By SARAH LAMONT - The Southland Times
A 12-day mission trip to Cambodia has changed the way some James Hargest students see the world, says one student.
Fifteen year 12 and 13 students and two teachers returned last Thursday from their trip to Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
James Hargest College head of department guidance counsellor Sandra Tyree said the students had come up with the idea for the trip themselves as part of Youth with a Mission (an international Christian movement).
They started fundraising for the trip at the end of last year and they paid the remaining costs themselves, she said.
On the trip, the students spent time working in an orphanage teaching English at a language school.
They also worked as part of a "heart-breaking" programme with children in the slums, she said.
"It was a challenge ... The people themselves are so lovely and so welcoming. It was a great experience."
The students had been "awesome" and they did not complain about conditions or the unusual toilet arrangements, Mrs Tyree said. The hardest part of the trip was getting used to the 40degC humid heat.
The total cost of the trip was about $2900 per student and the group took $3000 to donate to projects in Cambodia, she said.
It was the first time the school had undertaken such a trip.
On returning home, the students were asked how they felt the trip went.
They all gave the trip at least a 10 out of 10 and some said it was a 100 out of 10, she said.
Year 13 student Lauren Brown said the trip had been life changing.
"The kids are so happy and just being embraced by a whole new culture is something that I have never done before."
It changed the way the students saw the world now, she said.
Miss Brown is also one of 14 finalists to be World Vision youth ambassadors next year.
The three ambassadors chosen will get a trip to East Timor as part of World Vision.
Results were expected in a few weeks, she said.
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