• REALITY 1: The climate can be unbearably HOT and HUMID, and extreme weather can ruin our plans
• REALITY 2: There are lots of BIG INSECTS, some very dangerous, and they find volunteers very tasty
• REALITY 3: A road rarely is made from much more than dirt. Journeys are SLOW & VERY BUMPY
• REALITY 4: People and materials are usually LATE: plans rarely run on time
• REALITY 5: HEALTH & SAFETY policies in public services are virtually non-existent
• REALITY 6: The CULTURE and LANGUAGE is alien to what we are used to in the West
• REALITY 7: You will come face to face with POVERTY every day
• REALITY 8: There are MANY public holidays, which can easily ruin even the best planned week of work

To enjoy working in a developing country, we believe you need to be:

• OPEN-MINDED about other ways of doing things
• PATIENT & TOLERANT when things do not go according to plan
• ENTHUSIASTIC about your work
• Full of INITATIVE so you can make the best out of a bad situation

If you think you can cope with the realities of work in a developing country, and that you are open-mined, patient, enthusiastic and full of initiative, then we urge you to volunteer with us.

If not, please look elsewhere – vMaD is not for you.

Cambodian Public Holidays 2009
Source: World Travel Guide

Cambodia has many Public Holidays, and it is often not possible for us to run our programs at these times. The flip-side of the coin is that there are some pretty good festivals and events on these days, but it can get pretty irritating if you book for a 2 week placement and there is a three-day public holiday in the middle of the week preventing you from volunteering! And more often than not, a one day holiday gets extended over several days, making it very difficult for us to plan ahead. So make sure you have a look at the dates below so that you can plan your placement appropriately.

• 1 Jan New Year's Day.
• 7 Jan Victory Day.
• Feb* Meak Bochea Day.
• 8 Mar Women's Day.
• Apr* Cambodian New Year.
• 1 May Labour Day.
• May* Visaka Buja Day (Birth of Buddha).
• May* Royal Ploughing Day Ceremony.
• 13-15 May King Sihamoni's Birthday.
• 1 Jun International Children's Day.
• 18 Jun Former Queen's Birthday.
• 24 Sep Constitution and Coronation Day.
• Sep/Oct* Pchum Ben Day.
  
• 23 Oct Paris Peace Agreement.
• 31 Oct Former King Sihanouk's Birthday.
• Nov* Water Festival.
• 9 Nov Independence Day.
• 10 Dec Human Rights Day.

*Date to be confirmed.
Note - The religious festivals are determined by the Buddhist lunar calendar and are therefore variable. Public holidays falling on a Saturday or Sunday are carried forward to the following working day.