Welcome to the 7^th edition of The PEPY Ride Newsletter.  In this issue wed like to take you through a visual journal of The PEPY Ride across Cambodia, introduce you to PEPYs first employee, update you on the outcome of PEPYs first adventure race, invite you to join the upcoming Judy Run in Japan, and remind you of the 2007 PEPY Ride application deadline. 

 

The March Volunteer Trip visited The PEPY Ride School for the first time today.  It was a busy day of Spanish, French and even Ballet!  You should've been there to watch the students' faces light up as Rita, Genevieve and Brian floated around the classroom.  We look forward to sharing more volunteer trip stories in next month's newsletter.  Until then, check out the PEPY photo album on the website http://www.pepyride.org/gallery/index.php for a glimpse into the great things that these volunteers are accomplishing.   

 

Right now there are so many ways to get involved with PEPY.  If you've got a gift and are looking to share it, drop us a line!  If you're interested in joining one of the many upcoming PEPY events, you better get reading...some of them have DEADLINES!

 

As always, Thank You!

 

 

The PEPY Ride Team

"Hear" from The PEPY Ride Photographer

6 am.  Palm trees line the horizon silhouetted against a glowing red sun as it rises behind them.  A smile illuminates my face in response.  Dark birds rise from the fields and scatter.  Mother and child and mother with child cross a field.  I am overwhelmed with the joy of living in this moment exactly where I am.  We are heading to another school and the anticipation of riding through another gate, welcomed by the smiles and laughter of the children, consumes our collective thoughts.  In another few hours we will be out in the full heat of the sun.  Disinterested tour buses full of unimpressed tourists will be speeding by, horns blaring at 180km an hour...kicking up blinding dust...spewing black exhaust.  A nice ride...watch for the rabid dogs, the roaming cows, the featherless chickens, the kids streaming from the bushes in droves to wave and holler "hello...wat yoe name??"   The 5 o'lock burn adds a tranquil haze to the short 50km ride we have from Kep.  Families fan embers of smoldering garbage alongside the road as short streams of children pedal their friends home from school beside us.  Evening light breaking through the palm trees casts thick shadows and illuminates smiles and waving hands as we ride through patches of smoke.  Rivertown Kampot.  It's the Chinese New Year and I'm put into a state of panic.  Incessant fireworks skyrocket my stress and my heart stops in fear.  Only on specific holidays are Cambodians allowed to use firecrackers.  Banned for 360 or so days a year due to their similarity to gunfire.  I can sympathize as I never get used to it.  Newsflash...in the morning we hear that a bridge we crossed a few hours before collapsed due to an overloaded salt truck at 10 times the capacity.  The main artery of transport to the port towns we are heading to will be closed for at least a month before it is repaired.  This I have to see.  I am not the only one.     25km in the wrong direction needn't necessarily be a bad thing.  Rather than backtrack we nosedive down a narrow alley perpendicular to highway 4 in hopes of cutting cross country to the road we really want to be on.  Heaven's highway free of debris.  No buses, no horns, no pavement.  Narrow and deserted, we have it to ourselves except for the occasional oxcart stranded in the bushes.  It peaks our senses and we have a moment to sip on the scenery and smile.  This is the Cambodia we needed after hurling ourselves down harrowing highways harangued by hollering horns.  Backroad bliss until the road crew shows up for a midday shower.  Is there ever a day without adventure?   What a sunset!  Stomach ill I decide to fly through the final 25km to our bungalows overlooking the sea.  Bumpy road toward the mountains constantly harassed by "hello snipers" not in the mindset to give adequate replies.  U-turn and up the mountainside around the final corner and despite all the photos I squeamishly had to ignore on account of my emergent urgency, I stopped dead in my tracks looking down on my first glimpse of the ocean.  Red orb, perfect circle, hung in a celestial hammock between two isolated palm trees on the beach.  Thatch huts and a pair of fisherman boats do a final trawl as the sun finally slips behind the mountainside across the bay.  Radiant color matched by my respect for this moment in life.      Lonnnng days in the sun.  Long roads with little shade we constantly seek respite from the heat or any reason to take a break.  Orange coolers are ubiquitous with roadside refuge.  Sugar cane juice and milkshakes quickly become the firmament of our vocabulary.  Coconuts and graham cracker flavored juice- two sweet beauties that accessorize our meager meals of yellow noodles fried with random veggies.  Stopping is typically the highlight of our days as curious crowds quickly gather to gawk and shyly smile and, on occasion, say a word or two.  In our exhaustion, we always find a way to laugh.  I will miss these girls.    Not every child has the opportunity to go to school but we did our best to accommodate all the fans that turned out for the stops we made. Hands clasped around window bars, children of all ages pressed their faces against the steel watching us from the schoolyard.    In the distance behind me I hear the whine of an approaching moto.  A few quick honks before his thumb rests fully depressing the button to warn us of his presence.  He roars by as his blaring horn blurs into a squealing of the humongous hogs strapped feet in the air to the passenger seat behind him.  Families of 5, window panes, mirrors and doors, ice blocks larger than most Asians, baskets of blood dripping fish, tables, pineapples, water tanks and enough chickens to keep KFC in business for a week all typify the stylings of a Cambodian moto delivery.  An unparalleled passion for life and living the dream, it was inevitable that others would want to follow suite.  Here are some of the newest members of the PEPY team.                              School visits were definitely the highlight.  Welcomed by white walls of grinning teeth, children arm in arm bounce with excitement and race to meet us.  Proud parents in the back laugh and smile with their eyes.  The emotions were at times overwhelming.  How were we supposed to feel other than truly appreciative?  I know how lucky I am to be representing all of you.  My only wish is that at some point in time you all get to experience this exhilaration first hand.  Although there really is no way to put it into words, I know in my heart that we have given more than just money.  We have truly changed lives...including our own...and I thank you all.

