1. What are the qualifications for new volunteers?
2. What do volunteers do on a daily basis?
3. What is the cost per month for volunteering?
4. Many I pay in advance?
5. What are your accommodations like?
6. What clothing should I pack?
7. What can I bring to donate ?
8. What is the climate like?
9. Should I take medication for Malaria?
10. Should I try to learn the language before I come?
11. When should I plan to start working?
12. What is the process for attaining a Cambodia visa?
13. How do I reach you from Phnom Penh?
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1. What are the qualifications for new volunteers?
- Over 21 years of age.
- Valid passport.
- No criminal record.
- Strong English language skills since they will be assisting with English classes.
- Enjoy working with children.
- Enthusiastic, creative, ambitious, and have enough energy to spend a full work day at the campus or gallery.
We always welcome volunteers with the following special skills:
- TEOFL or ESL teachers
- Music and art teachers
- Early childhood education specialists.
- Nurses or nursing students.
- Studio and graphic artists.
If you feel you have a special skill that is useful to our growing community, please contact our volunteer coordinator (sengkea@letuscreatecambodia.org) for more information on how you can help!
2. What do volunteers do on a daily basis?
Volunteers are required to be quick on their feet and able to adapt to the dynamic environment that comes with working with children. No day is the same. None of the tasks are daunting, but they all require a pair of hands and a quick smile. Each day starts at 8:00am and we guarantee you’ll be tired at the end of the day!
You may be asked to organize the art curriculum, assist a teacher in phonetics, or work a shift at our gallery on Serendipity Beach Road, underneath the volunteer house. If you are good with computers, then you can to teach PhotoShop, typing, or Microsoft Office.
If you have a special talent or skill you could teach to the kids, let us know!
3. What is the cost per month for volunteering?
Volunteers fee is $500 USD to the project per month per volunteer (or $650 USD for a single room) .
We are a non-profit, so 100% of this fee goes toward the volunteer’s living expenses and to the project running costs. This fee includes household and kitchen supplies, electric, water, gas, cleaning, and a washing machine. You will also help support the programs at the center.
We also encourage all volunteers to bring art supplies (particularly good acrylic paint and small brushes) with them from their home countries, as it is hard to get good supplies here and they are very expensive to ship.
On top of the $650 USD (or $500 USD for shared), a volunteer will need to budget for their stay in Sihanoukville:
- A one month visa ($20 USD) and a renewal cost of $56 for one additional month. Three months visas are $86 for an additional 3 months, but you must get a business visa when you arrive to be eligible for this extension.
- Keep in mind that you apply for your visa when you arrive at the Phnom Penh airport. Make sure to bring an extra passport photo for the application.
- Volunteers are also responsible for food, drink and transportation to and from the center.
- You are welcome to eat lunch with the kids during meal time.
- Food costs are usually around $5-15 per day depending on if you eat at restaurants, street vendors, or make the food yourself.
- Expect to pay anywhere from $.50 to $2 for transport around town, but probably won’t need to travel too much if you live in the volunteer house. We’re located very close to the beach and not far from the town center.
4. Man I pay in advance?
There are two ways to pay in advance:
- Paypal — Once you are signed up for a Paypal account, you can send the money to ccppvolunteers@gmail.com
- Wire transfer — The money needs to go through JPMorgan Chase, then through the main branch of our bank, ANZ Royal Bank of Cambodia, finally arriving at the Sihanoukville branch.
- Bring all of the following information to your local bank and make sure they have all of the transfer numbers. They will understand the process. Here is our banking information:
United States Intermediary Bank (IBK):
JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., New York
Fedwire Number: 021000021
SWIFT: CHASUS33
Beneficiary’s Bank (BBK):
ANZ ROYAL BANK OF CAMBODIA LIMITED
Swift Code: ANZBKHPP
Beneficiary (BNF):
Sihanoukville Branch:#215, Ekreach Boulevard, Khan Mitthapheap, Commune 2 Sihanoukville, Cambodia
Account Number: 493834
Name: CAMBODIA CHILDREN’S PAINTING PROJECT (CCPP)
Address: SIHANOUKVILLE, CAMBODIA
Tel: 017 500 402
5. What are your accommodations like?
Our volunteer house has three single rooms and 2 shared rooms. We can accommodate up to 8 people. All of the rooms include a bed and shelf with a room to hang and fold your clothes. Each have a fan and bathroom, and two have screened windows facing the outside.
The top floor has a lounge with a TV with cable, as well as a DVD player and huge array of DVDs. There is also a balcony facing Serendipity street with a view of the sea.
All volunteers have access to our kitchen, which is fully stocked with pots, pans, dishes, and utensils. We have a gas stove and refrigerator, as well as free drinking water.
We are a non-smoking residence with a zero tolerance policy for drugs, alcohol, and outside guests.
6. What clothing should I pack?
While on duty, volunteers wear a t-shirt, long shorts, a long skirt, or light-weight cargo pants. We only require that your knees are covered.
