Ecoteer is a unique volunteer agency offering a directory of cheap volunteer work opportunities, jobs abroad and working holidays. Volunteer opportunities are very reasonable. Ecoteer is leading the way in a new type of volunteer work abroad benefiting the volunteer project.

When traveling abroad, most people go to relax, explore new places, or learn about new cultures. However, these stereotypes have been expanding and a lot more people are going abroad to volunteer. It’s a great way to gain valuable experience, and for many, it can be a life changing experience.

Travel website, “Ecoteer,” provides travelers with information about affordable volunteer work abroad. Recently, SCAO has made its debut on the website, which gives it increased visibility for volunteers interested in visiting Cambodia. If you know anyone that may want to volunteer near the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, it’s a terrific opportunity that will be life changing and rewarding.

About SCAO

Save Children in Asia is a not-for-profit home and learning center for Cambodian children. Our organization is comprised of three projects. We have a center which is home to 18 Cambodian kids from disadvantaged backgrounds and two schools, at which teach English to around 550 students a day.

Our schools and center are located 7km and 22km outside Phnom Penh in Cambodia.

The center is run by a local family – the father and director was orphaned during the Khmer Rouge and simply wants the lives of poor children to be different to what he experienced when he was growing up. This passion drove him to open the centre, providing the children that live and learn there the opportunity to escape poverty and isolation and to be cared for and educated for a self sustainable future. Since its creation our organization has developed into a wonderful home environment where children and volunteers live as one big family. We welcome volunteers to live with us at both the centre and the school.

Our two free English schools are for children living in the local areas surrounding the schools. We run classes four times a day (generally two classes at a time) at each school and cater for students with a range of abilities and of all ages.

The classes are taught by Cambodian teachers (who are older kids living at the center) and volunteers from all around the world.

The children are eager to learn from and play with volunteers and each other. Whether it be reading books from our small library, playing a tune on the guitar or folding some origami. We welcome you to be part of a brighter future for Cambodian children and a part of our family. Like a home away from home.

Payment covers living costs, including three meals a day, electricity, water, internet connection and bicycles.

Follow us on Facebook for volunteer updates

SCAO’s mission is to give all our children the best possible start in life. Their education, overall welfare, health and safety are our primary concerns. We are proud to welcome into our community two beautiful local girls into our care. They will quickly integrate into our daily routines and all the children are very excited to have them. They are already starting classes and will start learning English with our wonderful volunteers.

Recently some of our children paid a visit to the dentist. Believe it or not, they were very enthusiastic about their trip to get a dental check up, X-rays and a cleaning. Now their smiles are even brighter. They left the dentist with a few goodies, like a toothbrush and toothpaste and promises to use them daily to maintain their beautiful teeth.

I encourage you to view the new SCAO promotional video that is featured on YouTube. Mr Samith, the director, offers a welcome introduction and you can view the new center and the children at school, at play and living there. The video also shows the fantastic volunteers interacting with the children. For those of you that want more information on volunteering in Phnom Penh, please contact the center and Mr. Samith.

SCAO is now on Google Maps. The center is located just 7 km from the heart of the city. The children were very excited to see their home on such an important website as Google.

For the most current news about SCAO, please friend us on Facebook and watch our children grow and progress. SCAO also has a new Volunteer Group now very active on Facebook. Jump in and join in the conversation.

On a final note, a special thanks to our friends at Eltham College and their Pen Pal Program. Boxes of letters arrive and it is like Christmas for the children. It is a great way to stay in touch with people outside of Cambodia that truly care about the children and it gives each child practice in writing English!

Thank you for all you interest and concern for the welfare of our SCAO children.

A few months ago children from S.C.A.O wrote pen pal letters to children at Eltham College. The Australian kids received their letters and were inspired to do some fund raising for their new friends and their school in Cambodia. They came up with the idea of running a cake stall and a free dress day, through which they raised enough money to buy many of the items on a wish list of things for the S.C.A.O kids and their school.

Miranda and Justin (friends of a volunteer at S.C.A.O named Alice) are teachers at Eltham College. They spent the week at, S.C.A.O bringing with them books, toys and funds donated and raised by the Australian school, it’s students and their families.

The children at S.C.A.O were delighted to receive their letters from their pen pals, and to watch the movie they had made about themselves. They couldn’t believe the children had baked all the wonderful looking cakes by themselves and were very excited to find out more about them and see their photos and drawings.

