia.

She would also encourage any student entering their sophomore, junior or senior year to consider applying for an AYLP exchange.

“Even if you've never traveled before, they make it so easy, and it's really a fantastic experience,” she said. “I feel like I learned more than I could have ever imagined.”

jstroud@postindependent.com