What are PSE camps?
Each year we recruit young volunteers as camp monitors for our camps.
During the holidays, we take advantage of empty PSE infrastructure, to offer a camp experience to our children so they do not go back to scavenging on the dumpsites or do other dangerous work.
PSE camps could not take place without Marisa's energy. She began to organise them with the help of her husband and children, and now there is an entire team around her!
We see them arrive: 1, 2, 3... then 10, then 200 European monitors! Then, for five weeks, under a blazing sun or monsoon rain, PSE turns into a joyous and raucous saraband, a noisy fair where amid sack races, tugs of war and endless laughter, joy can be read on every of the 3 000 child faces present every day.
And at the end of the day, we see our monitors, 4 or 5 kids clinging to their necks, completely exhausted... but so happy!
PSE Winter Camps in 2023
Due to the Covid-19 health crisis, the Cambodian school calendar has been changed for the last three years. The PSE camps will therefore take place in December 2023, provided that the Cambodian government does not change the school calendar. Any changes will be communicated as soon as possible.
What does a camp monitor do?
Instructors must be of legal age. They work in pairs with Khmer instructors and their role is to:
- Prepare and supervise the fun and educational activities for the children, in close collaboration with the Cambodian monitors.
- Be responsible for showers, meals, naps and supervision of the children during the camp.
- Take care of the various tasks of tidying up, cleaning and managing the equipment.
- Always be available and at the service of the children!
What are the requirements to participate?
- Be at least 18 years old.
- Be available for at least three consecutive weeks in November and/or December 2023. Volunteers have three options:
- Full - from 27 November to 28 December (recommended for the positive impact on both the children in care and the volunteer)
- Partial 1 - from 27 November to 15 December
- Partial 2 - from 11 to 28 December
- Good English level.
- Volunteer´s expenses:
- Round-trip ticket Europe-Cambodia, around €1000.
- Personal expenses and weekends
- Travel insurance with COVID coverage
- €100 of registration for the volunteer´s setting-up, training and maintenance in Cambodia.
- Respect imperatively the rules demanded by PSE during the whole stay in Cambodia.
- Comply with future health recommendations related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Do not publish images of children during or after camps.
What does PSE offer to monitors during the Camps in Cambodia?
- Training before and during the volunteering
- Coordination and follow-up
- Reception at the airport on arrival in Phnom Penh (Cambodia)
- Materials for the implementation of the activities
- Food - breakfast, lunch and dinner - seven days a week
- Accommodation in shared rooms - maximum eight people per room with individual Cambodian beds (made of wood and bamboo, and covered with a mosquito net)
- Basic personal clothing and utensils: 2 or 3 PSE t-shirts, cup, spoon, badge, toilet paper
- Basic health service and medical advice
- Weekly laundry service
Selection and training process
For PSE, it is essential to have volunteers who are active, committed, supportive and generous, who know how to work in a team and who have the necessary knowledge, both to carry out the tasks they will be given and to live in harmony with the other volunteers in Cambodia. For these reasons, the NGO has pu in place a selection and training process that is essential for the development of the PSE camps.
Recruitement phase 1
Carefully complete the application form, before 30 September 2023, depending on your country of residence* :
* If you do not live in France in Spain or in the UK, fill in the form for the most suitable country.
Please note that the application form includes fields for attaching files, so it is necessary to log in with a Google account to access it.
The applicant's curriculum vitae and covering letter will be the main elements considered.
Only one form can be filled in per person. Group applications will not be accepted.
Recruitment phase 2
Candidates who have been selected in the first phase will be invited to a compulsory training / recruitment day, online, which will last approximately five hours and will be held on the following dates:
- Sunday 8 October morning in French
- Sunday 8 October afternoon in Spanish
- Depending on the number of applicants, a day will be organised in English, at a date to be determined.
For this training day, it is necessary to have access to the internet, a computer or a portable electronic device equipped with a microphone, speakers and a camera and to have installed the Zoom application (or to have a web browser to access the platform). Failure to attend this day will invalidate your application.
Recruitment phase 3
Those selected in phase 2 will participate in the 2023 Winter Camp. A second day of online training will take place on Saturday 4 November in Spanish and on Sunday 5 November in French. Depending on the number of applicants, a day will be organised in English, at a date to be determined. For this training day, it is necessary to have access to the internet, a computer or a portable electronic device equipped with a microphone, speakers and a camera and to have installed the Zoom application (or to have a web browser to access the platform).
> Contact: Jean-Daniel Leroy