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PEPY started as an environmentally-minded
NGO, but has shifted its focus to people and
educational programs after responding to
lessons it learned on the ground in Cambodia.
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EDUCATION
APASSION
FOR
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P
EPY (no acronym) began as
a whisper of adventure with
altruistic overtones. The mission?
Pedal with a purpose throughout
Southeast Asia. The participants?
Explorer and avid cyclist Daniela
Papi, along with ve like-minded
friends. The goal? To increase
awareness of environmental
issues while learning about and
contributing to development, aid
and sustainable adventure tourism in
the region. Little did this crew know
that they were embarking upon an
expedition that would lay
the groundwork for an
organization that would
champion education in
rural Cambodia for years
to come.
Back in 2005, PEPY was
founded with a lot of
enthusiasm, but also a
lot of nave ideas. For
example, the original
vision for the organization
involved giving away
things to people in need
and improving education
by building schools. However,
the folks at PEPY soon came to an
important realization: Schools dont
teach kids, people do. Things dont
change lives, people with skills and
knowledge do. After this epiphany,
PEPY began to embrace the idea
of investing time and resources
in people, because improving
education, providing training, and
stimulating ideas build capacity for
people to solve their own problems
more eectively than any handout
ever will.
FOCUSING ON EDUCATION
In addition to making
improvements to their
methodology, PEPY also shifted
programmatic focus. After gaining
experience on the ground and
listening to local leadership, PEPY
realized that the greatest need in
Cambodia lay not in environmental
awareness, but in education.
During the rein of Pol Pot from 1975
to 1979, the Khmer Rouge killed
nearly everyone in Cambodia with an
education. Decades later, Cambodia
still struggles with a lack of trained
teachers and other educators.
PEPY is based in the province of
Siem Reap, which was one of the
last strongholds of the Khmer
Rouge. This area was one of the
hardest hit regions by war, and
continues to be one of the poorest
provinces in Cambodia today. Siem
Reap province lacks infrastructure
and quality schools, and more than
half the population lives below the
poverty line. Nationwide education
statistics for Cambodia paint a
similar picture: While 98 percent
of children are enrolled in primary
school, attendance is low and
attrition is high. In rural areas, more
than 50 percent of children drop
out of school by the 3rd grade. Only
26 percent of children continue to
secondary school.
With this context in mind, PEPY
focuses on supporting and
fostering educational initiatives,
in which people bring about the
change they want to see in their
own communities. Below are a few
of PEPYs programs:
t4BIBLPPN"QFFXBIU4BMB
(Communities Developing
Schools) (SAS) identifies schools
that have highly committed
principals and communities, and
spends three years working with
them to identify their
needs and priorities.
Through this program,
local communities
are empowered to
take ownership of
and improve their
own schools. PEPYs
Cambodian staff help
community members
cultivate their own
capabilities through
training and exposure to
successful educational
models. Also key to the
SAS model are strong
School Support Committees (SSCs),
which consist of parents, teachers,
the school director, and influential
community members who are
responsible for the development of
their school and education in their
community. Rather than swooping
in and trying to fix things, PEPY
supports the SSCs by equipping
them with the tools to uncover and
address the specific educational
needs of their own villages. SAS
embodies PEPYs commitment
to engaging in community-
driven, sustainable educational
development.
t$IJMEUP$IJME$MVCT encourage
students to take a hands-on
approach in improving their
PEPY focuses on supporting and
fostering educational initiatives,
in which people bring about the
change they want to see in their
own communities.
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communities. Students identify
health or environmental problems
that they encounter on a regular
basis such as diarrhea, malaria, or
the inaccessibility of clean drinking
water. They then learn about
common perceptions and practices
about the issue by surveying
community members. After
discussion and research, students
create dramas, brochures and
songs to educate their peers and
community about what they have
learned. The result is a creative and
powerful process where students
learn how to share information and
work together for change in their
own communities.
tPEPYs Khmer Literacy Program
began in October 2006, when a
literacy test was administered
for students at their rst partner
school. When it was discovered
that few children could read and
write in Khmer, PEPY decided to
focus on Khmer literacy. Reading
initiatives include increasing
students access to books, providing
librarian training, working with
administrators to integrate library
time into the curriculum, and
encouraging teachers to incorporate
more books into their classes.
