Study Abroad

Five former volunteers for Youth Star Cambodia will head to Hawaii on Sunday for a yearlong Worldwide Farmers Exchange program designed to expose them to modern farming techniques and business practices.

The program will mark the first time that Youth Star, a youth service organisation, will send volunteers overseas, said Catherine Cecil, its communications and policy adviser. Each of the five volunteers - four men and one woman - has a bachelor's degree in agriculture or business, as well as some type of farming experience. Cecil said the volunteers will, upon their return, help Youth Star establish a training program so that the skills they learn abroad can be transferred to young Cambodians. Like his fellow volunteers, Seng Saramany, who has never been out of the country, said he was looking forward to learning "everything about Hawaii, but especially about agriculture".  Youth Star Executive Director Eva Mysliwiec said the volunteers will learn, among other things, quality control techniques that will improve crop presentation.