It is very hard to summarise my volunteering experience with SCAO in a couple of hundred words. There was so many experiences that I will never forget, so many lessons learned, and a multitude of great friends made.
I arrived at the SCAO centre on the 1st of February 2012, a fresh face volunteer full of excitement, but also anxiety and nervousness. However the warm and welcoming atmosphere and friendly people soon but me at ease.
I was beginning a 7 month volunteer job as a development officer for SCAO. I was recruitment by The SCOOP Foundation, a partner of SCAO in Ireland, and I was to be the first person to work in a role like.
SCAO has grown massively over the past 5 years, and SCOOP realising this, wanted to have a worker on the ground in Cambodia in order to aid the development of SCAO and to ensure that it was developing to its full potential.
Volunteering at SCAO was a great experience because you really get to work right at the coal face. You are placed in classrooms to assist a local Cambodian teacher or you are working directly in the community.
SCAO is also a young and upcoming NGO and so it is a vibrant and innovative NGO to volunteer with. There is scope to really leave your mark on the programmes and to use your own skills to help the communities were SCAO is based.
I will always remember my time with SCAO due to the lifelong friendships that were established with the staff and other volunteers. It’s been many months since I returned to Ireland but Cambodia and SCAO have never been too far away from my thoughts. I still receive regular updates from SCAO and it is fantastic to hear how string SCAO is developing and growing month on month.
I want to wish SCAO, all its partners, and all the volunteers and staff, all the best for 2013, which I am sure will see SCAO continue to assist the most vulnerable members of the communities where their projects are located.
Eric Scanlon
