Media Volunteer - Heather Huber
Heather Huber volunteered with Chab Dai from Jan - March 2020, assisting us with marketing and media. She interviewed and photographed each of our staff members about Chab Dai’s core values. She also filmed videos to share the vision, objectives, and outcome stories for each team. Recently she wrote about her time in Phnom Penh with Chab Dai.
’Getting to Cambodia from North Dakota was a long haul that was well worth it!
The city of Phnom Penh’s has so much more to offer than I expected. The sites and sounds create an incredibly unique experience from my time in Africa and Europe. The temples and pagodas alone are fascinating. The traffic a steady, peaceful flow with a rhythm all its own. Fast, but slow. A maze full of old world beauty mixed with tin roof poverty.
Chab Dai exists in an old wooden structure that stands four stories high with a volleyball court out the front. It’s an impressive building despite all the high rises going up around town. Inside you’ll find some of the most genuine, hardworking, and fun-loving people in town. As I assisted the communications team, I was able to interview 40 of the 45 staff members who collaboratively seek to prevent and end human trafficking throughout Cambodia. Each person impressed on me how well connected they are to the mission and vision of Chab Dai, sharing their personal connection to each of its core values: Learners, Empowering, Collaborative, Faith-Inspired, and Responsible. Even during a time of significant transition, I saw first-hand the health and passion of this group that embodies its name by “joining hands” to keep serving those they have come to love. Each recipient of their help is beloved and held in high regard. There is a compassion and respect that is clear from the outset that quickly creates a deep admiration for the organization as a whole.
As a non-profit professional that grew up in the United States and has worked and sometimes lived in nine African countries, six European countries, and now one Asian country - Cambodia, I left deeply impressed by the work of Chab Dai. It is a ground-breaking organization, the likes of which I have yet to see or experience anywhere else in the world. They have caught hold of the type of work that brings sustainable, life-transforming results and my hope is that this approach to human trafficking can be used in many other sectors of non-profit work throughout the world. Chab Dai has established a holistic approach to prevent and end human trafficking. It’s in-house efforts are led by dedicated and well-trained Cambodian people who are driven to help and love their countrymen. They connect with government officials, local authorities, other non-profits through a coalition that maximizes and streamlines their efforts countrywide, and then expands to the Global Learning Community.
Serving alongside these dedicated professionals has been an opportunity of a lifetime. I will treasure the gift of friendship that was given so freely to me, especially when I experienced the death of a very dear family member during my time there. If you are longing to serve and wondering where to go, look no further! This is your place. These are your people. The journey is sometimes painful and exhausting, but the outcome is one you will remember the rest of your life.’
Heather with our Interim Country Director Lisa Cheong, and our previous Head of Programs Travis Barnwell