Price Includes:

Full Board Accommodation – at the MaD Base Camp, a traditional Khmer home located in a lush tropical garden on the outskirts of Siem Reap town (7 nights for a one week placement). Laundry facilities are available on site, free of charge, as is WiFi internet access and cable TV, of which there is one in every room. You will have your own room (unless you’re booking as a couple), compost toilets, running water, solar heated showers & a comfy bed with a mattress and a mosquito net. All rooms have a fan and are made up daily. Full Board means your breakfast, lunch and dinner are all included in the price, and are cooked for you by the chefs at our MaD Eatery Restaurant. Unlimited tea, coffee and chilled drinking water are also included in the price! Drinks from the bar are discounted at 20% from the menu prices.

Transport to MaD Base Camp & Project by Cambodian Tuk Tuk – all transport to and from your volunteer work placement. We will, by arrangement, organise a tuk tuk to and from town in the evening should you wish to visit Siem Reap. A tuk tuk to and from Siem Reap town in the evening costs approximately $2 each way. Please note meals not eaten at the MBC are not credited.

Pre-departure Support – we will provide you with a pre-departure information pack, and endeavour to answer any question you may have within 24 hours. We appreciate that international volunteering can be a daunting prospect to many people, and we will do our best to answer any question promptly.

Airport Pick-up & Drop-off by Cambodian Tuk Tuk – we will be there to pick you up from the local airport, bus-station or train-station, and help get you settled. We will also drop you off at the end of your placement.

Welcome meeting – after you’ve had a chance to get a shower and a change of clothes, we will sit you down and explain to you what work you will be doing, and answer any and every question you may have. We will provide you with useful local information, give you a quick tour of the local markets, show you where everything is and introduce you to the other volunteers – assuming there are other volunteers at the time.

In-Country Support – we will be available to provide you with any support you need, be it renewing your visa, changing your money or finding a good restaurant. We will be there for you 24 hours a day 7 days per week, but this does not mean we will be your mothers – we expect you to have at least a small degree of independence & initiative! You can find your own way around...

Khmer Language & Cooking Lessons – we will provide basic Khmer language lessons, and a cooking course for those that are interested (you will need to pay the cost of your own ingredients). This must be requested and booked at least a day in advance!

Local guides – We can put you in contact with excellent quality local guides to show you the many sights and sounds of Siem Reap.

Project De-briefing – at the end of your project we will ask you to fill out a survey about your experience with MaD, and ask for your input as to how we could improve. We will also offer you regular newsletter updates on our work in Cambodia and elsewhere in Southeast Asia, and invite you to write a testimonial of your experiences with us.

Donation to MaD – Making a Difference for Good! – The remaining balance after all the above have been paid for go directly to MaD Programs. It is used to cover the less glamorous aspects of our development work such as transport, vehicle maintenance, fuel, staff & administration costs - as well as to provide projects with financial support. This means we can offer donors the credible guarantee that 100% of money received will make it directly to its intended cause, such as building a UNICEF water pump or feeding a child.

Price Excludes:

$75 VAF Fee - A $75 non-refundable administrative fee to handle and prcess your application.

$75 VAF Fee - A $75 non-refundable administrative fee to handle and prcess your application.

Flights – you can get to Siem Reap International Airport via Bangkok or Singapore, both of which are accessible from most major airports worldwide.

Insurance – we STRONGLY advise you to purchase travel insurance whilst you are working with us. Search for ‘backpacker insurance’ on google.com and you will find numerous options available from as little as $20 per month.

Visas - Your passport must be valid for at least 6 months beyond the date of entry for you to enter Cambodia. A tourist visa is available for about $25, and a business visa is about $45 for 3 months.

Vaccinations – seek advice from your doctor regarding which vaccinations you will need

Day-to-Day Living Expenses – Breakfast, lunch, dinner, water, tea and coffee is incuded in your placement fee, so it is well within the realms of possibility to get by on no spending money! A meal and drink in Siem Reap can cost as little as $1.50 if you eat at the street stalls. Western food and Khmer restaurants tend to charge between $3 and $5 for a meal. Internet access costs about $1 per hour, laundry is free (but costs $1 per kg in town), and mobile phones / SIM cards can be rented for a small fee. We advise volunteers to bring $10 per day spending money – it's no fun for volunteers to be worrying about money all the time, and good to see all of the amazing sights and attractions that Cambodia has to offer.! You should bring some extra cash to make sure you can afford to see the many sights and sounds of the surrounding area, and do some travelling on the weekends and/or after your placement.

Next Steps...

Apply - Download & complete the VAF (volunteer application form), and email it to volunteers@madforgood.org. Read and agree to the CPP (child protection policy) & the Terms & Conditions of volunteering with vMaD. Submit the documents required for us to conduct a police check, including a scanned copy of your passport which must accompany your VAF.

Application Received Email - You will receive a response within 24 hours detailing whether the dates you requested are available and whether we will proceed with your application. Once you are given confirmation that we will proceed with your application, you will have to pay the $75 administration fee. We spend a lot of time and effort answering your emails, following up on your application and your references, which is a huge drain on time and resources. We will therefore not proceed with your application until we have received this fee!

Confirmation Email - Once we have received your $75 administration fee, we will follow up on your references and police clearance. Once we have confirmed your suitability for work on our projects, we will send you a confirmation email confirming your volunteer placement with vMad. Please inform us of any errors ASAP so we can correct them!

Pre-Departure Briefing Material - Soon after your confirmation email, you will receive a pre-departure briefing pack, giving you all sorts of useful information such as what to bring, what not to bring, local laws and customs, key phrases and project information. You will also receive a fundraising pack to give you some useful ideas as to how you can raise some extra money for your project if you wish to do so – but remember, you are already doing a lot for the project by volunteering, and extra fundraising is in no way expected of you.

Pay the volunteer placement fees: You will have to pay your volunteer placement fees in full at least SIXTY [60] days prior to the commencement of your placement by PayPal, ammado, Western Union, Moneygram or direct to our NGO account via a SWIFT WIRE transfer. You will incur a transfer fee over and above the $ amount to pay your fees via Western Union, Moneygram or SWIFT.

Get yourself ready! - Book your flights, get your insurance and vaccinations, sort out your visa and passport, make sure you bring everything that you need to, and let the adventure begin.

Keep us informed about your arrival times - Make sure we know when you are arriving, and where we are picking you up from. Keep our contact details to hand just in case!