500 pink bikes to bring Cambodian girls to school

Helpcode's 'Pink Bicycle' project continues with the aim of encouraging regular school attendance through the delivery of bicycles to female students from families in a vulnerable situation.

The distance between home and school and the condition of the roads, often difficult to walk - particularly in the monsoon season - is one of the many reasons for irregular attendance and dropping out of school.

The 'Pink Bicycle' project was created to help curb school drop-out and enable girls to go to school every day, thus giving them the chance to receive an education and build a more stable future.
Over the past year, Helpcode in Cambodia has provided 200 bicycles to be given to girls from families in extremely vulnerable circumstances, selected together with school headmasters and leaders from 40 villages in the provinces of Sihanoukville, Kampot, Kandal and the outskirts of Phnom Penh.
The Helpcode Cambodia “Pink Bicycle” Project will continue the important work under this initiative with your support.
Thank you very much for your support!

The Helpcode Project Team have worked closely with School Directors, Village Leaders and Community Women’s Groups to identify recipient female students of a Bicycle based on the national Poverty ID scale and in line with community and school representative agreement. Girls most in need were identified from 40 villages in the provinces of Sihanoukville, Kampot, Kandal and the informal settlements on the outskirts of Phnom Penh to receive a Bicycle and Bicycle safety and security equipment.

The Team successfully worked in partnership with School Directors, Village Leaders and Community Women’s Groups to complete due diligence requirements outlining commitment and agreement to duty of care and ownership of the Bicycle and Bicycle safety and security equipment. All applicable documents were drafted and have been duly signed by identified recipient’s family members on the receipt of each Bicycle at each Pink Bicycle Distribution Ceremony.

These girls are now on their way to the best chance of an equal opportunity to a quality education. All the girls and their families were very happy to receive their Bicycles and very grateful to have this support. This support will assist the girls who have received a Bicycle so far continue to get to school and engage with an education and importantly be able to do this safely every day. 

To ensure the safe implementation of the Pink Bicycle Project moving forward Helpcode Cambodia has continued to implement a COVID 19 School Re Engagement Protocol. This policy document continues to provide clear and actionable guidance for safe operations by and for Helpcode staff in the prevention, early detection and control of COVID19 when operating in schools and other educational facilities.

The Helpcode Cambodia “Pink Bicycle” Project will continue the important work under this initiative with your support.

Thanks so much!

Poverty is the most disruptive factor for girls’ education in Cambodia. Women in poorer provinces often face increased difficulty pursuing education. Besides needing to leave school to work for money, the distance from school is also a big challenge and prevents many girls from getting to school and having the chance of a better life. Many Cambodian girls face this problem; according to the World Bank, 79% of the Cambodian population lived in rural areas in 2018.

The Helpcode Cambodia Pink Bicycle Activity has identified a group of girls in need of critical support in the way of a Bicycle to be able to engage with an education in a consistent way.

The Helpcode Project Team have worked closely with School Directors, Village Leaders and Community Women’s Groups to identify recipient female students of a Bicycle based on the national Poverty ID scale and in line with community and school representative agreement. Girls were identified from 40 villages in the provinces of Sihanoukville, Kampot, Kandal and the informal settlements on the outskirts of Phnom Penh to receive a Bicycle and Bicycle safety and security equipment.

In celebration of World Bicycle Day held every year on June 03, 2022 Helpcode Cambodia delivered Bicycles in June 2022 to girls identified as being in need. These girls are now on their way to the best chance of an equal opportunity to a quality education. All the girls and their families were very happy to receive their Bicycles and very grateful to have this support. This support will assist the girls who have received a Bicycle so far continue to get to school and engage with an education and importantly be able to do this safely every day.

As with all country programs of work projects have been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic with schools closed since February 20, 2021 and government residential zonal lockdowns in place in Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville and Kandal along with restrictions on public gatherings and regional travel. Schools reopened across the country on November 15, 2021 and then closed again on December 18, 2021, reopening on Jan 03, 2022. 

This 11-month disruption has placed significant stress on schools since they have reopened to try and catch up on the educational opportunities lost for many students during this time. The Helpcode team has worked hard on maintaining a positive relationship with School Directors and Staff and the MOEYS during this time to enable continued opportunity within schools and very demanding school programs for the implementation of the Helpcode portfolio of programs.

To ensure the safe implementation of the Pink Bicycle Project moving forward Helpcode Cambodia has continued to implement a COVID-19 School Re Engagement Protocol. This policy document continues to provide clear and actionable guidance for safe operations by and for Helpcode staff in the prevention, early detection and control of COVID-19 when operating in schools and other educational facilities. 

The Helpcode Cambodia “Pink Bicycle” Project, with your help, will continue the important work under this initiative!

The Helpcode Cambodia Bicycle Project will provide100 Bicycles to support girls from the poorest communities in the South of Cambodia get to school and begin peddling their way out of poverty to an education and a better life! 

The Helpcode Project Team has worked closely with School Directors and village Leaders to identify recipient female students of a Bicycle based on the national Poverty ID scale. All girls most in need.

They have been identified from 40 villages in the provinces of Sihanoukville, Kampot, Kandal and the informal settlements on the outskirts of Phnom Penh to receive a Bicycle. 

The Project Team have purchased a further 30 Bicycles and have worked with School Directors and Village Leaders to identify 30 girls from the list across the 4 target provinces to receive the bicycles. To this end the team worked to identify a supplier and have purchased the Bicycles, Helmets and Bicycle Locks for the remaining participants in the program. The Team have also worked with the School Directors and Village Leaders to complete due diligence requirements with documents drafted for signing off by identified recipients on receipt of each Bicycle and outlining commitment to care of the Bicycle for recipients and their families to be signed on Bicycle Handover. 

To ensure the safe implementation of the Pink Bicycle Project moving forward Helpcode Cambodia has developed and implemented a COVID 19 School Re Engagement Protocol. The purpose of this document is to provide clear and actionable guidance for safe operations by and for Helpcode staff in the prevention, early detection and control of COVID19 when operating in schools and other educational facilities. 

The “Pink Bicycle” Project initiative aims to support the most vulnerable children in Cambodia with access to an education and to create supportive environments for children’s health and wellbeing within the communities and schools in which we work.

Women in poorer provinces often face increased difficulty pursuing education. Besides needing to leave school to work for money, the distance from school is also a big challenge and prevents many girls from getting to school.

Helpcode plan is to buy 100 Bicycles to support girls from the poorest communities in the South of Cambodia get to school and begin peddling their way out of poverty to an education and a better life!

The project has been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic with schools closed again since February 20 2021 and government residential zonal lockdowns in place in Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville and Kandal and restrictions on public gatherings and regional travel. Schools reopened across the country on November 15, 2021.

The Helpcode Project Team has been continuing to work closely with School Directors to identify recipient female students of a Bicycle based on the national Poverty ID scale. All 100 girls most in need have been identified from 40 villages in the provinces of Sihanoukville, Kampot, Kandal and the informal settlements on the outskirts of Phnom Penh to receive a Bicycle.

To ensure the safe implementation of the Pink Bicycle Project moving forward Helpcode Cambodia has developed and implemented a COVID 19 School Re Engagement Protocol. The purpose of this document is to provide clear and actionable guidance for safe operations by and for Helpcode staff in the prevention, early detection and control of COVID-19 when operating in schools and other educational facilities.

The “Pink Bicycle” Project initiative aims to support the most vulnerable children in Cambodia with access to an education and to create supportive environments for children’s health and wellbeing within the communities and schools in which we work.