Cambodia

CAMBODIA

CAMBODIA 2024

Anticipated Trip Cost: $3,950
Anticipated Dates: June 15 – June 29, 2024

REGISTER FOR CAMBODIA

Leadership Development

  • 9-month leadership development program with integrated local service component
  • Youthlinc’s mission is to transform volunteers into lifetime humanitarians, which takes time and effort- we are not a “pay-and-go” program
  • Twenty five years of proven curriculum and data show that our program truly changes and improves our volunteers & communities abroad
  • Connect and build friendships with your team for 9 months prior to travel

Projects

  • Support the mission of Sustainable Cambodia, a Cambodian nonprofit, to make a lasting impact in rural villages
  • Support the mission of Elephant Valley Project doing ecological-based conservation work
  • Projects relate to community health, business & vocational skills, ecological improvements, construction, cultural exchange, and education

What's Included?

  • We are a Utah-based program. Round-trip international airfare is included from Salt Lake City. Minors will never be asked to fly alone to another city to meet their team for the first time.
  • All meals, accommodation, transportation, & clean water
  • Excursions to Angkor Wat, Killing Fields, & waterfall hike
  • Two days with Elephant Valley Project
  • Travel insurance, medical professional travels with team, 1:3 ratio of adults:students

PURSAT, CAMBODIA

The Youthlinc Service Year has been going to Cambodia since the summer of 2011. Since that time, we have developed wonderful in country partnerships that allow for high touch, high impact, and high-quality experiences for our teams.

We have an incredible partnership with a local NGO called Sustainable Cambodia based out of Pursat, Cambodia. Sustainable Cambodia is an amazing organization dedicated to helping rural Cambodian villages achieve sustainability and self-sufficiency through infrastructure support, strong education initiatives, and professional training/development programs.

The need in Cambodia directly relates to the countries not so distant past. In the mid-late 70’s Cambodia fell under the power of the Khmer Rouge, a communist regime lead by Pol Pot. During the 4-year time period that the Khmer Rouge was in power they enacted a horrific genocide, killing between 1.5-3 million people, approximately 25% of the entire population of Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge left Cambodia in ashes nearly destroying their infrastructure. The Cambodian people are forgiving and resilient and have been working to rebuilding their country since that time.

The Youthlinc team’s also have some fun! You will be able to visit the beautiful Angkor Wat (a World Heritage site from the 12th century), go on a hike to a waterfall, and enjoy the local markets for some shopping.

Read About Our 2023 Projects

Construction projects focused on improving the school in the community. The community and the team worked together to install new fencing around the school, renovated existing classrooms- sanding and painting much of the exterior- and the biggest project was constructing a classroom for the school.
The cultural committee oversaw opening and closing ceremonies. They planned a fun fair for the village students, which was the culmination of English Camp. The cultural committee also planned and carried out a mural at the school, which turned out beautifully! The team did home visits where the community members welcomed the team into their homes and everyone gained insight as humbling stories were share about surviving the reign of Pol Pot.
The education committee ran an English Camp for the students in the community. Youthlincers planned English lessons and taught them to students in the community who signed up for the summer camp. The Cambodian students enjoyed the lessons and Youthlinc students had fun interacting with the kids on a more personal level. This committee also oversaw the Mondo Art Project, an international art exchange project between students from all over the world.
The community health committee’s focus was to provide health education lessons, as well as providing requested supplies for the community’s health needs. The committee provided and taught about Days for Girls kits, menstrual kits, and hygiene kits. They also taught health education lessons on topics such as dental hygiene, first aid, and hand washing/sanitation.
The vocational committee taught women in the community how to sew and how to make soap. The committee collected sewing supplies fundraised to buy sewing machines and necessary supplies for the women. These women are able to apply their new skills to their family lives and potential business opportunities. They were able to raise some seed funding by selling the items they’d made back to the team. They will use these profits to fund further projects and/or supplies for the sewing group.
The business committee put on a business seminar teaching basic marketing principles such as product, price, place, profit, and promotion. They absorbed the information and were excited about the concepts they learned. To culminate the business seminar, the team held a business competition where participants had to use the skills they’d been taught to come up with a product and a business plan. They were then judged and cash prizes were awarded to the winners to give them capital to implement their business ideas.
The Cambodia team spent 2 days in Mondulkiri Province working with Elephant Valley Project on ecological projects that directly impact the safety and survival of both wild and rescued elephants. The team did bamboo planting, composting, brick-making, and was able to track and observe the might elephants in their natural habitats.
The team concluded their journey with excursions to Angkor Wat, the Killing Fields, S-21, & a waterfall hike.

