For the third year in a row, 12 Australian students have  returned to Cambodia to take part in an English Camp organised by Plan.

The reoccurring visit is part of the ongoing Friends Forever project, a friendship building project between Ivanhoe Grammar School in Australia and Angkor Thom Junior High School in Cambodia, which aims to break down barriers and build social and cultural understanding.

Each year the Australian students visit Cambodia at their own expense and raise funds to pay for two English teachers at Angkor Thom Junior High School. Learning English helps Cambodian students to improve their future employment opportunities.

This year the camp was designed to give the students from Angkor Thom Junior High an opportunity to practice their newly acquired English skills as well as to catch up with their friends from abroad.

The 12 Australian and 24 Cambodian students spent a very active week at the school, with interactive English lessons provided by the Australian students.

The focused studying in the classrooms was broken up by a trip to the Baray (an artificial reservoir used for irrigation and water supply), visits to some of the Cambodian student’s houses and a cultural village. The week ended with a small celebration at the school.

"The students were amazing and it was such a reality check and eye opener to how others live. Friends Forever is a true statement!" said Giulia Mastroianni, a student at Ivanhoe Grammar School.