1087 RWFL Bicycles to be Distributed to Cambodian Children!

Many thanks to all the Rotary Clubs and individuals across Ontario and beyond who have contributed and put tremendous efforts into raising well over $40,000 that will provide bicycles to needy, rural students here in Cambodia.

In five days, the first of our Rotary Wheels for Learning 2012 Cambodia Team will arrive here in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Team members include Rotarians and Friends Dave and Linda Brouilette, Keith and Susan Montgomery, Peter and Jan Rickard, Walter and Donna Reid, Steve and Janice Hayhurst, Ron and Margaret Walton, Rick and Cheryl Hunter, Ruth Bell-Towns, Michaela Korb, Naomi Hickey-Humble, Stephanie Boag and myself. 

Bicyles will be distributed to two districts in Battambang with the assistance of the Rotary Club of Battambang and the Cambodian Red Cross. Three districts in Takeo province will also receive bicycles with assistance from Banyan Learning Tree Organization volunteers here in Cambodia.

A special distribution of 87 bicycles will be given out to children living on he outskirts of Stung Mean Chey Dump in Phnom Penh.

The children come from miles around to attend a special school there run by CNN hero Pymean Noun and her organization - People Improvement Organization http://peopleimprovement.org/

We'll be not only personally gving out each of these 1,087 bicycles to the children, but will spend many hours putting the bicycle accessories onto each bike.

As well as bicycles we'll be distributing two tons of rice with Battambang Rotarians. We'll be accompanied in Battambang by Dr. Khom Pisal, who will provide dental hygiene education for the 600 bicycle recipients and their families there. Our Team will be distributing toothbrushes and toothpaste after each education session.

Our RWFL Team will be arriving with many donated items that will be distributed to area schools and children throughout our distribution travels through Cambodia.

At present, we are busy shipping 100 bicycles every three days to each of our target locations where they will be securely stored until our arrival.

You can follow our monumental bicycle distribution by following this blogsite and the special Rotary Wheels for Learning Cambodia 2012 site at:

 http://rwflcambodia2012.blogspot.com/

Part of the RWFL Cambodia 2012 Team

RWFL Bicycle Fundraiser Gala - Thurs. Sept. 22nd - 6-9pm Boston Pizza Gravenhurst

MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS NOW - SEATING IS LIMITED!

Students of St. Brigid Catholic School in Toronto Provide 19 Rotary Bikes for Cambodian Children

19 Happy Banyan Learning Tree Children with their Rotary Bikes They Received on Aug. 18, 2011.

In the spring of 2011, students at St. Brigid Catholic School in Toronto held a pizza fundraiser - they raised enough money to provide 19 children from Banyan Learning Tree (BLT) School in Cambodia with Rotary Wheels for Learning bicycles!  The bicycles were given to the children on Thursday, August 18th by Director Om Chamnap, his wife Mey Setha, and teacher Kong Kea. Many Thanks to all the St. Brigid students and teachers who worked so hard to raise money for these needy Cambodian students.

A big thank you also to Banyan Learning Tree http://banyanlearningtree.blogspot.com and A Mine Free World Foundation http://www.aminefreeworld.org/  for assisting with this Rotary Wheels for Learning bicycle distribution.

Bracebridge Rotarians & Friends Head to Cambodia January 2012 – Help Fund Bicycles for Needy Children!

Exciting news of our first Rotary Wheels for Learning (RWFL) Rotarians and Friends Trip to Cambodia  to distribute bicycles. RWFL hopes to host yearly bicycle distribution trips to Cambodia where Rotarians can get invovled on the ground.

Linda Brouillette and Michaela Korb of the Rotary Club of Bracebridge, District 7010 have been busy making plans for this 19-day trip that will see bicycles distributed to needy students in four rural districts in Cambodia.

The group of 18 participants will arrive in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on January 4, and together with RWFL field coordinator, Lisa McCoy and her Cambodian volunteers, travel into rural areas to distribute as many bicycles as funding allows.