In-country Coordinator

Polin Phang

Polin has been involved in working with Sustainable Cambodia (SC) since 2003. He was moving into various positions with SC from Computer Teacher, Database and IT administer, Assistant of National Coordinator, Director of Quality Assurance and International Communication, and finally become Executive Director at SC from the year 2016.

He has been assigned as in-country coordinator from Cambodia to assist Youthlinc Team Project from 2012.

He received his first Master’s Degree in Business Administration in 2011 at the University of Management and Economic. In 2015, he received another Master’s Degree in Rural Development and Project Management at the Build Bright University.

He is married with two children, a boy, and a girl.

Mindy Pack

Cambodia Co-Team Leader
CAMBODIA

Mindy and her husband Brandon are excited to be leading a team this year for Youthlinc. After hearing about this organization through many clients, families, and nannies, her family was able to jump on board 4 years ago. Despite having to wait and work around COVID, they were both able to have a wonderful mentor experience with their son Chase. Brandon went to Kenya in 2021, and Mindy recently went to Peru in 2022. After their experience Mindy was hooked and can’t wait to lead the Cambodia 2023 team this year. 

Mindy is no stranger to hard work, running camps, and mentoring youth and young adults. At the age of 18 Mindy was lucky to join a nonprofit as a performer and did several humanitarian trips to developing countries providing entertainment, exchange programs, and service activities.

Mindy is a lifelong student. After attending school in vocal performance, she holds certification in Vocology from the National Center of Voice and Speech and is a licensed and bonded Massage Therapist who specializes in body work for the performer. She owns and operates a voice studio with locations in Holladay, UT and in Los Angeles, CA where she coaches many household names and industry celebrities. Mindy is also currently a member of the faculty at Utah Valley University (UVU) in the Contemporary Music Department.

Mindy is beyond thrilled to able to share this experience with her husband and oldest son. Mindy and her husband are raising their 3 amazing kids as residents of Sandy, UT. Mindy is excited to meet and work with everyone traveling to Cambodia this year. It’s going to be an adventure!

Brandon Pack is currently employed at Adobe the software company with offices located in Lehi, UT.  As Senior Director of Software Engineering, he has the opportunity to work with top-notch software professionals and is passionate about teaching both technology and business.  He holds numerous patents with the US Patent office from his life’s work.  Brandon also currently serves on the Board of Directors for the non-profit organization the National Center of Voice and Speech as the technology representative.  Before joining Adobe, Brandon worked as Vice President of Engineering at several startups and software companies and Network Administrator for the University of Utah.

Brandon has earned a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Utah where he also received Bachelor’s Degrees in both Computer Science and Information Systems.  However, Brandon is most proud of the title of Husband and Father of two boys and one girl.  In fact he is often known by many simply as “Mindy’s Husband!”

Brandon has been fortunate enough to live, work, and travel internationally numerous times over the course of his life and is passionate about helping people from all walks of life.  Brandon was honored to have served as a mentor on the Youthlinc Keyna 2021 trip.

Brandon Pack

CAMBODIA CO-TEAM LEADER
CAMBODIA

Chloe Moss

Cambodia ATL
CAMBODIA

Hi!! My name is Chloe Moss and I’m so excited to be the ATL for the 2023 Cambodia team!! This will be my third Youthlinc trip. I’ve loved all the memories and connections I have experienced  through Youthlinc. I first went to Fiji in 2019 then went back in 2022. Fiji will always have a special place in my heart but I’m excited to experience a new culture. Most days you can find me at work, in the mountains or hanging out with my friends and family!!

I am the ATL on the Cambodia 2023 team! I’m super excited for this opportunity and can’t wait to get to know my team!  It’s going to be a great time!  A fun fact about me is that I really enjoy baking (so join my team and you’ll probably get some treats occasionally)!