The week at English school (S.C.A.O) was spent reading and writing back to their letters, filming oral presentations about themselves and the school to send over to Australia, making and decorating envelopes, drawing pictures and reading books donated by Eltham College.

The money raised by the children at Eltham College was used to buy many bags of rice, fans for the school, sporting equipment, fruit and bread, a water filter, toys, a new set of clothes and shoes for every child living at the centre, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, dishwashing liquid, laundry powder and medicine and have a 15^th birthday party for Li.

Now the S.C.A.O children’s beautiful pen pal letters are on their way over to Australia and the children are already thinking about the next letters they will send. With the enthusiasm shared by the children here and in Australia we hope this could be the beginning of some long and lasting friendships and a strong partnership between two great schools. It has certainly shown us the power of children and the differences they can make in the world, which thanks to some passionate kids is now feeling like a much smaller place.

We have a new addition to the family, a puppy called Kin. The rainy season is starting and it’s a refreshing change to the heat. Today we had a great time playing in the rain. But our biggest news is that we have been very busy since October building a second school and it’s almost finished!

The school will give the children of many families access to free English, drama and art classes and provide community education by working with families to improve their living standards. We expect this to have a large, lasting impact on the futures of around 350 children and their families.

On Sunday May 22nd, SCAO invited 127 families from the local area to an opening party for the new school with some of our volunteers.  Accompanied by community leaders from the surrounding villages, we were introduced to the families in the area, when we visited their homes and invited them to the party. The families shared with us their living circumstances, which for many of them are very difficult.

In July we will open the school with a party. At the party SCAO will give these families a bag of rice, some soy sauce and fish sauce to show them the spirit of SCAO. We will also talk to the families about the intentions of SCAO and invite them to join us to learn at the center. We believe that the families in the countryside will talk to each other, encouraging more and more children and families to attend our new school.

So far the school is almost finished and excitement is building. As you can see from the photos, it’s looking fantastic and will be a great learning atmosphere. Before we can open the school we need to finish building it. This means we need funding for some more desks, a gate, some doors, some more tiles for the floor inside and outside the school, another water tank, some fans and whiteboards and other furnishings. If you are able to help us make this happen it will make a huge difference to the future of the many children that SCAO will be able to reach. You can make donations through the website by clicking the donations tab.

We have also recently put new photos on our facebook community page, so be sure have a look at those as well. Sending out lots of good thoughts to all of you. Hope you are all going very well. Keep in touch and thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your continued support. SCAO would couldn’t carry on without it!

On Sunday May 22nd, SCAO invited families from the local area to an opening party for the new school with some of our volunteers.  Accompanied by community leaders from the surrounding villages, we were introduced to the families in the area, when we visited their homes and invited them to the party. The families shared with us their living circumstances, which for many of them are very difficult.

One mother has an incurable disease in her stomach and many children who she cannot afford to send to school. A father with one leg has 7 children to support, so his children sell vegetables picked from the lake at the market during the day. There are many similar stories which remind us why this school will be so important for changing the future prospects of these children.

In July we will open the school with a party. At the party SCAO will give these families a bag of rice, some soy sauce and fish sauce to show the families the spirit of SCAO. We will also talk to the families about the intentions of SCAO and invite them to join us to learn at the centre. We believe that the families in the countryside will talk to each other about the good intentions SCAO has for the community, encouraging more and more children and families to attend our new school.

So far the school is almost finished and excitement is building. As you can see from the photos, it’s looking fantastic and will be a great learning atmosphere. Before we can open the school we need to finish building it. This means we need funding for some more desks, a gate, some doors, some more tiles for the floor inside and outside the school, another water tank, some fans and whiteboards and other furnishings. If you are able to help us make this happen it will make a huge difference to the future of the many children that SCAO will be able to reach. You can make donations through the website by clicking the donations tab.

Thank you for your continued support.

Visit our Facebook Community Page to view some more photos of recent times at SCAO. We took a trip to Odong mountain and to the national museum. We also celebrated Chon Long and Britta’s (a volunteer) birthdays with lots of singing and dancing.

View our photo gallery on Facebook

There are also some photos of the new school we are currently building to provide education to even more Cambodian children. We are hoping the school will be finished in about a month and a half depending if we have enough funding.