We’ll be distributing bicycles in rural, impoverished areas with the help of the Cambodian Red Cross, local teachers and members from the newly-chartered Rotary Club of Battambang, Cambodia, District 3350.

We are calling on Rotary Clubs, Rotarians and friends to help us!  We want to distribute as many bikes as we can.   You can provide a student with a Rotary Bicycle for $50. Donations are tax-receiptable in Canada.  Donors will be supplied with a photo and information on their sponsored student taken by our team of Rotarians and Friends.

For more information contact: rotarywheelsforlearning@gmail.com

Donate towards our distribution trip by using the secure PayPal donation link at the top of this page.   Be sure to indicate ‘Bracebridge Bicycles’ when donating.

You may also make your donation by cheque to:

‘Rotary Club of Gravenhurst’

Box 888, Gravenhurst, ON, P1P 1V2

In MEMO Field:  ‘RWFL – Bracebridge Bicycles’

You can learn more about Rotary Wheels for Learning by booking a presentation for your club or group.  Click on the ‘Upcoming Presentations’ tab at the top of the page for information.

13 More Rotary Bicycles Donated by Toronto Bridge Group

A very happy day again for children at Banyan Learning Tree School as they receive 13 more Rotary Wheels for Learning Bicycles sponsored by Patti Lee, Barbara Seagram and their Bridge Group from Toronto. This makes a total of 40 Bicycles that their group has donated to date enabling children who live in the surrounding villages to attend this free-education school easily. The small school is located on the outskirts of Phnom Penh and is enthusiastically attended by close to 100 students.


13 Happy Children Provided with Rotary Bicycles Donated by
Patti Lee, Barbara Seagram and the Toronto Bridge Group


 Rotary Wheels for Learning is currently raising funds for 75 bicycles for some of the 300 children attending a rural government school in Takeo province. For more information, please email: rotarywheelsforlearning@gmail.com Your donation of $50 will provide a child in rural Cambodia with a bicycle - providing access to education!

Children Help Put Rotary Decals on Bicycles...

Bridge Group from Toronto Distributes Rotary Wheels for Learning Bicycles in Cambodia

A Huge thanks to Patti Lee, Barbara Seagram and their Bridge Group from Toronto, Canada for sponsoring and helping to distribute 40 Rotary Wheels for Learning Bicyles for children at Banyan Learning Tree School on the outskirts of Phnom Penh.

Patti Lee, Barbara Seagram, Marney Charles and Neil Burnham from the group came to the school and helped distribute 27 of these bicycles plus dental supplies, school supplies, digital cameras, lice combs and clothes for needy area children. We all had a great time!

Since the February distribution of 25 bicycles that their group distributed, their group has raised funds for a further 13 bicycles that will be given to needy Banyan Learning Tree area children this March.  What an amazing contribution towards access to education this group has made!



Patti Lee, Neil Burnham, Barbara Seagram and Marney Charles
with their donation of 25 Rotary Wheels for Learning Bicycles



The Bridge Group has been on a luxurious Mekong riverboat cruise through Vietnam and Cambodia. With extra suitcases full of these donations, they docked at Phnom Penh harbor the evening of February 21st and the following morning at 8:30am, two tuk tuks, including our volunteer Vanthon, picked up our eager visitors and we all made the hot, half-hour journey to Banyan Learning Tree School.

Banyan Learning Tree School (BLT) is a Cambodian registered Free-Education School located in Borey Kamakor village - not far from the Choeung Ek Killing Fields. You will pass the BLT sign on the road on the way to the Killing Fields.  BLT is supported by non-governmental organizations. It has free hour-long classes through-out the day teaching English Literacy, Dental Hygiene and Basic Sanitation.

The school has only been operating a year now, but already there are 75 children attending throughout the day.  Many come from several surrounding villages and walk quite a way to attend. There are also students who can't attend because they don't have a bicycle.

Patti Lee Being Followed by Cambodia Channel 5!

