Red Bend Catholic College International Excursion Coordinator Gillian McMillan says the students that recently travelled to South East Asia are now more informed citizens.
A group of 20 students, made up of 10 students from each of year 11 and 12, travelled to Cambodia and Vietnam last month, as part of the Modern History Tour that Red Bend Catholic College takes students on once every two years.
The idea of the tour is to give students the experience of travelling overseas and learning about different cultures, but more specifically, to get a grasp on crucial parts of Asian history.
The tour forms a part of the students’ curriculum, but Mrs McMillian said the tour is really a life-changing experience for the students that take part.
“It was a really eye-opening experience for the students. I think they learned a great appreciation of the lifestyle we have here in Australia,” she said.
“It gave them a true insight into how Vietnam was invaded during the Vietnam War, and the instability of their politics, and how in Australia we are lucky not to have any of that.”
The tour of Cambodia and Vietnam took students to Saigon, Phnom Penh, Hoi An, and Hanoi.
Highlights of the trip included the Killing Fields of Cambodia’s Pol Pot era (1975-79), where around 2.5 million people were killed under the Khmer Rouge, as well as Vietnam War tunnels, rice farming, and seeing Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum.
By Joshua Matic