Meet PEPY's First Employee, Morakath

Meet Morakath Sambat, The PEPY Ride`s first employee!  Morakath has a masters degree in Environmental Science and has been working for Mlup Baitong (http://www.mlup.org/) for the past two years.  Mlup Baitong is a Phnom Penh based NGO supporting environmental protection, education, and sustainable tourism in Cambodia.  For the past year, Morakath has been a trainer for Mlup Baitong`s environmental education program. We wanted to help deliver this education program to children in the Phnom Penh area.  Thanks to the largest single fundraising activity for PEPY, The Judy Run, we were able to hire Morakath as a full time PEPY environmental education teacher!  Starting next month, she will be visiting 4 orphanages in Phnom Penh, each on a weekly basis, teaching the Mlup Baitong environmental curriculum. PEPY is funding environmental education classes at: Future Light Orphanage (FLO) http://www.futurelight.net/ Cambodian Children's Fund (CCF) http://www.cambodianchildrensfund.org/ Krousar Thmey http://www.krousar-thmey.org/ Street Children Assistance and Development Programme (SCADP) www.angelfire.com/ca6/scadp We were lucky enough to watch Morakath in action during our ride and found out that she is a WONDERFUL teacher, passionate about education, and a joy to watch in the classroom.  When we brought her to the Future Light Orphanage the students were immediately drawn to her teaching and everyone at FLO is excited to hear that she will be coming back on a weekly basis! We are excited to welcome Morakath to the PEPY team!

 

PEPY Gets Gold!

