Project Report
| Jul 25, 2012
"Thank you!" from Chea and friends
By Erika Keaveney | Executive Director
![Chea tries out her new bike and pump]()
Chea tries out her new bike and pump
On July 12, Lotus Pedals delivered brand new bicycles and pumps to five promising young women enrolled in our Girls’ Access to Education (GATE) scholarship program in Phnom Penh, Cambodia to ensure they could get to school safely.
In urban environments like Phnom Penh, girls often face harassment and abuse while walking to school alone, and their risk increases as they reach adolescence, both as a result of their age and the longer commute to secondary school.
We interviewed one of the new Lotus Pedals recipients, Chea Daraty, who describes the danger she faced before receiving the bicycle. Watch her short interview by clicking the link below.
Thank you again for helping us pave a way to school for hundreds of Cambodian girls each year. To learn more about this project or pledge additional support, please visit http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/lotuspedals/
![Happy girls!]()
Happy girls!
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May 3, 2012
The extra mile
By Rachel Curtis | Development Manager
![A very focused young woman!]()
A very focused young woman!
Since last October when Sim Soline began her upper secondary studies, she has walked four kilometers to her new high school. Sometimes she was able to ride along on the back of a friend’s bike or pay a moto-taxi to bridge the distance – whatever it took to make it to class. Her attendance is near perfect, making this 10th grader an excellent role model for her six younger siblings, all of whom are still in school.
Inspired by the earnest ambition of this 17 year old, and conscious of her influence over six younger children looking up to her, we wanted to give Soline as much support to complete high school as we possibly could. She is already one of our GATE scholars, but we also made her one of 63 girls who received a bike through our Lotus Pedals project this March.
We can do this because of YOU! Your continued support makes all the difference for students ready to go the extra mile to succeed, and for the kids who look up to them. Thank you!
![Soline next to her hut in Andong village]()
Soline next to her hut in Andong village
![GATE girls at the March 12 bike ceremony]()
GATE girls at the March 12 bike ceremony
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Apr 24, 2012
Postcard: Project Site Visit
By Jacqueline Lee | GlobalGiving InTheField Representative
![Lotus Pedals recipients with bike]()
Lotus Pedals recipients with bike
Jacqueline Lee is an InTheField Traveler with GlobalGiving who is visiting our partners' projects throughout Southeast Asia. Her "Postcard" from the visit in Cambodia:
On March 14, Alexis and I visited Louts Outreach's recipients of the Lotus Pedals project. The recipients were 2 young girls who received a bike from the Lotus Pedals program. Before they had the bikes, these girls would have to walk an hour just to get to school. Now the bikes cut the time in half, and they have more time to study in between school and work. Where do they work? The rubbish heaps nearby to earn extra income for the family. They pick things like plastic bottles and items that can be sold to recycling plants. The average income is $1.25USD per day picking rubbish. T
he Louts Pedals project goal is to not only provide bicycles to young girls but to increase awareness about the importance of education for the family as a whole. Lotus Outreach works with families and the schools, before enrolling in the schools Lotus Outreach staff meets with parents to identify needs and challenges for the kids to get to school. Lotus Outreach also helps to decrease the gender gap between girls and boys.
I asked one of the sister recipients what her favorite subject in school was and she said science because she loves the environment. The other said her favorite was social studies and Khmer traditional dancing class. The father said he hoped for the future of his kids involved getting a good job and to stay in school as long as they could afford it. I turned to the girls and asked what they wanted to be when they grew up - one said a primary school teacher and the other a doctor.
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