UP Mindanao hosts first batch of Cambodian exchange students

UP Mindanao welcomed its first ever foreign students on the first day of Academic Year 2016-2017. Mr. Pisen Sou (left) and Ms. Chan Chiva (right) are from Cambodia, from the city of Phnom Penth. They are taking up courses in Communication Arts and Speech Communication during their stay. The foreign students were accompanied by Prof. Nelfa Glova (center) in their visit to the Office of the Chancellor on August 1.

The University of the Philippines–Mindanao welcomed its first batch of Cambodian exchange students earlier this month.

Sou Pisen and Chan Chiva were selected to study in the premier university’s Mindanao campus through the SHARE scholarship program, an EU grant-funded project that aims to enhance the quality of schools in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) member states.

Asked about her first impression of the Philippines, Chiva said, “People here are friendly … My fellow (student) and I received a warm welcome by friends here.”

Chiva and Pisen said Filipinos and Cambodians shared a lot of similarities, such as taste in food and fashion, as well as living standards.

Pisen said weather in the Philippines is also warm like in Cambodia.

On the other hand, Chiva said it is sometimes difficult for them to communicate with others because of the language barrier.

“I am impressed that my lecturers and classmates who are eager to know about Khmer culture. In a class [on] language and culture, we [were] asked to introduce our Khmer traditional customs, Khmer language and our religion (Theravada Buddhism),” Pisen shared.

In turn, the two students said they also want to learn about Philippine culture.

Chiva said she wanted to learn Bisaya or Tagalog “as well as their leadership skills, and self-discipline of the people, and I would also like to share basic Cambodian cultures and language to those students.”

Pisen said he will share what he learned in the Philippines with other Cambodian students. He said his experience in Davao City will also allow him to compare how communication subjects are taught in the two countries.

The two students’ visit aims to test the Credit Transfer System (CTS) for Asean universities, which is currently being enhanced by SHARE, through Campus France Indonesia.

Pisen shared that there are three stages to win the scholarship.

“First, you have to get an endorsement letter from your home university and state your preference to host universities with your specified major. Second, you individually request an acceptance letter from the host university that you want to go. Finally, after you have endorsement letter and acceptance letter, you need to apply to the SHARE Scholarship program and submit all the required documents.”

Oum Sonita and Sar Pisey are INQUIRER.net interns from the Royal University of Phnom Penh. They are in the Philippines for the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) internship program.