Learning is a two way street

At This Life Cambodia we know learning never stops. No matter how much we might know about a subject, there is always more information and fresh new perspectives which can add new energy to our work. One way of ensuring we get those new perspectives is through our internship program, which gives us the chance to benefit from bright young academic talents from across the world. 

Rachel Humphries, from Deakin University, in Australia, is one of those talents. We learnt a lot from her in our important task of re-unifying Cambodian families, and, as she tells us in this guest blog, she also learnt from us and our work and will take those lessons out into the wider world. We’re grateful to Rachel for hher time and for becoming such an enthusiastic part of the big TLC family in her time with us.

“Early in 2018 an opportunity with my university came up as part of my thesis for my Masters in Health Promotion. I jumped at the chance, and 6 months later I commenced a 3-month internship with This Life Cambodia.

“My project was to identify and appraise psycho-social assessment tools for the reunification of children and young people from residential and correctional settings back with their families, and then compare it with research on best practice in Cambodia and Lower-Middle-Income country settings. I have nearly completed my thesis on this topic, and have gained so much insight into best practice in different cultural settings, which I could not have gained in Australia.

“This Life Cambodia welcomed me with open arms, and I am so grateful for the generosity of my colleagues. I was welcomed into staff football team, playing football on Friday night’s as one of the only ‘barangs’ (foreigners), and the only girl. This experience felt like true cultural exchange, and I am so grateful that my competitive nature and love of sport was appreciated.

“During the last 3 months I have learnt so much about reunification settings in Cambodia, about Cambodian culture and kindness, about how to conduct a literature review, and about how to live in a country so different yet so similar to the country I grew up in. I wish to thank all of This Life Cambodia with everything I have, and cannot wait to revisit Siem Reap and TLC in the future.

Arkoun Chraen! (Thank you very much)”