Is PEPY Really Good?

The PEPY Team Journal

Note to readers: Following is a series of unedited responses to concerns about PEPY expressed by a friend of a future trip participant (in reference to our Golden Week Tour). This person raised relevant and important questions about the work we are doing here in Cambodia. We would like to thank this person for having the courage to ask the hard questions when they had doubts, and to express their disagreements.

We post our responses in this exchange in order to make our positions clearer to our supporters and those who happen upon our website. There are probably many people who have similar doubts that are left unexpressed, and we hope you will give us an opportunity to voice our responses.

As we did not feel it was appropriate to post this person's strongly worded critiques without their permission, we have paraphrased their points and concerns. Below, we divide the critiques by subject, with unedited responses by our directors. Happy reading, and feel free to contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it for any clarifications or questions. This is a dialogue we are happy to continue.

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Oprah's Big Give

The PEPY Team Journal

by Maryann Bylander

I haven't seen the show yet, but the idea is that people have to give away as much money as possible to "win". Interesting prospect, but one that I'm skeptical after seeing so much GIVING here in Cambodia with so little impact. In fact, what we have seen and learned is that JUST giving things often only exacerbates problems, no matter how good the intention of the giver is. It takes much more of a commitment than simply giving in order to make good intentions and dollars make a difference.

That said, there is a kind of giving that does create change, and that in my book its the giving of opportunity, giving of education...wiping some of the dirt away from people's eyes. Its something I have been acutely aware of as I sit at home in the US and watch the streets filled with SUVs and large trucks, the grocery carts filled with food that was shipped from halfway across the world, see the way my own consumption patterns shift when I step off the plane in Austin. In Cambodia, I am conscious of what I use, the decisions I make, how my footprints affect the people around me. At home, its harder to see the impact of those choices, and difficult to trace the effects of the energy I use, electronics I throw out, plastic that goes in my waste basket. What's more, there are few people reminding me being conscious of those choices the way there are in our PEPY office, where we gently harass each other to recycle paper, separate our trash and turn off the fans when we leave the room.

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Tackling E-waste

The PEPY Team Journal

by Techrosette Leng

As our lives grow increasingly dependent on being wired up and plugged in, and as competition in a digitized global economy boosts technological innovation, the demand for new electronics has grown to astonishing heights. Shiny new gadgets capture our attention while older generations of electronics are tossed aside often without much thought to their afterlife. All this innovation and consumption has led to a serious environmental concern, the rapid accumulation of electronic waste, also known as e-waste.

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You Might Be a PEPY Rider If...

By Greg Anderson

1. You always have bike grease on your leg.

2. Your favourite drink is sugarcane juice

3. You can mimic Mr Lucky's laugh. (our trusty Cambodian bike guide) eeeh HEE HEE HEE!

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