Fun Run Fundraising for Cambodia

PEPY supporters DPETNS, a school in Ireland, have just completed a creative and inspirational fundraising event for our work in rural Cambodia.
PEPY would like to say a HUGE thank you for DPETNS’s fantastic support for our work.
Guest blog post from Colm Byrne, teacher at DPETNS:
Our ‘Run To Cambodia’ involved each of the 18 classes running a leg of the journey from Donabate, Co Dublin (where DPETNS is based) to Chanleas Dai, Siem Reap.
All classes adopted a destination and learned about that place. Stops along the way included London, Rome, Tehran, Dhaka, and Bangkok. The children ran as fast as they could, for as long as they could, to that country’s national anthem! When a class was finished, they passed along the specially designed Irish/Cambodian baton to the next class and hung up the flag of their adopted country on the yard.
For the last leg of the journey all the children, staff and parents in the school ran around the race track until we ‘arrived’ in Chanleas Dai. At the journey’s end the baton was transferred over to me and I hope to be bringing it with me to Cambodia in the summer.
Following the children’s run, 160 adults and teenagers took part in a 6km fun run around the Donabate peninsula. This was tough work but very rewarding, and there was a great atmosphere. Crossing the finish line provided a great feeling of satisfaction, and it reminded me of being back on the PEPY Ride.
Our action packed day concluded with a social night which parents and other adults in the community attended. This night was a celebration of all we have achieved as a school and community through our partnership with PEPY. It was a time for us to play some traditional Irish music, watch the DPETNS staff embarrass themselves while performing circus tricks, and look back on a slideshow of all that we have done so far in this partnership, and take a moment to ponder what is next.
There was a fantastic turnout of over 250 parents and it got the community talking about our two organizations. Local businesses were only too happy to provide auction and raffle prizes, and although we’re still tallying our final fundraising amount, we are confident that thanks to the humongous work put in by the parent led fundraising committee, we will surpass our fundraising target of $6,000.

“Having traveled out to Cambodia twice last year, and seen first-hand the incredible work that PEPY do I know that this money will be put to great use.  The transparency which PEPY uphold, and the openness, with which they are self-critical, make them a fantastic organization for our school to partner with.”

The reciprocal learning exchange has proved to be of great benefit to our school. We hope that the partnership continues to go from strength to strength.  Roll on Khmer New Year!

“Having a pen pal in Cambodia has been cool”
– Annelies Tol, Fourth Class
“Bon Om Touk was great but the fun run was best”
– Adam Barker, Sixth Class