Vathana and Chamnan Chey, are a sister and brother and live in the village of Peak Sneng.

Coming from a family of seven children their younger sister had to be placed in an orphanage after their mother died.

Education was not readily available for them; like most Cambodian children they could only go to school when the family could afford it.

Now grown up the 21 year old and 20 year old still attend school themselves as well as teaching English to children in the village, that is how they met members from Bowral High School and came to be in Australia for a three-month exchange program.

As part of the Values in Action School project, involving more than 450 students from seven schools across the Highlands, Bowral Public School pupils from Year 5T have been learning about global poverty.

Year 5 pupil Clayton Barnes said poverty affects all aspects of people's lives from the food they eat to the water they drink. It is not limited to a particular age or region.

"We discovered that life in nations with poverty is basically the same as here," he said.

"We use water they use water. We play soccer they play soccer.

"Except the soccer ball at our school is manufactured in a factory. They might make their ball out of wool and they have no shoes to kick it.

"They drink infested water we get water out of a tap. They have to walk miles to get water and bring it back."

Year 5 pupil Elliot Matthews added that he learnt poverty is global and spreading fast.

By having the brother and sister from Cambodia visiting they were able to learn how poverty affects someone that they have met.

Deputy principal Jan Christie said it had been a wonderful experience for the children.

"It has been a good opportunity for a cultural experience," she said.

"The things the children knew at the beginning and what they know now is just amazing.

"There is a much broader awareness."