Peppi Stunkel and Daniela Papi represented The PEPY Ride at The River Kwai Adventure Race this year and took on the wilds of Thailand.  Not that we don't believe in our PEPY team, but you'll be as surprised as we were to find out that THEY WON!!! The race involved mountain biking, river swimming (in a life jacket, wearing a camel back and carrying all your gear...more like a "river float/splash/thing" according to Daniela), kayaking, and jungle running (aka, jungle WALKING as it was actually jungle).  The PEPY reps. crawled through water pipes, over WW2 rock piles, under branches, into trees and found themselves face to face with two beautiful, shiny, gold medals. Team PEPY, now known as Team Scar, as both Peppi and Daniela have great scars from the ride, had only one big crash on the ride (in which Daniela got two more scars and a few good bruises).  This was lucky, as a few teams had bigger problems, flat tires (one poor guy had two!), getting lost, getting lost again.... Scar teamed up with Team J-az, a pair of Outward Bound guides based in Hong Kong, who tried to keep pace with the speedy PEPY ladies on their bikes, and visa versa on the kayaks.  Daniela, post crash, was quite a wimp on the downhill mountain biking but made up for it on the uphills (just call her Lance).  Peppi, on the other hand, was a downhill junkie, flying around at speeds that would make even Alice jealous.  The combined team of J-azscar cleared the finish line in just under 4 hours! Thanks for supporting the PEPY ladies in their latest adventure!  Special thanks to Jason and Aaron for keeping up with the ladies and helping them prevent more scars! (In case anyone wanted to know, there were only 2 women`s teams in the Adventure Race....BUT team Scar did finish 1 hour and 40 minutes before the other womens team and came in 13th out of 26 men's teams.  They proudly carry their trophies wherever they go!!!)

The Judy Run Supports PEPY

The Judy Run is a 5, 10, and 21 km run/walk that raises money to fund the development of greater educational resources in rural Cambodia.  Last year, our awareness-building runs in Japan, Canada and Korea raised nearly $5,000 which PEPY used to: purchase environmental and health education materials for rural schools along the inaugural PEPY Ride route purchase limited edition Khmer-language copies of Harry Potter for each student at The PEPY Ride School ($.50 ea. X 564), the first time most students ever owned a book support the students at CCF by funding a weekly year-long environmental education program taught by a Cambodian environmental NGO, Mlup Baitong purchase an assortment of beautifully illustrated environmental education picture books in Khmer/English for each student at the CCF orphanage to be presented to them on their birthday This year, the pioneering Judy Run veterans are excited to take part again, many of them back in their home countries!  Enthusiasm is spreading around Japan as ALTs from around the country express interest in trekking to the Izu Peninsula to join in the fun too!  Let's make the 2006 Judy Run even bigger and more successful than last year!   Who?  All international friends are welcome!  ALTs are encouraged to involve their friends, co-workers, students and families to join as runners and/or supporters.   What?  5km, 10km, and 21km run/walk routes on a flat course along the Kano River AND a post-run enkai at one of Shizuoka's finest onsen resorts   When?  Sat, May 27th 2006 --> runs will take place before lunch..the enkai can last all night long!   Where?  Izunokuni City (formerly Nirayama town) south of Mishima on the Izu-Hakone train line Running skills are not necessary!  Ask Judy herself (who finished a distant last place in the event!) but enthusiasm and confidence are essential... you have more than two months to improve all three, so what are you waiting for?  The Judy Run is all about feeling your best and doing your best...get started now!   Email judyrun@gmail.com to receive info and details in upcoming mails. Right now, you only need to commit to doing your best, so mark your calendars and sign up today!

 

2007 Ride Application Deadline Approaching

The dust hasn't even settled on those back roads of Cambodia and we're already looking for the 2007 team of riders to pedal PEPY into next year.  PEPY is looking for a small, dedicated group of individuals who are ready to donate their time, energy and passion to the children of Cambodia.  Apply for the 2007 PEPY Ride Team, explore the beautiful backroads of Cambodia by bicycle, help ensure a brighter future for Cambodian children, and give yourself the opportunity to LIVE what you GIVE!    The 2007 PEPY Ride Team will spend two weeks in Dec-Jan cycling across Cambodia, visiting schools and aid organizations to both teach and learn.  Visit The PEPY Ride website to learn more about last year's ride and find out how YOU can be a part of NEXT YEAR's ride!...but do it SOON!    The 2007 Ride Application is due April 30th!  Head to the website and fill out an application today!!!