When volunteers aren’t at work we encourage them to dress modestly, but comfortably. Cambodians are a very modest people and you’ll notice that most of them seem overdressed for the heat. As ambassadors for us, we need our volunteers to be respectful of the local culture through their clothing choices.
In addition, bring shorts and a t- shirt to wear in the water when we’re on beach trips with the kids, a hat to protect your face, and, of course, a bathing suit!
7. What can I bring to donate to Let Us Create?
We encourage all of our volunteers to bring donations of art supplies with them since good quality supplies are difficult to find locally, and the cost of shipping is very high.
Donations of any size are welcomed in any medium, but we always need student-grade acrylic paint (in all colors besides white and black), pallets of student-grade watercolor paper, small brushes, and vine charcoal. We are also looking for more quality color copies of animals, landscapes, Cambodian images and famous works of art from which can inspire the children.
Used art books and National Geographic Magazines are great. We know that many of our volunteers are students on a tight budget and we don’t expect large scale, expensive donations. But every tube of paint and every brush really helps us keep our project going and we are greatly appreciative of every donation we receive.
8. What is the climate like?
March-May is our driest and hottest season. Temperatures will reach into the upper 30s (celsius) with very little rain. When the rainy season hits, the air cools down, but the humidity drastically increases. The driest and coolest times are November through February.
9. Should I take medication for Malaria?
This is a very personal decision you should make after talking to your doctor.
More information can be found on the Center for Disease Control website.
Our unofficial answer is that we’ve never heard of a Malaria case in Sihanoukville and the tablets are very hard on the body and the mind as well. In short, nobody here takes them and if, by some chance, you contract Malaria, it’s easily recognizable and treatable at the clinic.
Dengue fever is far more common in Sihanoukville, but there’s currently no treatment for it besides lots of bug spray, covering up when you go outside, and a mosquito net over your bed if you’re on a ground floor at night.
10. Should I try to learn the language before I come?
We definitely encourage volunteers to learn some basic Khmer before they arrive. It will help you communicate with the children here and will also be useful when you are in the community.
Knowing greetings and numbers will help you bargain for better prices at the market, and words of encouragement, how to ask people their names will help you bond with the children and make connections with people providing important services such as tuk tuk drivers, servers, and guesthouse staff. Don’t worry, we offer free Khmer lessons to all volunteers.
11. When should I plan to start working?
Sunday is our day off, so we recommend you come on Saturday to have the weekend to settle-in and start work on Monday. However, you are welcome to start mid-week if it is more convenient to your travel plans.
12. What is the process for attaining a Cambodia visa?
If you are planning to stay in Cambodia for more than two months, You can secure a three-month business visa when you reach the airport in Phnom Penh. Make sure that you ask for a business visa, not a tourist visa. Tourists visas are for one-month, and can be extended for one more. The price should be around $20 USD. The airport employees may ask for more, but this is the actual price.
Flight attendants hand out visa applications on the plane, where you need to check “business” instead of “tourist”. They shouldn’t ask for any more clarification, but say you will be working for us in Sihanoukville. Most people’s experience has been that as long as you pay the money, there aren’t any problems.
There are E-visas available online but they are only extendable for one month, and you must cross the border.
Crossing the border by land might cost you more than crossing through the airport in Phnom Penh. The borders are corrupt and not well monitored so the officers try to ask for whatever price they want. A good tip is to have the money for the visa, USD $20, inside your passport when you hand it through the customs window. Act like you know what you’re doing and don’t ask about a price or offer more money. Plan to have an extra $5 or so in your pocket but don’t show that you have any more money. This all sounds tricky and can really differ depending on which agent you deal with, what time of day it is, how busy the border is, etc., which is why the airport crossing is recommended. But travelers cross through the land borders every day so just be determined, confident, and set on your price and you should be fine.
You can extend your visa from here in Sihanoukville in increments of three months. You can also extend a one month visa for another month but in order to do this you have to cross the border and then cross back. If you only plan to overstay your visa by a few days, your best plan might be to keep your one month visa and just pay the penalty for overstaying the stamped date of departure.
The penalty for staying past your stamped date of departure is $5 USD per day. So if you only stay an extra week or so, your cost at departure will be $35 which is less than the price of traveling to the border and paying to extend a one month visa for another month.
Finally, be sure to have an extra passport photo on hand for the application.
13. How do I reach you from Phnom Penh?
There are two bus companies that run from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville: Sorya and Capitol. Ask any tuk tuk driver to take you to the main market, where you can purchase tickets in advance, or ask the front desk at your hotel or guesthouse. The trip takes between 5 and 7 hours, and can sometimes be quite adventurous.
Once you reach Sihanoukville, take a tuk tuk to the Ocean Walk Inn, the guesthouse right next to the volunteer house. The if you’re being dropped off at the city center, the trip should only cost $1 per person on tuk tuk, so be firm and negotiate down when they say $6. If you are dropped off at the bus station further from town, expect to pay more.
Make sure to email Sengkea your arrival date and the time your bus is leaving so she can meet at the house.
