Breaking the Cycle of Poverty in Rural Cambodia

Schools are open again and we are proud to report that 113 bicycles were delivered to students at Srah Primary School on January 18, 2022. Although you may not be able to see their smiles because of the face masks, there were a 113 very happy students.

You may not know that getting a bicycle from Trailblazer involves several conditions that happen behind the scene. Students who receive a bicycle must have met government criteria to determine their level of poverty. The poorest to poor rated students are eligible to get a bicycle.

Identification of poor households are based on interviewing households using a questionnaire prepared by the Ministry of Planning. The questionnaire includes a number of poverty indicators below:

• Housing condition, which includes roof, wall, area, house quality (and specification of whether it is the household’s property or is rented).
• Size of legally owned residential land and productive agricultural land.
• Main source of income from growing crops or fishing, or other activities.
• Animal raising (such as raising fish for sale).
• Ability to meet food requirements.
• Number of household members unable to earn an income, relative to the total number of household members.
• Material goods and equipment.
• Means of transportation.
• Unexpected problems or serious crises which cause the households to lose income, experience food shortages, sell property, or go into debt.
• Number of children aged 6 to 11 years who missed school, and the reasons.
• Situations which cause deterioration of the household’s living conditions, such as the head of household (husband or wife) suffering from serious disability or chronic disease, households consisting exclusively of elderly members, households with orphans living with them, female-headed households with many young children, or households with no members with the capacity to work.
• Situations which improve the household’s living conditions, such as assistance from relatives or other income sources.

Not only do recipient students need to meet the government poor identification criteria, Trailblazer requires the student (and their parents) to contribute $1.75USD into their village's Village Fund to have buy in on the project. The student and his/her parent(s) also sign an agreement to maintain the bicycle, repair it if it breaks, to stay in school, and to get good grades. Others who sign this agreement include the Ministry of Education representative, the school's head teacher, and Trailblazer.

We are thankful for all the donors who made this bicycle delivery a reality, and for making a real impact in the lives of the students and their families. Thank you.