What our students say: Volunteering abroad

After her second year as a BSc(Hons) Physiotherapy student, Louise Hawkes was offered the opportunity to travel to Phnom Penh in Cambodia, along with three of her fellow students, to take part in a voluntary work project at the Borey Centre orphanage for six weeks.

Here, Louise reflects on her experiences.

The orphanage

“The orphanage is home to 124 children, ranging from three weeks to 21 years old, with 78 children having some form of disability of varying severity. Most of the disabled children will live at the orphanage all of their lives.

“The physiotherapy room is funded by the government, with equipment being donated by a Finnish Non-Governmental Organisation. The two physiotherapists working there have undertaken three months of formal training and have received a lot of input from Western physiotherapy volunteers over the past five years. Around 40 children with the most severe disabilities receive formal physiotherapy for half an hour two days per week.

“On the first day, we arrived at the orphanage and met Juana, the volunteer co-ordinator, who gave us a tour of the centre and introduced us to all the children, caregivers, volunteers, physiotherapists and teachers. The first things that struck me were that I had never seen so many children with such severe disabilities.

“In the physio room, I was initially reluctant to start interacting with the children because I did not want to get in the way of the therapists and I was also unsure of what to do. I was impressed with the physio room as it was well equipped and the therapists’ skills were great, despite their lack of formal training, and they were amazing with the children.

“Over the next five weeks, as we settled into our routine and especially working in the physiotherapy room alone while the therapists were on holiday, the experience of working at the orphanage got better and better. Being just the four of us with the children was a nice change from placements back at home where we are watched constantly, so we were able to relax and learn for ourselves. We learnt that stimulation and play is just as important as physiotherapy for the disabled children. I realised that the difference between physiotherapy with adults and children is that children get bored very easily and so I had to make their sessions fun.

“Our last day was very emotional and we were very sad to have to leave. We were really surprised that Juana and the director of the orphanage had organised a little leaving ceremony for us, complete with small gifts. All the children and caregivers were there and the director gave a speech about how much we had contributed to the centre and the lives of the children and that they would miss us.

“Overall, I had the most amazing experience of my life at the orphanage. When people hear about the centre or visit it for a few hours, they generally think it is sad that the children have been abandoned and now have to live in an orphanage. This is what I thought until I had spent a couple of weeks there. Now I think that it is a place where the children are pretty happy, despite their past. It is somewhere safe for them to live with lots of other children and adults where they can get a free education and three meals a day. This is so much better for them than the life they might have led outside the orphanage, a life that is unfortunately experienced by many children in Cambodia. This experience has changed my outlook on life, making me realise that certain things are not worth getting stressed about and also makes me realise just how lucky we are.”

After graduation, Louise and fellow student Nicola returned to the orphanage, where they are currently working as physiotherapists.

Louise was awarded a Philip Russell Travel Scholarship in 2007 which is open to all Faculty students and provides an opportunity to broaden their experience through travel and by making a positive contribution to the lives of others less fortunate than themselves.