It was quite at sight to arrive at this small school and see the welcome banner, Rotary Bicycles, many happy children, parents and a TV Camera!!  This distribution was recorded for Cambodia Channel 5.

The welcome banner in blue was made by the children...each white letter cut out by hand.  I had visited the school the day before and saw the teachers and children frantically working away on all the preparations.

These were the first international visitors the school has ever had!

The Bicycle Distribution Ceremony was filled with speeches given by everyone - even a student representative spoke both in Khmer and English thanking the Bridge Group and Rotary. Special Cambodian Guest of Honor was  Mr. Voek Samoeun, Chief of Sangkat Dangkor in district/Khan Dangkor, Phnom Penh.

Part of the ceremony also included the opening of a small library at the school for the children - sponsored by Robena Kirton of Gravenhurst, Ontario.

Many thanks to Banyan Learning Tree Director Om Chamnap for his warm welcome to our friends from Toronto and for providing one of the most heart-warming Rotary Bicycle Distributions yet!

Director Om Chamnap Teaching Dental Hygiene with New Library in Background

Rotary Wheels for Learning is now looking for sponsors for our Phase 4 Distribution - 75 bicycles for needy children at a remote government school in Takeo province. Wat Vihear Kpous Primary School has over 300 children, the majority of which don't have a bicycle and walk miles to attend school six days-a-week.

You can sponsor one ($50), or more, of these children with a bicycle and receive a Canadian tax receipt for your donation. You'll also get a photo of your sponsored child with their Rotary Bicycle.  You can donate using our PayPal portal at the top of this page, or by cheque - see our About RWFL Tab at the top of this site. 

Cambodian Rotarians help to Distribute 70 More Rotary Bikes in Battambang District!

Be sure to visit our new 'Upcoming Presentations' tab at the top of this page!

Many thanks to President Nouv Saroeun, and Kuy Samrithy and Fellow-Rotarians from the -chartered Rotary Club of Battambang, Cambodia, District 3350, for spending the morning helping to distribute 70 Rotary Wheels for Learning bicycles to needy children at the Koas Krala district office of the Cambodian Red Cross. Another big thank you to Sopheany Chhoeun, Ben Sida and Lueung Deun from the Cambodian Red Cross here who put so much effort into identifying and rounding-up all the Rotary Wheels for Learning Bicycle recipients. It's a huge job to get 70 children from from villages around the district to show up at a specific time on a specific date!  Many of the children's families don't have phones or transportation - I can truly appreciate the momumental scope of this task.



Sopheany Chhoeun, Lisa McCoy and President Nouv Saroeun of
The Rotary Club of Battambang





Rotarians Samrithy, Lisa and President Nouv
with a Rotary bicycle Recipient



Sopheany and I left Battambang at 6am yesterday morning to accompany the truckload of bicycles to Koas Krala - some 50km away.  We made it to Koas Krala by 8:30am to an eagerly awaiting group of children and families from all over the district.  The Rotarians from Battambang had arrived just ahead of us and as soon as the truck arrived behind us, everyone helped to unload the bicycles and put the Rotary decals on the frames.

It was a truly wonderful experience for me to distribute bicycles for these children alongside Rotarians from Cambodia!

Once we had the bicycles all set up it was time for speeches. Every one of us gave a speech, but it was most meaningful to have Rotarians from Cambodia tell the rural people in their own language the ideals of Rotary and its dedication to providing help to people and children such as themselves.

Battambang Rotarian Kuy Samrithy Explains the Ideals of Rotary to Rural Children & their Families

As the speeches were being given, it was so heartwarming to catch sight of what was going on out in the yard where all the bicycles were - landmine survivors who had received bicycle repair kits from The Rotary Club of Etobicoke and The Canadian Landmine Foundation (through A Mine Free World Foundation) had all come to help put the baskets, lamps and pedals on the bicycles!  Their way of 'giving back' for what had been given to them!



