Dedicated Narrabri High School students and teachers have already begun fundraising and planning for the school’s annual aid trip to Cambodia this summer.
The team of 13 students was selected through an application process and each student was notified of their success early on in the year as there is a great deal of work to be done before the trip.
In previous years students have raised enough money to build nine houses, each costing $1,700, as well as kick starting funding for the following year’s trip.
Wells are also built and money is donated to a new women’s hospital to be built in Cambodia.
The school conducts the work through the Tabitha Foundation, an organisation that facilitates group aid projects.
Kathy Bailey says they will be hard at work fundraising and planning for the next eight months, especially considering the cost of each house has increased this year due to the falling Australian dollar.
She is always astounded by the generosity of the local community and the support they show for the initiative.
“People buy our raffle tickets, businesses donate awesome prizes, we have well supported lamington drives and pie drives, the community effort is just amazing,” she said.
“Local lady Carla Baxter has been an ongoing supporter of the work and this year she has already donated enough for us to build two houses in Cambodia.”
Kathy says the effort is very worthwhile considering the benefits for both the communities in Cambodia and local students.
“It really opens their eyes to a world beyond Narrabri, at the same time it makes them feel lucky and appreciate what they’ve got.”
The group is currently running a Mother’s Day raffle.
You can keep track of their activities through their Facebook page. Search Narrabri High School Cambodia 2015.