How a trip to Cambodia influenced my career trajectory

My parents often remind me that even from a young age, I was business-minded. Some of my favourite childhood memories include selling flowers at the end of the road to our neighbours or helping my parents run their business in Bali.

Yet, despite having this entrepreneurial drive, if I had been asked when I left school what I thought my career would look like today, never in a million years would I have said that I’d be running a non-governmental organisation (NGO) organisation in Cambodia.

Falling in love with Cambodia

I fell in love with Cambodia at 18 when I first visited the country. Soon after, at age 21, I returned and began volunteering with a grassroots cause in Siem Reap.

While supporting that charity, I occasionally accompanied social workers in making home visits in order to assist them with report writing. I remember my first home visit so vividly, in particular how I felt being confronted by the conditions the family lived in.

The families’ makeshift scrap metal houses were tucked away behind a main road, hidden from the public eye. There, more than 30 families lived in urban poverty, without access to running water, toilets or electricity.

It was at this exact moment, seeing how some of these kids were living, and comparing it to my upbringing, that I knew I wanted to stay in the country and continue to do more to help. I couldn’t fathom that so many children were without access to their most basic needs.

My part-time volunteering role quickly turned into a full-time role after that visit. As a full-time volunteer, the majority of my role concentrated on fundraising. Coming up with interesting and unique ideas and events would help generate much needed funds through generous donors.

It was here that I started running and hosting long-distance charity bikes across Cambodia to raise vital funds that would go on to support more families.

Becoming my own boss

After a couple of years of passionate fundraising, and with two major fundraising events under my belt, due to a loss of faith in the project, I ended up leaving that role in 2019.

Feeling frustrated with the lack of transparency within charities but with the endless need for charitable support, I decided to establish a new charity called REACH Siem Reap, which provides holistic support to Cambodian families to keep them together and break the poverty cycle.

While I had several years of NGO experience under my belt at this point, I’d never run an organisation before and knew it would be no easy feat. One of the first things I did was establish an international advisory board, made up of professional volunteers, who are also renowned experts in their field. The idea of the board was to provide strategic advice, ensuring that the operations align with its values of transparency and accountability.

Looking back on this now and with the benefit of hindsight, this was one of the best decisions I made – aside from founding the organisation. Having the ability to lean on experts and seek support when things got tough proved to be invaluable both to me as a first time founder and to the organisation.

And things did get tough. Three days after we opened our gates and welcomed more than 100 into our program, mandated country-wide school closures and restrictions were put in place, forcing us to pivot and respond to an emergency.

While the situation was completely out of my hands, I couldn’t help but feel scared – we had 15 members of staff who were all expecting work and I’d made a commitment to more than 250 kids and their families that we would be there for them.

We also had big fundraising plans for our first year, namely the launch of what was to be our inaugural ‘Ride to REACH’ charity bike ride, in which we were expecting more than 30 people to sign up for the 650km ride through the Kingdom of Cambodia.

As a lot of organisations had to do in the face of the pandemic, and knowing we were unable to open our school, we redirected all of our attention onto emergency relief, food support and the development of programs. Doing this ensured that we kept all 15 local staff employed throughout the pandemic while also supporting more than 100 families to fight starvation through an extremely challenging time. It’s something I am incredibly proud we were able to do.

Coming out of the pandemic

In December 2021, when the government mandate was lifted on school closures, I remember feeling a mixed bag of emotions.

There was a huge sense of relief knowing that we could continue with our mission to improve the living conditions of children, youth and families in the community but I was also excited and overwhelmed at the prospect of finally watching the vision for REACH become a reality.

I was also extremely fearful that our vulnerable youths and children would not return to school, and instead be subjected to exploitative work to help their families survive the economic drought that had deepened as a result of COVID.

That first year coming out of the pandemic felt like an absolute whirlwind. Professionally, it was one of my busiest, most career-defining years. It was the first time I’d had to manage not only the opening but the day-to-day running of a school.

Additionalling, there was organising fundraising events, developing university and vocational training scholarships, and expanding the school’s curriculum to encompass electives such as sport and art. It was a lot! However, it was also one of the most fulfilling years as founder I’ve had to date.

Looking ahead to the future

One clear goal I have in mind is to raise funds for scholarships, so that every youth that comes out of our centre ends up in fair employment.

In 2024, we raised more than $200,000 in fundraising from our annual charity bike ride, Ride to REACH. This January, we’re hoping to raise even more as we cycle 650km over eight days through temples and villages across Cambodia. It’s an experience I look forward to every year and this year is no different.

Setting up an organisation was never on the cards when I decided to travel to Cambodia at age 21, but knowing what I know now, I can’t imagine spending my time any other way.