Final Update

We’re back from the homestay! Soon we will be winging our way back to Melbourne and look forward to meeting you at Tullamarine very soon. This blog post will include details of our flight home and some updates on the homestay also.

Returning flight details and updates

VN781 is the flight number from Ho Chi Minh City to Melbourne. Scheduled arrival is 8.35am. You can track flight information on the Vietnam Airlines website, in case there is any delay.

Post-travel tips

• Malarone is required for 7 more days after arriving home. Doxycycline is required for 28 days after arriving home. Please ensure your daughter sets an alarm on her phone to take the relevant medication at 10am every day. We have been taking this medication at 7am each day, so allowing for the time difference, 10am will be the best time
• As our flight is overnight, the likelihood is that your daughter may be tired on Monday and need a nap
• It may take some time for the full significance of this experience to become apparent for your daughter. Continue to ask open-ended questions and and help her work through her thinking. If she is feeling distressed, please do not hesitate to get in touch and see if we can help
• If your daughter falls ill in the next week or so, please let us know; it is helpful to be able to correlate this information in case there is anything in common across the group. Email is the best means of contact during the break.

Reflections on the Homestay

We checked out of our home away from home at City River hotel in Siem Reap on Friday morning, and headed to APOPO for the morning. A humanitarian de-mining project, APOPO was founded with the purpose of training rats to sniff TNT in landmines and thereby assist in mine-clearing efforts in previous conflict areas. The project is explained in the video below. The impact of APOPO’s work has increased exponentially each year since they started work in Cambodia in 2016.

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From APOPO, we began a 2 hour trip into the Kulen Mountain district of Siem Reap province. The “Dandenongs” of Siem Reap, the Kulen National Park is a day trip destination for locals and visitors, though hardly corresponds to the pristine national parks that we have in Australia. As most of Cambodia does not have centralised rubbish collection or recycling, the popular spot is sadly tarnished by mountains of plastic waste.

The degraded environment did not quell the enthusiasm with which we were received by our host family in this “Kingdom of Smiles”. We spent the two days in our homestay enjoying the meals so diligently prepared for us, and immersing ourselves in the sights and sounds of a rural environment: generators rumbling, roosters crowing, monks chanting, children capering and waterfalls rushing.

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We led some discussion groups and the Year 11 students who came on the last Tour took a leadership role in sharing their knowledge and research into sex trafficking and modern slavery. We also had some hard-fought rounds of trivia, meditation, card games, journalling, reading and resting.

Despite the basic conditions, the students embraced the slower pace of village life, and on the second afternoon we took a walk to the local pagoda, designed to be elevated from the main village, the dramatic stairways and captivating vistas were enjoyed by the students. Some took the opportunity to see the giant reclining Buddha statue, and others chose to receive a blessing from the monks.

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The final night in our homestay was set up as a big celebration, with a special BBQ dinner. We were joined by the wife and children of our host Seung, as well as the staff, and spent the evening enjoying karaoke and dancing around the bonfire.

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An early start to today enabled us to get back to Siem Reap in the morning and freshen up at City River Hotel, where they allowed us access to two rooms to have a shower and pack our suitcases up for the flight home. Lunch was cooked by ourselves as we participated in a cooking class and learned how to make rice paper rolls, amok curry and a special fried banana and coconut cream dessert: you may have to request these items on your family menu back at home!

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Your daughters have relished in this experience, and we have loved having their company, humour, antics and thoughtfulness. All the very best, until we see you again,

– Jen, Nirvana and Katrina

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