Thanks for the comment. I hadn't seen this until now.

Good questions!

Cambodia vs. any other: These might sound cliche, but they are honest. It is not because the “need” is greater for education in Cambodia than anywhere else in the world (it could be argued in my home country in the US we have the greatest unfilled need as we have so much power through our wealth that we had better start being better educated about how to positively!). It is not because we did an analysis of other countries and this was where our skills fit. It is because we visited Cambodia, knew people working in development here, felt compelled by the people we met and the recent history, and because we wanted to spend more time in the area. If I had not wanted to come back to Cambodia to explore more by bicycle, we would probably not have started the first PEPY ride, funded the first school, realized that buildings were a dime a dozen and that capacity building was where there was a greater need, and expanded our programs. We are in Cambodia, because we like the people we have met here, and because, as one of our staff said “It's a great time to be alive in Cambodia.” He emphasized “alive”, I would probably emphasize “Cambodia.” It is inspiring to be in a place where people are working hard to provide a better future for the next generation and where changes are happening fast (both good and bad).

Why Education? I believe that education is THE key to change. No matter what the issue is. Changing attitudes and actions, around health/environment/social justice/poverty issues, etc all revolve around investing time in people, building new skills and sharing ideas. PEPY is “Protect the Earth. Protect Yourself.” as we had the naive view that we could educate about the environment and health on our first ride. The concept was that people would hopefully be more inspired to protect the earth when environmental impacts were related back to health issues. As we continued our work, we realized that basic primary education coupled with basic reading and writing skills were likely an even more basic prerequisite to some of the changes we wanted to see, so that is now our focus. Yes, our goals still incorporate environmental and health changes in actions, which are supported through out child clubs and other programs, but the key to all of these changes is investing in the capacity of people through education.

Why tours? The tours are a separate entity from our NGO work. If the tours stop, the NGO programs will continue (from new donor support, they only bring in about 1/5 of our annual budget, though many of our larger donors are indeed past participants). It is not a matter of “rather than other donors”. We have a lot of other donors outside of our tours. Last year about 50% of our spending came from a grant from Dubai and we also have funding for our library program through a large partnership grant. There are many tour companies which support a range of NGOs around the world. PEPY, the NGO, does not rely on the tour company to survive, though we do think that it provides a valuable way for our donors to learn about the country and programs their funds are supporting. Last year we offered 8 tours, and we find that the costs associated with doing those are far less significant than the benefits of the advocacy and learning which comes out of them.

We've also found that our tours are an opportunity to educate current and potential donors (not just to PEPY, but non-profits in general) about responsible giving. We have seen examples of good, bad, and ugly development work here in Cambodia and we spend time on our tours sharing these stories. Though we can and do blow whistles here when we see things we don't believe in, we think a more educated donor base can also significantly improve aid projects which have relied on successful marketing poor-performing programs. We think it is important for donors to know what questions they can ask to make sure that their funding is going towards projects they believe in.

Happy to answer other question if you have them!

- Daniela

Thanks for the comment. I hadn't seen this until now.

Good questions!

Cambodia vs. any other: These might sound cliche, but they are honest. It is not because the “need” is greater for education in Cambodia than anywhere else in the world (it could be argued in my home country in the US we have the greatest unfilled need as we have so much power through our wealth that we had better start being better educated about how to positively!). It is not because we did an analysis of other countries and this was where our skills fit. It is because we visited Cambodia, knew people working in development here, felt compelled by the people we met and the recent history, and because we wanted to spend more time in the area. If I had not wanted to come back to Cambodia to explore more by bicycle, we would probably not have started the first PEPY ride, funded the first school, realized that buildings were a dime a dozen and that capacity building was where there was a greater need, and expanded our programs. We are in Cambodia, because we like the people we have met here, and because, as one of our staff said “It's a great time to be alive in Cambodia.” He emphasized “alive”, I would probably emphasize “Cambodia.” It is inspiring to be in a place where people are working hard to provide a better future for the next generation and where changes are happening fast (both good and bad).

Why Education? I believe that education is THE key to change. No matter what the issue is. Changing attitudes and actions, around health/environment/social justice/poverty issues, etc all revolve around investing time in people, building new skills and sharing ideas. PEPY is “Protect the Earth. Protect Yourself.” as we had the naive view that we could educate about the environment and health on our first ride. The concept was that people would hopefully be more inspired to protect the earth when environmental impacts were related back to health issues. As we continued our work, we realized that basic primary education coupled with basic reading and writing skills were likely an even more basic prerequisite to some of the changes we wanted to see, so that is now our focus. Yes, our goals still incorporate environmental and health changes in actions, which are supported through out child clubs and other programs, but the key to all of these changes is investing in the capacity of people through education.

Why tours? The tours are a separate entity from our NGO work. If the tours stop, the NGO programs will continue (from new donor support, they only bring in about 1/5 of our annual budget, though many of our larger donors are indeed past participants). It is not a matter of “rather than other donors”. We have a lot of other donors outside of our tours. Last year about 50% of our spending came from a grant from Dubai and we also have funding for our library program through a large partnership grant. There are many tour companies which support a range of NGOs around the world. PEPY, the NGO, does not rely on the tour company to survive, though we do think that it provides a valuable way for our donors to learn about the country and programs their funds are supporting. Last year we offered 8 tours, and we find that the costs associated with doing those are far less significant than the benefits of the advocacy and learning which comes out of them.

We've also found that our tours are an opportunity to educate current and potential donors (not just to PEPY, but non-profits in general) about responsible giving. We have seen examples of good, bad, and ugly development work here in Cambodia and we spend time on our tours sharing these stories. Though we can and do blow whistles here when we see things we don't believe in, we think a more educated donor base can also significantly improve aid projects which have relied on successful marketing poor-performing programs. We think it is important for donors to know what questions they can ask to make sure that their funding is going towards projects they believe in.

Happy to answer other question if you have them!

- Daniela

Cheers,
J.