Rural Kids need bikes to attend school

Dear All,

The barriers of the student who lives in a rural area to education are often with the income of their parents who cannot support them even a second-hand bicycle getting to school. Most of the students need to walk from Home to school around 1 or 2km every day under the sun and rain, sometimes without shoes.  Rural poor children are unable to attend school regularly or at all, due to the distance and climate (strong sun or heavy rain). The parents are also unable to take them. So they stay at home and do not receive an education. Especially Girl students. The lake of education will keep them stuck in poverty.

The bicycles limit barriers, by making school more accessible to the most underprivileged children, they can easily attend more regularly and receive much-needed education.

One bicycle provides transport for up to two children to attend school, so they can obtain an education, life skills, and progress forward.  Additionally, by cycling to and from school, the children have more energy and free time to learn.  The bicycle also helps female students with more safety compared to walking on their own in rural areas, and are therefore more likely to attend school.

Without you, this achievement would not have been possible! Thank you very much!

Narrative Report from Bicycle Project

1.  Overview of the Project:  Students of rural areas of Prasat Bakong district need to go to school in remote villages. The school is too far from home to walk each day barefoot with heavy bags of books, making school attendance difficult to the point of jeopardizing students’ future. Lvea, Beong Chum and Wat Khsach Primary School are located in Prasat Bakong district, Siem Reap province, Cambodia. These schools were established many years ago. The Commune is situated about 30 km away from Siem Reap center which has 9villages in total and a total population are 9028 people (4458 males, 4570 females) and 1865 households. The main source of income is generated from subsistence farming, construction work, and other seasoning crops. The Kamboo Project has selected three schools for this time bicycle delivery within Tro Peng Thom Commune. The school offers education from kindergarten to grade 6 and aged 4 - 12, in attendance. 
2. The Problem:  The barriers of the student who lives in a rural area to education is often with the income of their parents who cannot support them even a second-hand bicycle getting to school. Most of the students need to walk from Home to school around 1 or 2km everyday under the sun and rain, sometimes without shoes.  Rural poor children are unable to attend school regularly or at all, due to the distance and climate (strong sun or heavy rain). The parents are also unable to take them. So they stay at home and do not receive an education. Especially Girl students. The lake of education will keep them stuck in poverty.
3. Work Carried Out: Thanks in funding, we were able to be a part of this barrier to the poorest students in Lvea, Beong Chum and Wat Khsach Primary Schools. We delivered 45 Bicycle to three Primary Schools (17 for boys and 28 for girls). The 45 poor students have been selected from the school principal and also the school committee and involved with Kamboo Project staff. The school principal is really happy and appreciates the organization as he knew very well that those students really need a bike to access the daily school. The process of delivering was gone very smoothly with full support from the District of Education, teachers, and parents. Monitoring and evaluation are embedded in program delivery. Monthly reports over the next six months will highlight how the outcome from bike delivers with school attendants. All the students who received our bike still being monitoring from the project staff and any improvements which can be made. Education is a sustainable project we believe. Education can break their poverty.
4. Budget and Expenditure: In our initial proposal to funding. Savings were made as to the hard work negotiation skills from staff to the lowest price from the supplier. We wanted to ensure that the students received a good quality and quantity of bike, therefore, we try to survey the market with a good bike and price.

HOW WILL THIS PROJECT SOLVE THE PROBLEM?

The bicycles limit barriers, by making school more accessible to the most underprivileged children, they can easily attend more regularly and receive much-needed education.

One bicycle provides transport for up to two children to attend school, so they can obtain an education, life skills, and progress forward.  Additionally, by cycling to and from school, the children have more energy and free time to learn. The bicycle also helps female students with more safety compared to walking on their own in rural areas, and are therefore more likely to attend school.

POTENTIAL LONG-TERM IMPACT

The child shall benefit through socializing and learn the value of education for their future.  This leads to a stronger likelihood that secondary education will be undertaken.

Within the family, having one child attend promotes the likelihood of other children attending. The high illiteracy and school dropout rate will decrease and the community can develop by having educated citizens. Like this, we not only make a difference for the child but also a better future for the family/community.