The School situation in today’s Cambodia.

In Cambodia there are a limited amount of schools in each region. Cambodia has had a few very famous places of which some have been destroyed. The main destruction of infrastructure, schools and the killing of many people happened during the era of Pol Pot in the 1970ies. Only 45% of the population studies after the first 6 years of education and only 7.7% reaches university level. The need for better education in Cambodia is obvious. One of the main problems in Cambodia is the lack of schools and class rooms. To get as many students as possible a chance to go to school many schools have to split the day in a morning and an afternoon class. To build new schools is therefore of highest importance.

We have contact with a company called KHJ Construction Co Ltd.

Their aim is to build good schools that give the young people of Cambodia a chance to study in a good environment with as good facilities as possible. KHJ Construction have so far built around ten schools in Cambodia, most of them based on charity money from Japan.

To build a school with three classrooms costs in the region of 26 000 USD this also includes black boards and some furniture. Bike For Cambodia’s goal is to build such a school. If the project is more successful then we will build a bigger school that can hold more students and maybe we also can hire one or two teachers for some time. A teacher in Cambodia earns around 30 USD per month. It’s easy to see how much a small donation can be of help for many children.

The history of Cambodia
Cambodia is located in South East Asia and has borders to Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. The capital is called Phnom Penn and has a population of 2 million people. The country in total has a population of 14.8 million people of whom 90% counts as Khmer and the rest is groups from China, Thailand Vietnam and Burma.  The official language in Cambodia is called Khmer.
The history of Cambodia goes far back in time but what has made the country famous today is what was created during the period between 802 and 1431. During the 800 century the Khmer civilization was created with the city of Angkor in the north of Cambodia as a centre. The kingdom of Angkor was very powerful and during its high days many impressive building were created in the capital. The golden era lasted til the 12th century when the kingdom started to fall apart. After an invasion by Siam (Thailand)  in the year of 1431 the capital was moved to Phnom Penn further away from Thailand. This did not however save the kingdom and after a few hundred years Cambodia in 1863 became a French protectorate as a part of the French Indochina. The Japanese occupied the country during the Second World War but in 1953 Cambodia was finally declared a free country again.

The Vietnam war in Cambodia
During the Vietnam war the American army bombed Cambodia in an attempt to stop and hinder the North Vietnam Army and the FNL guerillas operations in the country.  The Vietnamese had bypassed the Americans by the demilitarized Zone (DMZ). In 1970 Lon Nol seized power in Cambodia after a military action where there king, Norodom Sihanouk were thrown of the throne. Lon Nol established the Khmer Republic.

Khmer Rouge
The opponents of the government, the Khmer Rouge seized the capital Phnom Penn in 1975 and started their terrible reign of the country. The country was now called  Democratic Kampuchea.
Under their leader PolPot over 2 million people were killed in an attempt to bring the country back to an agricultural society like in the older days. The main target was all the intellectuals in the country as the Khmer Rouge wanted to destroy all independent thoughts.

People’s republic of Campuchea
1978 Vietnam once again incaded Cambodia and managed to push the Khmer Rouge  in the country side where they continued to fight a guerilla war against the new Government. This is called the Cambodian-Vietnamese war.  The country once again changed name, this time to People’s republic of Campuchea.

The UN supported election in 1993 managed to help the country to get back to some kind of normal state and at the same time the Khmer Rouge almost stopped to exist.  Cambodia is today still a very poor country but with an amazing history and a rich cultural life.

Modern days
The population of Cambodia still suffers from the past years of constant war. Even though peace is now established since many years. Big section of Cambodia’s country side is full of land mines which results in many hundred people being injured or killed every year. This has resulted in a very high number of disabled people. A mine fuelled ground does not at all make the rebuilding of Cambodia easier.