Phum_Journeys_Village_Life_making
guide-description-about-angkor wat
Inquiry

Leadership & Global Citizenship

Program Overview

Living Peace, Learning Compassion is a 12-day experiential leadership and global citizenship journey across Phnom Penh, Battambang, and Siem Reap. This immersive program invites students to explore Cambodia’s powerful story of resilience, reconciliation, and mindfulness—while reflecting deeply on their own values, leadership, and responsibility as global citizens. Through community service, cultural immersion, meditation, dialogue, and reflection, students learn how peace is cultivated both within communities and within themselves. From confronting the realities of Cambodia’s recent history to engaging with artists, monks, NGOs, and youth leaders, every experience is intentionally designed to foster empathy, emotional intelligence, and compassionate action. By the end of the journey, students leave not only with meaningful memories, but with practical tools for leadership, conflict awareness, mindfulness, and ethical global engagement they can apply in their own communities and future paths.
  • Start Location : Phnom Penh
  • Tour Type Duration : 8 Days / 7 Nights
  • Tour Location : Phnom Penh, Battambang,Siem Reap
  • Active Level : Moderate (walking, cycling, and light trekking)
  • Group Size : Minimum5 - Maximum 15

Program Highlights & Student Outcomes

What Students Will Do
  • Explore Cambodia’s journey of conflict, resilience, and reconciliation through guided visits and dialogue
  • Practice mindfulness and meditation with Buddhist monks
  • Participate in hands-on community service and youth engagement projects
  • Experience a local family homestay in Battambang
  • Engage with artists, educators, NGOs, and social enterprises
  • Participate in daily reflection, journaling, and facilitated group discussions
  • Visit Angkor Wat and surrounding temples as spaces for heritage learning and personal reflection
What Students Will Gain
  • A deeper understanding of global citizenship, peacebuilding, and ethical leadership
  • Practical tools for emotional intelligence, self-awareness, and mindful decision-making
  • Increased empathy, adaptability, and intercultural communication skills
  • Experience living and learning within a local community context
  • Confidence to reflect critically on global challenges and personal responsibility
  • A renewed sense of purpose, compassion, and intentional leadership

Itenerary

Phnom Penh — Foundations of Peace

Focus: History, resilience, reconciliation, and mindfulness. The journey begins in Cambodia’s capital, where students ground their leadership learning in historical understanding and ethical reflection. Through guided visits, dialogue, and spiritual encounters, students explore how societies heal after conflict and how mindfulness supports compassion, listening, and reconciliation.

Students Will Do

  • Visit Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum with guided reflection
  • Meet NGOs, inspiring guest speakers, and Buddhist monks working in peacebuilding and education
  • Participate in a traditional water blessing ceremony
  • Explore cultural landmarks and local markets
  • Engage in daily group reflection and journaling

Students Will Gain

  • Historical awareness and ethical sensitivity
  • Tools for reflective listening and dialogue
  • Insight into Buddhism’s role in healing and resilience
  • A grounded foundation for leadership learning throughout the journey

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Phum Journeys?

Phum Journeys is an educational travel organization based in Cambodia that designs immersive, curriculum-aligned learning journeys for schools and institutions. Our programs combine service learning, cultural immersion, outdoor education, and reflective practiceguided by local expertise and long-term community partnerships.

Our programs are designed primarily for middle school, high school, gap-year, and university-level students, as well as educators and institutions seeking meaningful experiential learning. Each journey is adapted to the age, learning goals, and needs of the group.

Yes. All programs are co-created with schools and educators. We align learning objectives with curriculum frameworks, student profiles, duration, and risk considerations. No program is pre-packaged—each journey is designed intentionally to meet academic and pastoral goals.

Service learning initiatives are identified by local communities themselves. Students collaborate with long-term community partners on locally led projects, ensuring dignity, reciprocity, and sustainability. The focus is on learning with communities, not “helping” from the outside.

Ethics guide every aspect of our work. We prioritize safeguarding, informed consent, cultural respect, and critical reflection on power, privilege, and impact. Students are prepared before engagement and supported through guided reflection throughout the journey.

Student safety is our top priority. We operate robust safeguarding, risk management, and emergency response frameworks. Programs are led by experienced facilitators and local guides, with clear protocols, appropriate supervision, and ongoing risk assessments.

Programs are led by experienced local facilitators, educators, and guides who bring deep cultural knowledge, facilitation skills, and lived experience. Many programs are personally guided by the founder, ensuring consistency, care, and strong educational leadership.

Our programs support experiential learning, reflective practice, and inquiry-based education. They align well with IB Approaches to Learning, service-learning standards, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and include structured reflection, discussion, and assessment opportunities.

Phum Journeys emphasizes depth over sightseeing. Students slow down, build relationships, engage critically with history and culture, and reflect on their role in global communities. Learning is relational, embodied, and grounded in lived experience—not tourism.

Yes. We approach Cambodia’s history with honesty and care, exploring themes of memory, resilience, conflict, and healing. Students also engage with contemporary social, cultural, and environmental realities through dialogue and lived experience.

No prior experience is required. Programs are designed to support students at different stages of learning and travel experience. Preparation, orientation, and ongoing facilitation ensure students feel supported and confident.

Reflection is central to every journey. Through guided discussions, journaling, mindfulness practices, and group dialogue, students connect experience with meaning—linking inner growth to ethical action and responsibility.

We work with small groups to ensure safety, quality facilitation, and meaningful connection. Group size is discussed during program design and depends on learning goals, activities, and risk considerations.

Schools receive clear program outlines, safety information, and learning objectives to share with families. We prioritize transparency and work closely with educators to ensure parents feel confident and informed.

Students consistently report increased empathy, resilience, cultural humility, and self-awareness. Many describe the experience as transformative—shaping how they think about leadership, responsibility, and their place in the world long after the journey ends.

Primary Learning Themes

Pum Journeys specializes in ethically designed, community-based educational travel. All itineraries are co-created with educators and local partners to ensure safety, learning impact, and cultural respect.