Trip of a lifetime for Douglas Stafford team member

By Jamie White – Head of Communications

A team member from Douglas Stafford has recently returned from an adventure she will never forget.

Emma Chandler, who works in the Video Editing and Quality Control department at the Douglas Stafford head office at 1000 Lakeside, Portsmouth, embarked on a three-month trip to Asia.

During her travels, Emma visited a remote part of Cambodia, where she taught children at an orphanage, aged between four and 20 years old.

Emma said: “I applied to teach through the Cambodia Volunteer Foundation online, but I didn’t hear anything back for sometime. But then, out of the blue, I received an email telling me I had been accepted.

 “I found it quite tough going at first, but once I had got used to the conditions and the surroundings I soon settled in. The children all seem very content with their lives. The orphanage survives purely on donations and by growing their own mushrooms and selling them at a local market.

“I ended up staying and teaching longer than I had anticipated because I enjoyed it so much. It was amazing to teach the children English. We played games and acted out role plays and they loved it.”

Emma would teach for up to six hours a day during the week, and then visit other parts of Cambodia with other back-packers during the weekends. During the trip she also took in the sights of Thailand, Vietnam and Laos.

She added: “The children were really fantastic and it puts so much into perspective when you see how they are living out there. But, it was an amazing experience and I want to do it again.”

Emma is part of the Video Editing and Quality Control department at Douglas Stafford, which ensures all mystery shopper videos are scored and processed efficiently, before being uploaded to the exclusive industry leading Douglas Stafford online portal, DS Insight, for clients to review.