-Aide et Action, Cambodia-
The partner Damnok Toek of AEA Cambodia, with the close collaboration of the local authorities of Poipet town, organized a Solidarity Run on the 6th of October in Poipet town – located on the border of Cambodia and Thailand. The main objective of the Solidarity Run was to make the government, the local authorities and communities aware of the importance of education for all children in Cambodia and encourage them to support Aide et Action and its partners to improve the access to education for all. Emphasis was placed on the enrollment of street children and children with disabilities in public schools. This event coincided with Damnok Toek’s annual school enrollment campaign, which encourages parents to register their children for public school.
350 adults and children, including the Vice Governor of Poipet town participated in the 2km run across the downtown area. The main purpose of the run is to show the public the importance of education.
“A lot of children and youths in Poipet do not attend school, so with this run, we encourage the parents to enroll them. They come from migrant families and they are working hard every day to care for the family’s needs. We hope that the local authorities and communities can provide both financial and moral support for children and youths to attend school”, explained Prasith CHIN, Communication and Sponsorship Officer of Aide et Action Cambodia.
The Solidarity Run is the flagship event of Aide et Action International. Every year, runs are organized in Cambodia, France, Switzerland and India. The first run in South East Asia was held in 2014 in Cambodia. “This year, we organised a big run event because we would like to make this event more visible so that the local authorities and people become more involved with us to improve the integration of the deprived children. If it is successful, we plan to organize a bigger event for next year as we want to assist the Cambodian government in achieving education for all”, added Prasith CHIN.
