The Jamestown Club partnered with the Rotary Club of Sentosa, Singapore, to sponsor a joint international Bicycle Project in the rural areas of the province of Siem Reap in Cambodia. It is common in that part of the world for students to walk between 3 and 10 kilometers to attend school due to the lack of transportation.

Each bicycle cost $60 and the sponsor’s name was printed on a weatherproof signboard securely attached to the front of the basket. Jamestown Club members contributed to the bicycles which were refurbished with new handles, baskets, brakes, and seats and were painted blue and gold – the colors of Rotary International.

Education is deeply revered in Cambodia and the students must buy uniforms, shoes, and books, with little money left for anything else, especially transportation, therefore they walk long distances to attend their schools. Students were chosen to receive their bicycles based on their attendance record and educational performance in school with students who live furthest from school having higher priority.

“I am DEEPLY HONORED that the Jamestown Rotary Club was willing to come and join our Bike-to-School project in Siem Reap in 2024. On behalf of my club, Thank you very much,” said President Abe Jacobs of the Rotary Club of Singapore said.

David and Marissa Troxell, members of the Rotary Club of Jamestown, are pictured with a plaque with the donor’s name that was attached to each bicycle the local club sponsored in Cambodia.

All the bicycles were shipped from Singapore to Siem Reap and were presented to the students at the State Teachers College in that city with the Cambodian Secretary of Education and the President of the College in attendance. The students had no idea they would be receiving bicycles.

The Troxells said the reactions of the children were overwhelming – with each child quickly grasping and trying their bicycles. The Troxells have been the impetus in many of the local club’s activities all over the world – in Thailand, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Pakistan, and Tanzania and Troxell was proud to tell the members, “Hundreds and hundreds of people are walking this globe because of the Rotary Club of Jamestown, NY and their dedication to “Service above Self,'” Troxell said.