14/05/2026
๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ฆ: ๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ข๐ณโ๐ด ๐ฑ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐๐๐-๐๐
Packing his luggage with a passion for aquaculture and a dream of contributing to global food security and socioeconomic development, one scholar from Cambodia bravely journeyed to the Philippines, and found a second home at the UP Visayas College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences - Institute of Aquaculture where he continues to gain experiential knowledge, meaningful learning experiences, and a strengthened hope for a sustainable future.
Mr. Dara Chin, a Cambodian national, applied for AquASEAN MS Joint Scholarship Program and chose the University of the Philippines Visayas because of its strong reputation in fisheries and aquaculture education. He specifically aimed to study at UP Visayas, recognizing it as one of the leading institutions in SouthEast Asia offering a strong program in Fisheries Science, especially in aquaculture.
The AquASEAN Project is funded by the Government of France through the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs. It aims to promote sustainable aquaculture through circular production systems, reduction of environmental emissions, and climate change adaptation. The project also supports the development of public policies that encourage circular economy principles and the use of local resources.
One of its components focuses on capacity building among institutions, individuals (including students, women, and youth), and communities in climate-responsible aquaculture practices. In support of this component, SEARCA, in partnership with CIRAD, has launched the AquASEAN MS Joint Scholarship Program to nurture emerging leaders from Southeast Asian member countries. Selected scholars will pursue a Master's degree specializing in sustainable and circular aquaculture systems.
Through the opportunity of becoming a scholar under the AquASEAN project, Dara has not only deepened his understanding of aquaculture, but has also immersed himself in Filipino culture as well.
โI have a challenge with English and the course subjects. I am not so familiar with technical words, high-level lectures, and practices,โ Dara admitted. However, despite the cultural differences, Dara had experienced the warm Ilonggo hospitality first hand. โPeople in Miagao, Iloilo, Philippines are goodโฆ I don't need to adjust,โ he said, recounting the number of times he had to ask professors and classmates to help him out, eventually finding his footing in the country.
Anchored on the same kind, helpful, and respective human culture he observed here in the Philippines, Dara hopes of honing his knowledge and skills on fish nutrition, fish feed formulation, and fish feed management for sharing with aquaculturists and aquaculture technicians in Cambodia, for the purpose of developing sustainable aquaculture.
With that goal, Dara spent almost three months learning about advances in fish health management, fundamentals of experimental design, advances in fish nutrition, and physiology in aquatic animals he hopes he can share with fellow Cambodians through seminars, training and workshops, and even face-to-face meetings.
With his learning outcomes and cultural experience kept in memory, Dara soon hopes that his experience will ripple into a more expanded and collaborative cooperation between his home country, Cambodia, and the Philippines to drive sustainable aquaculture.
Daraโs experience highlights how learning opportunities at CFOS-IA drives scholars to dream in a way that is much deeper than just generating and keeping knowledge - it dares scholars to dream of a sustainable future.
๐๐ด ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฅ๐ถ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ถ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฒ๐ถ๐ข๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ, ๐๐๐๐-๐๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ถ๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ข๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ช๐ค ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ข๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ.
