What’s JET Got to Do With It?

In 2004, two participants on JET hatched an idea to fundraise for the construction of a school in rural Cambodia. Their fundraising project, the PEPY Ride, consisted of a cross Cambodia bicycle ride, which stopped along the way at schools and orphanages to teach environmental lessons. To kick off the start of the ride, they brought a group of JETs and other travelers to volunteer at the new school during winter vacation.

From that seed of an idea, PEPY has grown into an NGO that also operates volunteer and adventure tours in Cambodia. Most of the planning stages for the PEPY Ride happened in Japan, and many of our tours are based around Japanese school holidays to allow JETs to participate. The majority of PEPY’s success is through JET-directed fundraising and publicity. JET is a fantastic network of teachers and travelers from around the world, and we can do so much with this resource when we are committed to a cause. To date, with the help of the JET community, PEPY has raised over $250,000 for education projects in Cambodia!

To learn more about JET – also known as the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme – visit their website at https://www.jetprogramme.org/