STUDENTS from The Laurels in Bacchus Marsh will set off for the dusty roads and emerald rice fields of Cambodia to help raise awareness of sustainability and the environment among the Khmer people.
Following an impressive ride from Darwin to Melbourne by their Ballarat sister team, the Laurels Ride Against Greenhouse Emissions team will travel to South East Asia on New Year’s Day.
The group will cycle from Siem Reap to Battambang to raise awareness of the need to reduce greenhouse emissions and support sustainable food and energy programs.
In 2009, the Ballarat team drove a solar and pedal-powered vehicle from Darwin to Melbourne in just 11 days.
Building on that success, the Laurels team designed and constructed energy-efficient ‘human-powered vehicles’ and hybrid machines.
The group has had more than two-million website hits from 67 different nations and has twice won the World Solar Cycle Challenge.
Laurels students Stephanie Thomson and Tracy Estmore (pictured) were part of a presentation for the group’s charity trip.
The team is made up of four Laurels students and other young people from Ballarat, Adelaide, Melbourne and Mount Gambier.
They have dedicated 2012 to raising funds for the trip, sponsoring a team of Cambodian students to travel to Australia in 2013, and building an energy-efficient vehicle to compete in the RACV secondary schools’ Energy Breakthrough in which students build and race their own vehicles.
Stephanie says the group will fly to Siem Reap, explore the temples of Angkor, then cycle to Battambang. There, they will volunteer at Cambodian Children’s Trust, an NGO set up by Australian Tara Winkler to help orphaned and vulnerable children escape poverty, teach children and teenagers how to weld, and give English classes.
Next, they will catch a train to Bangkok and volunteer at the Wilderness Friends Foundation.
“I’m really looking forward to meeting the Cambodian people and helping out at the Children’s Trust,” says Stephanie, 18.
“I hope the skills I bring are really useful.”.
Tracy says the group hopes to teach the Khmer people every-day solutions to reducing greenhouse emissions and raise funds for sustainable energy and food programs.
“I really hope we can help these kids escape poverty,” she says.
Laurels teacher and trip co-ordinator Tony Davidson says the students want to make a real and immediate difference.
“While the politicians squabble, they want to do something positive, now.”
The students each bring their own skills to the team, with some experienced in bicycle mechanics, fitness, marketing, public relations, science and sustainability.
Details: tony@thelaurels.org.au 0419563920 or roderage.com.au
