Social Change in Cambodia (Written by Melissa Chungfat)

I just came back from a very fulfilling two-week bike ride across Cambodia. A group of us participated in the Riding to Break the Cycle: Cambodia 2010 tour with Global Agents for Change in partnership with PEPY to fundraise for the two organizations.

On a personal level, this trip was a chance for me to at least have a preview of development work since I had never seen any projects first-hand. I had only read articles of development work and criticisms of the approaches of many NGOs around the world. The successes and criticisms that I’ve read were similar to some of the situations that PEPY encountered throughout the course of their work.

The ride is designed to educate participants and benefit the communities the organization operates in. From our experience, they lived up exactly to what they said they would offer.

PEPY invests time and resources in people, because we believe that improving education, providing training and stimulating ideas builds capacity for people to better solve their own problems.

Before we began bike riding, we had a chance to visit one of PEPY’s schools in Chanleas Dai Commune with the organization’s executive director Daniela Papi.

We get so caught up in technologies and constant change that we often forget that the most complex and effective solutions may not necessarily be the most effective. Writing notes on a board during a lecture can be more engaging nowadays after seeing endless cluttered PowerPoint presentations throughout our academic years.

Some people and organizations apply this mentality to development work. But as Daniela correctly said, “Technology is useless without education.”

Education is an essential aspect of their programs and development projects. Sometimes the most effective solutions cost the least. One of PEPY’s educational programs, for example, costs $1,500 a year to educate groups of kids as opposed to spending $55,000 to build a new school.

Education in the context of development must go beyond handing out leaflets and information sheets like some other NGOs have done in the past. Some think that people will just magically adopt the “gifts” given by organizations and integrated it in their lives.

No.

Daniela said they had to do more than just outreach⎯they had to prove concepts. When they were trying to get people to use a water filter, it took a full year for people to adopt them.

One school principal said that the water filters was the best thing PEPY did for education because the filters helped increase school attendance because there was less illness. “You can’t force people to change results. They will see the results, adapt and demand,” Daniela said.

A big problem many NGOs cause is that they assume community needs as opposed to understanding them and involving the community in a participatory way. So we often hear stories of organization handing out drugs not realizing that a big part of their target population can’t read instructions or don’t have access to the food they need to take the drug and so on.

When PEPY began their literacy camp, there was a much bigger increase in the use of the books at the school once they were taught how to use the books.

They don’t just give away books, they show them how to use it. They don’t just give away filters, they sell them at an affordable price so people take real ownership of it and are educated on how to use it.

Your role in social change

Daniela lives by Howard Thurman’s quote: “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” This was the most unexpected, but useful, thoughts that I took away from the entire trip.

If I had read this quote by itself outside of our meetings with PEPY, I wouldn’t give it a second thought. What intrigued me was that she and some of her friends live by this idea in relation to development.

When I asked her one of the most vague questions you could ever ask: “What route should I take if I want to get development experience. I want do do something to help people.”

Instead of telling me to do an internship, get more skills and so on, the first question she asked was, “What are you passionate about?”

One of Daniela’s friends runs a restaurant and works with non-profits in the community to help them with fundraising and other projects. That way she has the freedom to explore her interest in development and other issues.

If you’re motivated to do what you’re passionate about, you’ll have the energy to integrate your passions with social change. The non-profit route isn’t the only option to make a positive impact.

Another example is one rider who wanted to open up a bike shop to provide quality service at an affordable price in his town. Biking is his passion and he wants to help people fulfill their interests.

There are many lessons to learn about development. It’s just as important to continuously educate yourself as it is to educate others.

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