We are seeking volunteers to join two building teams to help our partners build new infrastructure in Cambodia. The exact details of the project are to be confirmed. We will continue to build on our existing relationship with Serve Cambodia which has lasted for nearly 20 years.

Cambodia is a country of extremes – and we love it! Many past volunteers have loved it, especially the food!

6 - 20 February 2027

27 February - 13 March 2027

(Please note this team will run provided a minimum of 6 volunteers join)

Cambodia 2027 – Continuing the Partnership

For many years, Mission Direct has partnered with local churches and organisations in Cambodia, including Serve Cambodia and the Fellowship of Hope Church network, to support communities through practical projects and education initiatives.

In recent years, teams have helped build and expand school facilities in rural communities, including projects in Preah Vihear and Banana Village where classrooms are being developed so more children can access education. In some villages, only around 50 children currently have access to schooling, and expanding these facilities is helping open the door for many more.

Looking ahead to 2027, we plan to continue strengthening these partnerships and exploring new opportunities to support the work already taking place on the ground. Our goal remains the same: to serve alongside local leaders and help create lasting change for the communities they serve.

In the afternoons, when it is too hot to build, you will visit some of Serve Cambodia Schools, which include Harvest of Hope, Light of Hope and TLC Schools. We may be asked to organise various fun activities for the children such as playing games, taking a school assembly, providing some simple health education to families or hair washing / treatment of head lice for the children.  We serve in whatever way our partners wish. 

We will have the opportunity to learn from our partners and friends who live and work in Cambodia. They can teach us about the local culture, Buddhism, and some of the realities of everyday life. The life story of Pastor Sara is particularly memorable and inspirational. 

A trip to the Killing Fields is important, in view of the historic Pol-Pot Genocide, when 2 million people were murdered in just 3-4 years by the Khmer Rouge. This occurred between 1975 and 1978 and traumatised every family in Cambodia with a continuing impact on the nation’s psyche.

In Takeo province you may have the opportunity to visit rural villages and lakes. There are various cultural opportunities, and you will travel into central Phnom Penh for these over the middle weekend. After completing our time on the building site, you will travel to Siem Reap, where you will have some time off to relax and swim, visit tourist markets, and enjoy meals out in restaurants, some of which may support local NGOs. It may be possible for you to attend performances of traditional Cambodian dancing either in Phnom Penh or Siem Reap depending on timing.

Visiting the Angkor Wat temple complex in Siem Reap is one of the final highlights of the trip. Angkor Wat is the world's largest collection of religious temples and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You will get up before dawn to see the sunrise and spend the morning exploring this and other temples. After an afternoon rest, this special day will finish with a visit to the Siem Reap Night Market. 

Flights usually leave from Heathrow and are in two stages, with a stop-off which we try to make as straightforward as possible. The total journey time is between 15-17 hours. We expect to fly into Phnom Penh and out from Siem Reap.

In-country transport within Phnom Penh is often by tuk-tuks which are small carriages pulled by motorcycles. An air-conditioned minibus will be used for travel to Takeo province. 

The climate is generally very hot and humid and due to climate changes Cambodia appears to be getting hotter by the year. 

You will need a wide brimmed hat to cover your face and neck from the sun and plenty of sunscreen. Please bring a water bottle, clean water will be provided. Building work in a hot climate can be exhausting for people. Please be mindful of this before you choose to undertake this trip. 

In Ta Khmau municipality on the south side of Phnom Penh, you will stay in simple hotel accommodation or a guest house. In Siem Reap you will stay in a hotel, which may provide a swimming pool. The hotels we use have air-conditioning. Please note there will be an hour-long journey by van from the accommodation to the building site in Banana village. There is no suitable accommodation closer to the building site.

Cambodian food is delicious and a highlight for many volunteers. Local dishes can be spicy, but there is usually an alternative. International cuisine will be available at many eateries in Siem Reap during the rest and refreshment part of your experience.

If you have any special dietary requirements or food allergies/intolerances, please let us know in advance and we will do what we can to accommodate your needs. 

Please note that anyone with a serious nut allergy is not recommended to undertake this trip as it is very difficult to avoid nuts in Cambodian cuisine.

The local currency is the Cambodian Riel (Currently $1.00 = 4,100 Riel) but you should bring US Dollars. When you spend US dollars you will usually be given change in Riel. 

All meals and water, transport and visits are included in the trip contribution. However, you may want to bring money for souvenirs, alternative drinks and desserts! Gifts and clothes are great value – trainers $15 and T-shirts $5. It is well worth having some available cash for the opportunities to support ‘good causes’ which arise; potential gifts include donations to one of our partners or partner organisations (and these cash gifts in dollars can be Gift Aided via Mission Direct if you pay sufficient tax in the UK).

