Mennonite
Central
Committee

Cambodia: Hun Sen Russey Chroy School

July 2005

Bicycles Improve Education

In Prek Taten village in Kandal province, about one hour journey by motorbike from the capital of Phnom Penh, teachers at the local school come from near and far to teach. For many this is a hot and dusty daily walk; sometimes they arrive late to school. Usually they arrive hot and tired. School Director Chea Samnang often fills in for tardy or absent teachers.

With the help of Global Family, the teachers now have access to bicycles to improve their transportation to school. Chun Bun Thoeun, a 27 year old teacher commented, "Before receiving the bicycle from MCC, I had difficulty getting to school to teach, because my used bicycle was old and about to collapse. Sometimes it didn't work. So I had to walk a distance of 3 kilometers to teach. Sometimes this caused me to be late and less active in my teaching; I also couldn't teach full time."

Can a bicycle, a simple mode of transportation, add to the quality of education? At Hun Sen Russey Chroy Primary School, it gives teachers greater ability to reach their classrooms on time, more energy for the teaching day, and in so doing, improves the quality of instruction for students. Additionally it offers encouragement and recognition of their important role as teachers to the youth of today.

Mr. Chun Bun Thoeun expressed his gratitude, "I thank you so much for your generosity to the staff in our school...to improve our human resources to be the best they can be. I have nothing to repay your goodness, except to try to take care of and repair your bicycle gifts so that we can use them for a long time."

What is the value of education? Social theories and corruption may negatively affect the quality of education, but for the 28 teachers at Hun Sen Russey Chroy Primary School, the gift of a bicycle gives them the mobility and dignity which will help to positively impact the lives of many young students both now and in the future. At Russey Chroy School, teachers and students are now better able to give education the value it deserves.

"But I have to go..."

It's recess time and the lines queue up for the drinking fountain or the bathroom, before children go out to play. In most places, the lines for girls tend to move slower than the lines for boys. Cambodia is no exception.

At Hun Sen Russey Chroy Primary School, the 1166 students go to school in half day shifts. Still, the queue of 250 girls for the four bathroom stalls stretched long into the recess break. Even when breaks were staggered, and the lines were shortened, recess was short if you were a girl near the end of the line. Sometimes there was no recess play time.

Construction on four new bathroom stalls for the school has greatly improved the situation. In less than one month, the ground breaking and construction was completed. MCC Global Family donated funds for the construction and a school committee raised supporting monies to cover the costs of the project. Recess is now more than waiting in line.

 

More about Global Family in Cambodia