DOVE lands at Rotary
Our guests on Tuesday 13th September told us all about DOVE - Drouin Secondary College Overseas Volunteer Experience
President Sharryn and Chairman Jean with our guests Gita Walker and students Lucy and Madison
Ms. Gita Walker, a staff member at Drouin Secondary College brought along two students, Lucy and Madison to the last Rotary meeting. Ms. Walker is the coordinator of the Drouin College’s Overseas Volunteer Experience which will see a group of 16 Year 10 girls and 4 boys head off to Cambodia in November this year. Lucy and Madison are two very keen participants and Club Members were very impressed by their eloquence when explaining both their excitement for the upcoming trip but also at what they had achieved and learnt already. The trip is financed totally by fundraising, not by parents digging into their own pockets and the girls said that this had provided the opportunity to develop their planning, leadership and confidence. Both girls acknowledge that their self-esteem, communication skills and friendship group had already developed as a result of their participation.
Gita told that the genesis of the Program evolved after a school, trip to China, as Humanities and Outdoor Education she co led the trip and it occurred to her that there was scope to extend the depth and broaden the experience of travel to help Government School students to see aspects of the world that they may otherwise “be sheltered" from in the comfort of Australian life. She felt that by involving the students in travel to developing countries and volunteering to participate in projects they would not only appreciate their own circumstances and opportunities a bit better understand the needs and deprivations in other communities, thus becoming better world citizens.
A number of countries presented as possible destinations, having worked on teacher exchange in 2014 and been a volunteer in Thailand and on the Burmese border it was obvious that need existed everywhere, however with Cambodia still recovering from the notorious Pol Pot regime and the dislocation and loss of human resources which resulted in Cambodia was chosen.
Students will be exposed to the culture of the country with several visits to places of interest and contact with Cambodians involving lectures, visits and social occasions with Cambodian Officials and their own peers.
Then it is on to work, a number of projects are planned over the three weeks that the students will spend in a small rural community outside of Phnom Phen.
Refurbishment of a library, supply, processing and cataloguing of books is high on the agenda. Students will be involved in building a dwelling for a family in need and renovation of a school involving bringing electricity in one or two of the classrooms will also be challenges for the students. The students are taking donated books with them, construction materials and some tools will be provided by charity organisations operating in Cambodia.
However some tools, particularly electrical, are hard to source or are of poor quality and Ms. Walker is a little disappointed that donations have not been forthcoming from some large organisations in responding to a request for help. The luggage limits imposed by the airlines is also posing difficulties in taking some materials to Cambodia although some small concession have been made.
Chairman Jean Mawhinney thanked Gita, Lucy and Madison and commented on the wonderful opportunity the School was providing these students and that the girls were excellent representatives of the school, the Project and their families could justifiably be proud of them.