Bridges Across Borders Cambodia

BAB Cambodia Welcomes Legal Interns

Each year BAB Cambodia welcomes several legal education interns as part of the Legal Studies Program offered by our partner organisation BABSEA Community Legal Education Initiative. This international internship exposes participants to a diverse range of legal and human rights issues in Southeast Asia, while at the same time providing them with an opportunity to make a real contribution to fighting the hardships and legal inequity throughout the region.  This year BAB Cambodia was happy to host three talented young women to our program – Lucy, Stephanie and Vanessa.  In total there were 25 interns on the program, all of whom spent an initial two weeks with BABSEA CLE in Chiang Mai, Thailand for training and a further Community Immersion week where they stayed with and learned from local families before dividing into their individual placements throughout the region.

The three interns based in Cambodia worked on a range of tasks. A primary project was researching repatriation arrangements and informal settlements for Cambodian people displaced during the Khmer Rouge period and in subsequent years – research that will help support a paper on land security for the UN Special Rapportuer on Housing Rights. The interns also drafted lessons plans for inclusion in a new BAB Cambodia curriculum on Law and Democracy, which will be used to introduce young people to values and attitudes that encourage informed and active participation in civic life. In Lucy’s own words, she said that the internship “ [It] has been a challenging and eye-opening experience. I've had the opportunity to witness and take part in development work first-hand, and I am excited to take my new experiences with me back to Canada. At home I will be able to continue to work towards my academic and career goals with a new, practical and realistic understanding of what it takes to do human-rights NGO work at a grassroots level."

The interns also visited the provinces to assist our Community Empowerment & Legal Awareness (CELA) team with monitoring the delivery of training on topics including human rights, land law and evictions. Stephanie described her experience travelling to a remote village in Kratie as “Inspiring and challenging... and amazing to see people learning about their rights as indigenous people for the first time!"

As well as making a valuable contribution to the work of the CELA team, the interns learned more about development challenges and gender equality by working with the Women’s Handicraft and Development Association in the Chamcar Bei village in Kep Province.
The time spent with BABC also offered the chance to be involved in the remarkable experience of living and working in Cambodia. Each day may bring its own challenges, but also its rewards. As Vanessa explains "Working closely with the Khmer staff has been a highlight of the internship. On the way to Kampong Chnang to monitor training, I lunched with the family of one of my new friends. It would be rare for travellers in Cambodia to be able to connect with locals in such a meaningful way."

We look forward to welcoming more interns in the future! If you want to learn more about the program, please visit http://www.babseacle.org/legal_studies_internship_program