First Phase of RWFL heavily supported by donors - how about helping more children go to school?

The Rotary Wheels for Learning (RWFL) Committee is pleased to announce that $3,543.00 in funding for the first phase of the program has been raised within a week of the announcement of the project by the Rotary Club of Gravenhurst.

This distribution will take place in Trapeng Tasome village, Takeo Province in mid-October and is the first phase of three planned for Cambodia.

Thanks to the generous donations received from across Ontario, Canada, 75 impoverished rural children will now receive a Rotary Bicycle that will enable them to get to school.

A very special thank you to John Chow and Kathy Glazer-Chow and family of Toronto for their overwhelming donation of 21 bicycles. Also, heartwarming thanks to Gavin Newell of Aurora for his donation of 21 bicycles.

International Committee member, Lisa McCoy, will arrive in Cambodia on October 5^th to begin implementation of this exciting first phase along with local Project Coordinator, Un Vanthon, and local teacher Ban Ven. Progress updates will soon follow on this blog site.

We are now raising funds for Phase Two – 75 Rotary Bicycles for children in remote Koas Krala District in Battambang Province, Cambodia.   We need your help to raise $3,450.00 for this phase that will focus on the children of rural landmine-affected families as well as to those children living in the poorest of circumstances.

You can view the Phase Two Project Proposal at :
https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0BzCUbudJO9DpZDYwMjE3OWEtMTg4Yy00N2NjLWJlZDQtY2MwZDMxMDE4OWY0&hl=en

Cambodia has the largest percentage of amputees in the world.  Battambang Province has 7,000 identified landmine survivors – many with large families living in conditions far below the poverty level. Battambang province is one of the three most heavily mine-infested provinces in the country.  It is typically farmers working in the field or children on their way to school who are casualties of these deadly remnants of war.

Your donation will provide them with a safe and efficient way to school!

RWFL Committee members Nancy Beal and Lisa McCoy recently gave a Rotary Wheels for Learning presentation at our Rotary District 7010 Conference in Peterborough, Ontario.  Many Fellow-Rotarians expressed an interest in becoming involved in a future Bicycle Distribution Trip to Cambodia!

So, let’s hear from you!  If there are 15-20 Rotarians (spouses welcome) who would like to become involved in a distribution trip, send us an email at: rotarywheelsforlearning@gmail.com.  We would like to also know your preferred date for this trip. We are looking at October 2011 or January 2012.

Approximate cost for this trip would cost $4,000-$4,500 per person.  It would include return airfare, accommodation, ground transportation and meals.  A portion of this cost would go to providing Rotary Bicycles to children in rural areas.  Entrance fees to sightseeing venues and a weekend trip to Siem Reap to see the Angkor Wat World Heritage Site are not included in the cost.

The trip would be approximately 17 days and fully guided.  Giving out bicycles to rural children will be the highlight of this trip, but there will also be opportunities to volunteer in local schools, give out donations that you bring along, visit Handicap International, take a boat to visit people living in the floating villages, visit the Toul Sleng Museum and ‘Killing Fields’, Royal Palace and National Museum, the Canadian Landmine Museum, plus much more.

A similar ‘Sweat Equity’ trip was taken by District 7070 Rotarians in November 2009 and an exciting time was had by all that got involved in school-building project there.  Let’s duplicate this wonderful Rotary international experience-of-a-lifetime and give out 250 Rotary Bicycles, or more directly to the neediest children of Cambodia – Give them the ‘Wheels for Learning’.

Rotary Wheels for Learning is now on Facebook - visit us there!

For information on how to donate, please read the blog entry below.