Going Full 'Cycle'

On the 6th of November 2017, PeopleStories kickstarted its first ever program: Bike for Life gifting 93 children in rural Cambodia. Not only did we gift bikes and greater mobility to the children but also empowering them to pursue their dreams.  What started out as a small but meaningful way to help students and their families has grown into something so much bigger and so much more meaningful with 278 scholarships so far, 2 girls in a leading STEM school and a community of amazing volunteers and supporters! ​

It didn’t take much for the PeopleStories team to think about a fun and meaningful way to celebrate the birthday. Going back to where it all started, to Phum Ou primary school and helping more students was a meaningful and yet emotional decision.  And that decision was empowered by Biomedia, a medical science company with their head office in Singapore.  

Biomedia is celebrating their 40th anniversary this year and looking for a way to deliver on their core value – helping communities grow! When we met with COO Mabel Chung,  we were thrilled to hear her sharing, "At Biomedia, supporting communities to grow is our core spirit. We are thrilled to enable PeopleStories to provide greater access to quality education to the children in need. Let’s celebrate our 40 years milestone with 40 dreams!”  Both of our teams are chuffed to see Bike for Life return to where it all started.   ​

The event, fully organized by our local volunteers and teachers, was another joyous occasion and the only regret for us is not being able to join the children and the teachers on the day.  While reflecting our Bike for Life program in 2017 as well as today, our charity director Oliver Miloschewsky said, “Bicycles, school uniforms, classrooms etc are important, but it's also about giving everyone confidence and hope through fit-for-purpose support, regular engagement and motivation. I have seen young students develop into absolutely beautiful young adults and future leaders, mothers shedding tears of joy because someone believes in them and gives them an opportunity to earn money and be independent.” ​

Birthday celebrations naturally come with many well wishes and our council member Michelle Dillon shared, “My birthday wish for PeopleStories is that it is able to generate enough support and goodwill to help more and more children in Cambodia complete their education.” 
 
We are grateful for all the support received over the past 4 years, Oliver continued, “I’d obviously love to have your continued support for PeopleStories. What I can really recommend also though is to travel and maybe even join us during one of our next projects. See for yourself where your money goes but more importantly, engage with those who are benefitting from your donation. See and feel how every dollar and every hour spent volunteering makes a positive change. We had so many supporters already join us, some of them fairly sceptical to begin with but all of them loved the experience and were touched by the genuine students and teachers.” ​

Our sincere invitation to all our supporters to join our first ever summit on 24 Nov 2021 at 10AM (GMT+8) where the team will present the annual report and you will also hear stories directly from the teachers, students, volunteers and our charity ambassador Matt Le Nevez.  Register here https://bit.ly/PS-Summit2021 

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Story written by: Director Oliver Miloschewsky​