Here is a quick video clip of the children all riding away on their bikes after the last distribution. Now there is no claiming this is a "well shot film" so please ignore the last 10 seconds when I couldn't figure out how to stop the video...oops.
However, it gives a good idea of the communities we work in to distribute bikes. This particular village is a resettlement community that was moved from Phnom Penh to an area called Oudong. Resettlement in Cambodia means that a developer came to the city, wanted their land, and got it. The company can pay the government for the piece of land, the government will forcefully move the people and then take the money for their own use.
The result, a village of families are then plucked out of their homes, moved to a place they know nothing about and are given a 8 kg (about 15 lbs) bag of rice and a blue tarp, and wished well.
These families lose what job they might of had, and now live on land where they have no house or shelter, no electricity, no running water, and don't have access to markets, and their kids don't have access to schools. Essentially nothing. This community was relocated in December of 2009 and still many are without their basic needs. These bikes will now allow for the kids to get to the school that is located about 8 kms away and their parents can now reach the local market.
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