We want to thank you for all the support you have given us this year and to all the volunteers.

We have had a great year at SCAO, thank you for everything.

Please stay in contact and don’t forget to look at our website and Facebook page to keep up with SCAO.

Happy Khmer New Year from everyone at SCAO!

And as you can see in the photo below, the younger students love their computers too.

Educating our children is of the utmost importance. We are extremely thankful for our volunteers who donate books and work as teachers. Check out our students reading and learning about body parts!

We recently updated the S.C.A.O. donations page to make it easier for you to support these wonderful children. Donations are the lifeblood of S.C.A.O. and we appreciate your generosity. Donations made for the “Bricks for S.C.A.O.” initiative will help us build our new school. A $25 dollar donation will buy 5 bricks. All other donations will go directly to the children and will be used to house, feed, and educate them.

Visit the S.C.A.O. Donations page if you would like to make a donation or go to the S.C.A.O. Volunteer page to learn about volunteer opportunities.

Thank you so much for your support! Come back often to learn about the new and exciting projects we are working on!

We were so thrilled this past week when all the supplies arrived at the new school’s building site. We’ve been waiting for many of these supplies for weeks now, and were finally able to purchase the last of them with help from numerous donations. Through the bricks, cement, tools and wood we received, we have faith that the new school will be built and ready for business within the next couple of weeks.

So many volunteers and faculty have poured their heart, soul and hard work into this new school. All their efforts only solidify the belief that the new SCAO School will be built on a foundation of love and happiness. What once was a dream is finally turning into a reality and everyone here at SCAO couldn’t be more excited. The children are thrilled that the new school will finally see the light of day! Thank you so much for your continued support, confidence, faith and love in us all here at SCAO. Your efforts mean the world!

Your Donations Make a Difference

Please visit our blog for future updates on our progress in making all the new SCAO initiatives become a reality. Your donations are always appreciated, no matter the amount. It takes a village to raise a child in Cambodia, and we plan on helping as many of our beautiful children as possible. 100% of your donations go entirely to benefit our children and to the construction of the new center. Thank you for your generosity.

Everyone at SCAO was so anxious and excited to send us pictures of the new school’s location. All of the SCAO’s faculty and volunteers have been busy building and prepping the site for the past couple of months. The visit to the site was extremely special, because it was the first time many of the children were able to see, explore and roam the grounds of where there brand new school is going to be!

It was a beautiful day, and the children had so much fun watching (and sometimes helping) the faculty get the school “classroom ready.” The children were eager to volunteer their thoughts of where school supplies, desks and chairs should be placed.

Education is very important for the children. The new school will help so many local youngsters on their path to a better future. In just a few more weeks, the new school is up, running and ready for business, and everyone at SCAO could not be happier. A special thanks to everyone who made this dream a reality for us. This new school is going to bring new memories, new change and new opportunities for us all!

Your Donations Make A Difference

Please visit our blog for future updates on our progress in making all the new SCAO initiatives become a reality. Your donations are always appreciated, no matter the amount. It takes a village to raise a child in Cambodia, and we plan on helping as many of our beautiful children as possible. 100% of your donations go entirely to benefit our children and to the construction of the new center. Thank you for your generosity.

Everyone at SCAO was so anxious and excited to send us pictures of the new school’s location. All of the SCAO’s faculty and volunteers have been busy building and prepping the site for the past couple of months. The visit to the site was extremely special, because it was the first time many of the children were able to see, explore and roam the grounds of where there brand new school is going to be!

It was a beautiful day, and the children had so much fun watching (and sometimes helping) the faculty get the school “classroom ready.” The children were eager to volunteer their thoughts of where school supplies, desks and chairs should be placed.

Education is very important for the children. The new school will help so many local youngsters on their path to a better future. In just a few more weeks, the new school is up, running and ready for business, and everyone at SCAO could not be happier. A special thanks to everyone who made this dream a reality for us. This new school is going to bring new memories, new change and new opportunities for us all!

Your Donations Make A Difference

Please visit our blog for future updates on our progress in making all the new SCAO initiatives become a reality. Your donations are always appreciated, no matter the amount. It takes a village to raise a child in Cambodia, and we plan on helping as many of our beautiful children as possible. 100% of your donations go entirely to benefit our children and to the construction of the new center. Thank you for your generosity.