The local language is Khmer. Also English, Chinese, and French are spoken.

You may well have a generous baggage allowance and this gives you the opportunity to bring aid or useful gifts with you. We will tell you what would be gratefully received when you attend your orientation meetings.

When you join a Mission Direct team you will meet people from a range of backgrounds. It is important that you come ready to be a team player. We work hard together and generally have a lot of fun doing so. Some of these ‘strangers’ may well become lifelong friends afterwards. Trips where people try to opt out and ‘do their own thing’ tend to be far less successful and enjoyable for everybody on the team; please bear this in mind. 

Mission Direct is a Christian organization and the Partner organizations that we work with are often, though not always, led by Christians. We are all on a life journey and are delighted to welcome people of any or no faith to join us. Typically we have short morning and evening reflections and on the trip you will visit a local church. We would like you to attend these aspects of the trip as part of the ‘teamwork’ ethos though there is no pressure for you to join in with the services, sing or pray if you don’t want to. The trips provide an eye-opening cross-cultural experience and are great fun. 

You don’t have to be particularly strong, able, young, old or skilled in building or DIY to join a Mission Direct trip. We will put you to suitable work pretty much whoever you are. Children under 18 are welcome as long as they are accompanied by at least one parent or adult “en loco parentis”. The youngest child to join us was 7 years old, the oldest person was 88. If you are deemed fit to join the team by your doctor, we will be glad to have you join us.

Sadly, there are accessibility issues for Mission Direct trips due to the nature of the country and, of course, the building sites. If you have a particular disability, please get in touch and we can discuss what is possible on this, or another Mission Direct trip.

Parts of the trip may be substantially different to your last visit. Prepare to do different things and meet new people, though you will probably also see some familiar faces too. We ask that you allow those on their first trip to enjoy and experience each day as it unfolds, so avoid those ‘spoilers’ please!  

06.45am Daily devotions and breakfast

08.00am Depart for the Building Project 

12:00 noon Lunch 

13.30-14:30pm Teaching and visiting the local village

16:30pm Return to hotel to shower and relax

18:00pm Dinner at a local restaurant or at the accommodation

19:30pm Dorm Boy (student) outreach

21:30pm Reflections on the day

To join us, you’ll be asked to cover the cost of your trip, which is calculated using the previous year’s volunteer numbers and the total cost of the campaign. We build in an assumption of being able to claim Gift Aid on 60% of all contributions. We rely on this to cover any cost variations and to keep the charity running so it is important that you Gift Aid your contribution if you can. 

Once your application has been accepted you will have the opportunity to set up a payment plan for your contribution. 

We ask you to fundraise for more than just the trip contribution to support building costs and help pay for materials and local labour. 100% of any extra funding, excluding Gift Aid, goes straight to the project.

Mission Direct is registered under the ATOL scheme licence number 10768 

All the flight-inclusive mission trips on this website are financially protected by the ATOL scheme. When you pay you will be supplied with an ATOL Certificate. Please ask for it and check to ensure that everything you booked (flights, hotels, and other services) is listed on it. Please see our booking conditions for further information or for more information about financial protection and the ATOL Certificate go to: www.caa.co.uk

Your Financial Protection.

When you buy an ATOL protected flight inclusive mission trip package from us you will receive an ATOL Certificate. This lists what is financially protected, where you can get information on what this means for you and who to contact if things go wrong.

We, or the suppliers identified on your ATOL Certificate, will provide you with the services listed on the ATOL Certificate (or a suitable alternative). In some cases, where neither we nor the supplier are able to do so for reasons of insolvency, an alternative ATOL holder may provide you with the services you have bought or a suitable alternative (at no extra cost to you). You agree to accept that in those circumstances the alternative ATOL holder will perform those obligations and you agree to pay any money outstanding to be paid by you under your contract to that alternative ATOL holder. However, you also agree that in some cases it will not be possible to appoint an alternative ATOL holder, in which case you will be entitled to make a claim under the ATOL scheme (or your credit card issuer where applicable).

If we, or the suppliers identified on your ATOL certificate, are unable to provide the services listed (or a suitable alternative, through an alternative ATOL holder or otherwise) for reasons of insolvency, the Trustees of the Air Travel Trust may make a payment to (or confer a benefit on) you under the ATOL scheme. You agree that in return for such a payment or benefit you assign absolutely to those Trustees any claims which you have or may have arising out of or relating to the non-provision of the services, including any claim against us, the travel agent (or your credit card issuer where applicable). You also agree that any such claims may be re-assigned to another body, if that other body has paid sums you have claimed under the ATOL scheme