By ALANA MITCHELSON
A NAR Nar Goon teenager is raising money to fund an overseas school trip to help disadvantaged Cambodian school children.
Chloe Werner was one of 20 students from Drouin College selected to participate in a three-week expedition to Cambodia in November.
Each student has been required to raise $4000 each to cover the costs of the trip through fund-raising alone.
To achieve this, the 16-year-old has led a weekly boxing session at Anytime Fitness Pakenham, at 1pm each Saturday, with all fees donated towards her trip.
“It’s an amazing opportunity. Out of the 50-odd students that applied to go, after a series of mental, physical and teamwork challenges as well as interviews I was lucky to be selected,” Chloe said.
“The catch is that our parents aren’t able to pay and we can’t borrow money from them. Us applicants have to earn every dollar ourselves.”
The trip involves students volunteering to build houses for families, building outdoor toilets, constructing furniture, teaching school children English, and constructing and painting playgrounds for schools.
“This trip is definitely not a holiday where we get to sit back and relax. It is going to be a lot of hard work,” Chloe said.
“This tour will be a very exciting and educational experience. It isn’t going to be easy but I know I can prepare for this experience mentally and physically and I would love to go to help out as much as I can.”
Students will also have the opportunity to spend time with a host family, give up technology and learn about how these communities live.
Chloe’s boxing classes cost $5 for Anytime Fitness members and $10 for non-members, with all proceeds donated to her fund-raising campaign.
For more information, contact Chloe at chloejasminewerner55@gmail.com