Landmine Survivor Nil Noy Helps a Child Put Accessories on His Bike

Once the speeches were over, it did not take long for us Rotarians to get a 'Bicycle Distribution Assembly Line' going. Sopheany and Samrithy had the children sign the donor forms. Then the children took their forms to a Red Cross volunteer, where they were assigned a bicycle.  After that, they were sent to President Nouv and I where we documented and photographed the children.  We had the 70 bicycles distributed in record time!

Once the distribution was completed, all of us - Rotarians and Red Cross Volunteers - went out for a celebratory lunch at my favorite village restaurant in Koas Krala.

Another huge thanks goes to the Rotary Club Of Aurora, Ontario, who sponsored 43 of the 70 bicycles we gave out.

Rotary Wheels for Learning is now raising funds for a distribution of 75 bicycles for needy children at Wat Vihear Kpous Kpous Primary School in Takeo province.  I had visited this school of over 300 children  a couple of months ago where I had espied only 20 odd bikes in the yard.

I head back to Canada at the end of March.  I would love to be able to get one more distribution of Rotary Bikes to children in this school area that so desperately need a bicycle.

Your appreciated donation of $50 will provide a bicycle for a child here in Cambodia. To donate - just click on the above PayPal link or visit the 'About RWFL' tab at the top of this page. Donors in Canada will receive a tax receipt from our Rotary Club of Gravenhurst. We will also send you a photo of your sponsored child with the bicycle you provide for them.

Many thanks from our Rotary Club of Gravenhurst to all of you who made this third distribution of bicycles possible.

Upcoming Distribution:  February 22nd - Patti Lee, Barbara Seagram, and their Bridge Group From Canada are touring South East Asia and will help distribute 25 Rotary Bicycles that have been donated by their group to the children at Banyan Learning Tree School on the outskirts of Phnom Penh.

Your group or club can sponsor any amount of bicycles to needy children in Cambodia and even help give them out! Email us at rotarywheelsforlearning@gmail.com to get involved.

CottageCountryNow Article: School projects in Cambodia continue for McCoy

RWFL Team Members Lisa McCoy and Un Vanthon at Takeo Distribution

Click the link below to read about Rotary Wheels for Learning -  providing bicycles for the rural children of Cambodia:


CottageCountryNow Article: School projects in Cambodia continue for McCoy

Courtesy of CottageCountryNow, a division of Metroland Media Group.

43 Rotary Bicycles Donated by the Rotary Club of Aurora

Many thanks to the Rotary Club of Aurora, Ontario, Canada, for their donation that will supply 43 bicycles for impoverished rural children in Koas Krala district, Battambang province, Cambodia.

To date, Rotary Wheels for Learning has provided 155 bicycles to children in Takeo and Battambang provinces.

In our past two Battambang province distributions, the majority of the bicycles were given to children from landmine-affected families. Landmine survivors and their families live below the poverty level in the rural areas, as most are unable to support their families. The source of income for most of the rural population is derived from rice farming, which most landmine survivors are unable to do.

Rice farming is intensive, physical labor involving hours out in the rice paddy fields hand- cultivating and harvesting the rice.  Both hands are required, and the body is constantly bending and stooping as the rice is harvested - a taxing job even for the fittest of people.

Rotary Wheels for Learning is planning their next distribution of bicycles for February 2011.

 Only 8 more sponsors are needed to reach our goal of 70 bicycles to complete our Phase Three target.

Help us reach our target with your donation. Your donation of $50 will provide a rural child with a sturdy bicycle equipped with basket, carrier, generator-powered lamp, lock and key.

Donors will receive photo-documentation of their sponsored child with their bicycle.

Canadian donations will receive a tax receipt from the Rotary Club of Gravenhurst.

You can make your $50 (or more) donation by using the secure PayPal link at the top of this page.

Donations by cheque are made payable to:

 ‘The Rotary Club of Gravenhurst’

In memo field:

‘Rotary Wheels for Learning’

Mail to:

Rotary Club of Gravenhurst,

Box 888.

Gravenhurst, ON, Canada

P1P 1V2

For more information, please email: rotarywheelsforlearning@gmail.com