 

Featured Sponsor: Bikes Not Bombs

The PEPY Team would like to thank Carl and Bikes Not Bombs for supporting PEPY from the beginning.  They have shared a wealth fo cycling knowledge, their web space and a passion for using bicycles as an alternative means of travel.  Bikes Not Bombs is a non profit organization working to promote peace and social justice by educating communities about the responsible use of our world's resources.  Visit their website at www.bikesnotbombs.org to learn more about their projects around the world.                Bikes Not Bombs has continued to support PEPY by donating bikes to this year's YMCA Ride from Texas to New Orleans.  After the ride these bikes will be donated to local YMCAs.  Thank you Bikes Not Bombs!

 

Upcoming PEPY Events

Upcoming PEPY Trips: April 29-May 7:  Sangkheum & The PEPY Ride School Volunteer Trip (Phnom Penh & Siem Reap)  Email Julie at: volunteer@pepyride.org for more info.   May 23-30:  PEPY Hurricane Relief Ride from Beaumont, TX to New Orleans Email Maryann at: YMCAride@pepyride.org for more info. August 6-13:  CCF Volunteer Trip (Phnom Penh) and August 13-19:  CCF Volunteer Trip (Phnom Penh plus optional Siem Reap Extension Trip) Email Julie at: volunteer@pepyride.org for more info.  The funds raised from these trips will build The PEPY Ride Medical Center at CCF's new facility.  Volunteers will spend time with the students and construct rainwater collection units in the most deprived areas of Phnom Penh.   Late December 2006 (dates to be decided):  The PEPY Ride School Volunteer Trip Email volunteer@pepyride.orgfor more info.    December 2006-Jan 2007 (dates to be decided) This 2 week ride will take you across Cambodia, the wild west of Asia.  Email Judy and Audrey at: cambodia2007@pepyride.org for more info.   Japan Events:   May 27:  The JUDY Run (Izunokuni City) Email Judy at:  judyrun@pepyride.org for more info and a sign up form!   June 3:  The semi-annual Tokyo Charity Scavenger Hunt (Tokyo) Check out the website at  http://www.geocities.com/tokyoscavengerhunt/ or email the huntresses at: tokyoscavengerhunt@pepyride.org Twice a year teams of "hunters" scavenge Tokyo for clues as they compete for prizes and the glory of winning the Tokyo Charity Scavenger Hunt!  The upcoming 5th hunt, organized by Huntresses Michelle Lydin, Jaime Bauer, and Megan Prescott, is set to be the best hunt yet!  Sign-Up by May 12th (April 28th for the discounted rate) to participate!!!  June 3 4:  Next Western ALT Soccer Tournament (Awaji Island, Hyogo) and June 17 18:  Next Eastern ALT Soccer Tournament (Sugadaira, Nagano) Twice a year, Jon, Andre, Chris, and Phil organize the ALT Soccer Tournaments in both Eastern and Western Japan with an All-Japan Championship held in Saitama`s World Cup Stadium once a year. These events have become a pillar of the English teaching community in Japan with the chance to join in competitive sport and enjoy a huge party with all the other teams! These events are not to be missed. Visit www.altsoccertournament.com for upcoming events. Also, don`t miss their annual Nagano Ski Trips either! A portion of the sign up fee for these events support The PEPY Ride School in Cambodia which is yet another reason to join! June 6:  Recontracting Conference Party at the Pink Cow (Tokyo) Supporting BEE, PEPY, and Mu-Jeres   YMCA Ride Events in the U.S. and Canada:   March 31:  PEPY Hurricane Relief Ride Benefit Concert  (Worcester, MA) Email mduhaime87@hotmail.com for more info.   April 14 - 15:  PEPY Hurricane Relief Ride art auction (Worcester, MA) Email mduhaime87@hotmail.com for more info. April 22:  Party at Ceilis (Calgary, Canada) Email Kristen at: hartley_kris@hotmail.com for more info.Thanks to Kristen for throwing an incredible St. Pattys Day party in Calgary! Feel free to start your own PEPY events!  We'd LOVE your support!

The PEPY Ride Sponsors