U6th formers Tamsin Melville and Sophie Rumble held a cake sale in the Mackinder foyer on Wednesday to raise funds for a number of projects in Cambodia on which they will be working next year.
Both girls are taking a gap year and, through gap year placement specialists, The Leap, will be spending 10 weeks in Cambodia soaking up the local culture and working on various projects on a voluntary basis.
Their adventure begins in Siem Reap in the north west of the country, where they will spend three weeks helping a local NGO to install sanitation systems and fresh water supplies in some of the poorest communities in the city.
In the afternoons, they will help out in sewing and computer classes run by KIDTEA (Kids and Teens Education Association), a charity that provides free education to underprivileged children and teens in the Siem Reap region.
The girls will then travel to Sambour Village on the outskirts of Siem Reap, where their mornings will be spent teaching English, art and sport to the orphans at The Elma School. They will also be involved in eco-agricultural projects and income generating schemes including basket weaving and incense making.
After six weeks of city living, Tamsin and Sophie will move on to the tropical beaches of Sihanoukville and the Let Us Create day centre, where they will teach English and sport, help to prepare food and take the children on outings.
The final two weeks of the trip will be spent at the Mondulkuri Elephant Sanctuary, where the girls will have the chance to work alongside local mahouts (elephant keepers), and care for rescued elephants, which have been abused or maimed by landmines.
The money raised by Tamsin and Sophie at the cake sale – currently £90 with pledges for more – will be used to buy supplies for the infrastructure projects on which they will be working as well as books, pens and stationery for the various schools at which they will be teaching.