I never thought that I would visit the States two years in a row, but God works in mysterious ways, and I am blessed enough to be picked to be a trip leader for this trip.

This trip is more likely a work trip rather than the laid-back thing I usually have; there’s not much to do with me because most activities are related to our students. Therefore, what I will talk about will be mostly my thoughts, reflections, and perspectives during the trip.

Okay, I’m going to say I didn’t think I deserved to be on this trip, at least from my perspective. Others were more qualified than me to make the trip fun, memorable, and engaging. So why was I chosen to be a trip leader? I don’t know; maybe someday I’ll figure it out, maybe there’s something Rod sees in me that I don’t, or I look down on myself too much and forgo my potential. Whatever that is, let alone all those doubts, figure itself out and focus on what happened, shall we?

Here is a little detail about the trip, what actually happened until it happened:

Our school, Rodwell Learning Center, has a partnership with an American school called The Northwest School, a high school that Rod taught 12 years ago when he was in the States. Before Rod decided to move back to live in Cambodia, he led a trip by bringing over 20 NWS students to visit here in a Culture Exchange Program as a part of the NWS curriculum, and one led to another; a few years later, he came back again and brought 10 more high school students to teach a hippie sports that was entirely new for Cambodia called Ultimate Frisbee; the clinic was called YUP (Youth Ultimate Project) to teach the kids come from an organization, and some of those kids are now still rocking in Ultimate in Cambodia, but that’s a long different story; let’s not talk about that.

Rod came back to where he was born because he just couldn’t help himself seeing children living in poverty, asking for money on the streets, fighting for a better life, and hopefully, they can do something on their own. He believes there are still hopes for a way out, and one of them is through education. That’s how RLC started, and just like they say, the rest is history.

After COVID-19, the connection between RLC and NWS has been rebuilt. In 2023, our school had a chance to host them with over 20 students plus teachers visiting Cambodia as a culture exchange program. Unfortunately, I didn’t get much time to spend with them during that trip; my English wasn’t that good, and most of all, I was just not confident enough to talk in English. I was a shy and afraid boy, even now. For more info about the trip, go and read here:

So, this year, we’re honoured to be greeted by the NWS and the host families that have their kids studying at the Northwest school, and additionally, those 4 host families all have kids who came to Cambodia last year.