Generous donation enables purchase of bicycles for disadvantaged children in Cambodia
ngo avec and the WeCare-Association have been working closely together for years. For some time now, ngo avec has been running a school project in two schools in Battambang. These two schools are regularly visited by representatives of ngo avec, who then distribute relief supplies to the parents of the supported children. The aim is to create an additional incentive for the parents to send their children to school regularly. This project is very successful and the author of this article has already been on site several times to distribute the aid supplies.
At the end of 2021, the WeCare-Association received a generous donation from the Diethelm Foundation and, in consulting with Theavy Bun and Patrik Roux, we agreed to provide some of the children supported by the school project with bicycles.
The school project supports a total of 100 families, but Theavy Bun has decided to only give bicycles to students who regularly attend school and work hard there.
This resulted in a need for 77 bicycles plus 12 bicycles that were needed for the children at the Safe House in Battambang. In addition, all 89 bicycles were fitted with locks.
Two mopeds were also purchased for two older girls from the safe house who are already attending university.
Nowadays, a bicycle is nothing special for children in Switzerland. Not so in a third world country like Cambodia.
What does a bicycle mean to a Cambodian child?
- The child gets to school faster.
- In Cambodia, a bicycle is not just a means of transportation for one child, but can also be used to take a brother/sister or another child from the same village to school.
- The recipients of the bikes have a low absenteeism rate. This makes them role models for the other children, who will hopefully produce fewer absences as a result.
- Having a bicycle also makes it easier for these children to attend the additional training offered by ngo avec in the areas of English and IT. The training center on the ngo avec site is very remote and can only be reached on foot, by bike or by car. There is no public transportation.
- The bicycles allow the students to later attend a secondary school in Battambang, which is also not accessible on foot as it is too far away and no, there is no public transportation here either.
- A bicycle in the family benefits the whole family. For example, the mother can use it to go to the market or into town to do the shopping or to get medicine for a sick family member.
The distribution of these bicycles also reinforces the message of ngo avec regarding the necessity and usefulness of regular school attendance. Those who put in more effort and work harder at school get more than those who don’t.
The official handover took place in the presence of parents and local political celebrities at a ceremony on the ngo avec premises.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Dietrich Foundation once again for their generous donation. Without this contribution, the implementation of this project would not have been possible.
