Youth Star in Cambodia

Youth Star Cambodia is putting volunteering on the Cambodian agenda. For Eva Mysliwiec, who started out as a peace corp volunteer, she believes that volunteering is a way of building community action, building skill and harnessing the leadership potential of a young population. With about 60% of the Cambodian population under 30, this is crucial.

Before setting up Youth Star, Eva spent a year travelling around Cambodia investigating the idea a Cambodian Volunteering Organisation. The overall result feedback was to go for it, and so that she did. Youth Star Cambodia was established in 2005 and the first cohort of volunteers sent this year. As part of the programme young Cambodians volunteer for a year in another provience of the country; working in educational and micro-enterprise projects.

To Eva, it is about giving something to the local communities while building a new generation of social leaders.

Eva, originally French, has been living in Cambodia since 1993. There has been huge change in that time, but the education system has been slow to adapt and she believes it is not equipping young people with the skills and confidence for civic engagement and social change. Youth Star hopes to fill those gaps, and given the postitive reports from the volunteers this year, it seems those hopes are being fulfilled.