Cambodia
In Chanleas Dai
The PEPY Team Journal
by Maryann Bylander
I love being at the PEPY Ride School in the rainy season. It's cooler, breathtakingly green, and there is a sense of renewal with constant planting going on around me.
Today I took one of the new basket bikes and headed to nearby Kralanh. It's a ride I've done several times before on PEPY Tours, and one I've fully enjoyed on my snazzy trek mountain bike as it is typically the last 9km of a much longer day, and I always have a sense of excitement bringing volunteers to the school for the first time. The shocks, gears, and fat tires help too.
This afternoon, though, I went with my basket bike. I figured it would be nice to see how it is to take this route the same way that Khmer students do when they make the daily trek to and from high school. I was also craving an iced coffee from my favorite Kralanh restaurant and a long bike ride. Truth be told, I've yet to find a good form of exercise here at the school. Running draws attention to me that I'm still a little uncomfortable with here, and I still get freaked out by the dogs chasing me. On this trip I brought a jump rope hoping to use that for a little exercise, but I didn't count on the throngs of kids across the street running my way as soon as they saw me skipping around. Somehow I couldn't bring myself to tell them I was trying to up my heartrate and didn't want to play….
Going Green(er)
The PEPY Team Journal
A few days ago, the PEPY Team brainstormed opportunities for us to become more environmentally friendly. We're hoping to implement some ideas on future tours and through future projects, but here are some ways in which we've committed as individuals to reduce waste in Cambodia and beyond. Feel free to share your ideas with us by posting comments below!
- Ride a bike! [Learn more]
- Switch off your computer and power strips. [Learn more]
- Bring your own bags. [Learn more]
- Eat less meat. [Learn more]
- Hit the lights! [Learn more]
- Buy less (and buy things with less packaging). [Learn more]
Our Meeting with the World Food Programme
The PEPY Team Journal
By Maryann Bylander
If you've crossed paths with a newspaper in the past 2 weeks, you've probably seen that headlines around the world are talking about the price of rice and the rising cost of food globally. I'm not going to spend time talking about the ins and outs of why prices are going up (for more on this, stay tuned to our upcoming PEPY newsletter). Instead, I'd like to talk about the realities in Chanleas Dai, and our recent meeting with the World Food Program here in Phnom Penh.
The rising price of rice is very real, with effects that we are only beginning to see in communities across Cambodia. Over the course of the past several months, the price of rice has increased from 250 US dollars/metric ton to 650-700 US dollars/metric ton. This is a HUGE increase that is having repercussions from the wealthiest to the poorest of families. Daniela, Aline and I met with the World Food Programe this afternoon. We originally contacted them because our school in Chanleas Dai was once a part of their School Feeding Program, which we noticed had stopped there this year. Though students at some of the other schools nearby were still getting daily breakfast of rice, iodized salt, vitamin fortified oil and vegetables, our students were not. Last year it wouldn't have been such a big a problem, but this year, with drought, the school pond drying up for the first time ever, and families needing to buy rice who had always been able to provide enough for themselves in the past, it seemed the program was stopping just when people really needed it. We learned that based an assessment of the PEPY Ride School, the WFP to took them off their "most needy" list and abolished the school feeding program there. This was particularly troublesome to us. Based on rising educational indicators (building quality, attendance, teaching, retention), the students were no longer getting fed---something we think they need as much as (really, more than) an education.
We questioned our programs--- were we actually hurting these students and their families because our presence there made the WFP move? While we were increasing attendance and retention rates (and hopefully along with it, education) we were doing nothing to help feed kids -- still a HUGE problem in our communities. If WFP left because we were "doing good," weren't we actually harming the well-being of those students?
Happy Khmer New Year!
The PEPY Team Journal
by Mandy Gatewood
Sok sapbai ch'num t'mai! Happy Khmer New Year!
It's the Year of the Rat, which heralds the birth of industrious, adaptable, ambitious children for many Asian communities. In Cambodia, the royal fortune teller makes predictions about the coming year. This year, he foresaw a failed crop and food shortages for the poor, while the government officials will have a victorious year in every endeavor. Under no circumstances should anyone get married this year, so lovebirds should hold off until next April. At sunset, the Cambodian New Year Spirit came in the evening to eat four figs and give blessings to the people for a happy year.
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