Lotus Pedals - Help Cambodian Girls Get to School!

This month we bring you a personal thank you from a recent bike recipient, Pheung Sopheavy. She is also supported by our Girls' Access to Education scholarship program. 

I am now in 12^th grade at Dom Dek High School and I am the only child of the family who can stay in school this far. All of my siblings dropped out at primary school level to help earn income to support the family. I have been in scholarship program since I was in 8^th grade and I would have dropped out just like my brothers and sisters if I didn’t get scholarship from the program.

None of my family members has a regular job; they all do seasonal labor work on other people’s farm and can earn from $2 to $2.50 per day. I also work like them during school vacation. This seasonal income is not enough to support the big family, let alone supporting my education which gets more and more expensive the higher grade I reach. I am very grateful to the program for covering all these expenses for my family by providing me with school uniforms, study materials, monthly stipend, tuition money, and a bicycle on September 27, 2011 when I passed from 11^th to 12^th grade.

When I was in 11^th grade, I studied at Popel Upper Secondary School near home, but the school has only up to 11^th grade, so I had to move to Dom Dek High School which is about 15km or 20km away from home to continue 12^th grade, the last grade of high school. Normally for students who stay from 8km up from school are illegible to stay in residential home near school rented by the program, but since I need to help with household chores when other family members go to look for work, I asked the program not to stay in residential home and commute to school daily on the bike provided by the program. Without this bike, I would have difficulty balancing schooling and household chores, so my family and I are very appreciative for the bike and we promise to take very good care of it.

I would like to sincerely thank the program for the right intervention and all the advocacies as well as encouragement given to my family that helps my mother see the value of education and allow me stay in school this far. With financial support and spiritual support from the program and my family, I can see a significant improvement in my study from year to year. Last year I ranked between 7^th to 10^th in the class, and this year I get second and third place every month out of 50 students. I commit to continue to study hard to return your favor and to be able to support my own family in the future as well as to help develop my country.

Links:

• Girls' Access to Education program
• Stop by our Facebook page and say "hi" with a Like!

In the past year, you have allowed us to provide 236 bicycles, pumps, repair kits and locks to impoverished, at-risk girls across Cambodia so they can safely get to school each day:

• 152 bicycles were given to Girls’ Access to Education (GATE) students and youth club members in Siem Reap.
• 43 bicycles were given to orphaned and highly vulnerable girls living in the remote regions of Kampong Cham.
• 33 bicycles were provided to girls living in the red lights districts of Phnom Penh.
• 5 bicycles were given to young urban sex workers so they can attend literacy classes and skills training.
• 3 bicycles were given to a recent GATE graduates so they can commute to university in Phnom Penh.

We have attached several photographs of the bicycle giveaway ceremonies, and thank you again for giving us 236 more reasons to celebrate back to school season.

GUESS WHAT? WE HAVE EXCITING NEWS!

We know you care about girls getting to school, so we thought we would tell you about another GlobalGiving project that was recently selected to participate in an exciting competition happening RIGHT NOW!

Girls in rural India face the same challenges as girls in Cambodia when it comes to getting to school.  Heavily trafficked and potholed roads, however, mean bicycles are not an option.  Instead, we provide safe, chaperoned bus transportation to approximately 100 girls in Mewat, Haryana—the most regressive districts in terms of girls’ education in all of India.

Lotus Outreach has been selected to participate in the first ever Girl Effect Challenge.  In the next 30 days, we will compete with approximately 50 other organizations around the world to become one of six beneficiaries of the Girl Effect Fund, a collective giving pool that has raised nearly $700,000 to date.

By becoming a Girl Effect partner, we will not only receive significant financial support for our Blossom Bus project in 2012, but we will also get critical exposure to Girl Effect fans around the world.  Need proof that this will make a difference?  The Girl Effect has 17,500 followers on Twitter, 260,000 "likes" on Facebook and nearly 1,000,000 views on YouTube!  And it isn't hard to see why the Girl Effect is so popular: watch this video to learn why.

WE CAN’T WIN WITHOUT YOUR HELP

Between now and November 15, our Blossom Bus project must recruit as many unique donors as possible.  We are asking all of our supporters to give just $10 during this time period to help us win the competition.  Every donation raised during this period will not only bring us one step closer to our dream of partnering with Girl Effect, but will ensure adolescent girls in Mewat, India can safely return to school.  By providing bus transportation, we will help many of these girls escape childhood marriage and become the first girls to reach high school in the history of their villages!

You can make your $10 donation today at http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/the-blossom-bus/

HELP US GO GUERRILLA

We know we can do this!  You helped Lotus Outreach win a similar challenge in 2009.  But we also know how important it is to get our supporters mobilized and engaged.  Please tell your friends, family and colleagues about this competition and ask them to pledge their support.  Every donation counts so please help us spread the word far and wide through email, Facebook and Twitter!

Questions?  Please contact info@lotusoutreach.org.

Links:

• Blossom Bus Donation Page
• Track our progress!