Last Monday, we celebrated the UN World Bicycle Day, an important date to celebrate the benefits of this mean of transportation. For Khemara, it was the occasion to remind how it can contribute to make education more accessible. In this context, our director Koy Phallany took part in a discussion hosted by the Cambodian Consortium for Out of School Children, to commemorate World Bicycle Day and underline the significance of bicycles in Cambodia.
According to the United Nations, “The bicycle contributes to cleaner air and less congestion, makes education, health care and other social services to the most vulnerable populations.” This statement highlights the many benefits of the bicycle, especially among the vulnerable populations that Khemara supports. Bicycles are an efficient way of transportation that empower people by giving them greater mobility. They reduce transportation costs, don’t produce emissions compared to motos and cars, and help to relieve trafic congestion, particularly in big cities.
Bicycles also consist in one possible solution to tackle the issue of access to education in Cambodia. For children who usually go by foot to school, it reduces the travel time and distance, even more in rural areas where schools can be far apart. Therefore, children are less likely to miss school or even drop out from school because it’s easier for them to go to class. Moreover, bicycles are a safe and low-cost mean of transportation and this is reassuring for parents.
Given all these benefits for children and their access to education, Khemara regularly makes bicycles donations to children, particularly those from the Cham minority who are more concerned by problems of access to education.
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