The two main literacy initiatives
supported by PEPY involve
Classroom Libraries and Literacy
Camps. Classroom Libraries focus
on fostering a love of reading in
students by increasing access to
books and incorporating books into
the classroom. Over 50 classrooms
in Chanleas Dai commune now
offer Khmer reading material and
childrens books. Summer Literacy
Camp (now in its third year) instills
a love of learning in students,
while introducing teachers to
new literacy methodologies. Over
70 teachers and 600 students
participated in PEPYs Literacy
Camp in 2010.
t$SFBUJWF-FBSOJOH$MBTTFT
supplement the standard
Government curriculum with high-
quality enrichment classes. These
classes serve over 200 students
per week and focus on social
studies, science and technology.
These classes incorporate XO
US$100 laptops, which were
donated from the One Laptop Per
Child organization. Students use
these computers and open source
programming software to create
educational games, build robots,
and conduct learning experiments
A PEPY cyclist bikes her way across Cambodia.
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in their communities.
The XO laptops are designed to
engage young learners, encourage
creativity and improve logical
reasoning. XOs are quickly
opening up students eyes to
new possibilities in thinking and
learning. Using Scratch, an MIT-
designed program, students are
learning simple programming
skills, sharpening critical thinking,
improving math and science skills,
and even strengthening their
Khmer literacy.
THE PATH TO
CAMBODIAN LEADERSHIP
PEPY has committed to working
directly with the community
of Chanleas Dai commune to
improve education there. PEPYs
entire management team is based
in Cambodia where decisions
are made on the ground and
Cambodian leadership now drives
program development. PEPY
has learned through mistakes
and incremental successes that
investing time in a team of
passionate leaders keeps all of us
on the path to reaching our vision.
It is also crucial to PEPY that the
organizations vision is informed by
Cambodians who are invested in
shaping the future of their country.
To this end, PEPY recently hired a
new managing director, Layheng
Ting, who will chart PEPYs course.
Born and raised in Kampong Cham,
Tings dream has always been
to help improve the quality of
education in her country, with a
particular focus on rural Cambodia.
Tings extensive experience
includes several years working
in management and leadership
positions in educational and non-
profit institutions. In addition, she
has spent the last five years in the
US, during which she earned both
her Masters and PhD through the
prestigious Fulbright program
at the University at Albany, State
University of New York.
Ting was offered various positions
in the US, but, as she says, she
was only in there to gain the skills
she needed to return home to
her country and pour her energy
into shaping its future. She comes
from a family that highly values
education, and her upbringing
gave her the conviction and
commitment to dedicate herself
to investing in Cambodia and its
education system.
Tings passion is evident when
she speaks of her vision for the
future of education in Cambodia.
She believes quality education
is a sheer driving force behind
an individuals and a countrys
development, and thus, every
citizen deserves the best education
possible. It is necessary that all
children are given fair opportunity
to access education beyond high
school and acquire a sense of
giving back to their community.
With all this in mind, PEPY needs
to work more closely with high
schools and post-secondary
institutions, while at the same time
working with the community to
make primary and lower secondary
schools effective and sustainable."
In addition to seeking out strong
Khmer leadership, PEPY has also
been experimenting with how best
to communicate the impact of their
educational programs to the rest
of the world. Last October, PEPY
began a movement to encourage
informed, active and engaged
citizens to invest and believe in
Cambodias future. This movement
was called the Power of 10
Campaign, and it revolved around
the idea that investing in a team
of local, dedicated leaders can
improve education in Cambodia.
The goal was to give the next
generation a chance to reclaim
their future, by offering students
the educational resources they
need to take their dreams and run
with them.
The Power of 10 inspired 721
donors from 25 different countries
to contribute to this campaign,
raising (along with a matching
grant) US$200,000 for educational
programs in rural Cambodia. The
PEPY staff continue to devote their
passion to engaging people around
the world about educational
issues, and investing in the next
generation of Cambodians.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
PEPY www.pepyride.org
(PEPYs adventure roots
continue to live on in its sister
for-profit organization, PEPY
Tours.)
One Laptop Per Child
http://one.laptop.org
Stephanie Boegeman started
organizing cycling trips and
volunteering with PEPY in
2009. She is now on PEPYs
communications team, and has
been working with PEPY full-
time for three months.