The 2023 school year started with hooting and hollering for 32 lucky students from the Liger Leadership Academy, travelling to Cambodia to visit a new home away from home.
Arriving back in Queenstown on Monday night, the students and eight staff spent 10 days at the global academy’s original spot in Phnom Penh, embracing the different culture and lifestyle and helping some of the community.
The trip’s the brainchild of Liger New Zealand’s head of school, Daniel Cooper, who visited Cambodia before starting the job last year to
see the academy’s vision brought to life, and fell in love with it.
In November, the Frankton-based school decided to set up the visit to Phnom Penh, where they were then looked after by their Cambodian counterparts.
Liger NZ teacher Christian Belmont says the kids were able to ‘‘see a completely new place, but still have that familiar feeling of
their own school’’.
‘‘Everyone kind of looks different to you, but [feels] like family already.’’
Students got to experience the learning culture in a different country, helped plant 490 trees at state schools around the area as part of an impact project, and also spent a couple of days being tourists.
Belmont says the trip started with an energetic assembly as soon as they arrived, where every student ‘‘brought the house down’’ with cheers and excitement.
The Kiwi group took over the final assembly last Friday before heading home, performing a haka to leave their mark.
Belmont says the trip gives the academy ‘‘a vision for what we want to build … a roadmap for what we can do’’, while the benefits for the students will be ongoing.
