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Daniela Papi’s Application
DELAY THE REAL WORLD FELLOWSHIP
Application Submitted: April 25, 2006
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Proposal Title:
PEPY Tours - Cambodia
Educational Background:
College
What are you currently doing?
Delaying the real world, of course! And trying to get the attention of the Delaying the Real World judges!!!! Support me! This project deserves to win! I am currently setting up an adventure "voluntourism" initiative bringing travelers with a social conscious on tours of Cambodia incorporating both volunteer time and seeing the important sites! This is PERFECT for Delaying the Real World to support! Why, you ask so silently? Well, first of all, this is exactly the type of tour your readers would want to do. The chance to experience the place they are visiting, in the time frame that they have (we offer longer multi-week adventure tours and shorter week long tours), and the chance to get their hands into development work! By promoting PEPY through this project of yours you will give readers a chance to not only delay the real world, but, once they are in it (if they have to!), or during their delay, give back to the places they visit. This is a repeatable, sustainable, and TOTALLY Delaying the Real World Fellowship-worthy project I tell you!
How did you hear about this fellowship?
From a friend
How would you like to delay the real world?
Soo…. I applied for this last year. During that time, I was planning a bike ride across Cambodia to visit schools and orphanages to teach about the environment and health, and raise funds to support sustainable solutions to Cambodia’s problems along the way. Well, we did that, and it was a huge success. We were able to raise over 60,000 in the first year and have built a school, funded daily computer, English, and organic farm training classes, teacher training, and also supported a variety of educational, health, and environmental projects around Cambodia. I took last year off to do this, thinking it would be my "year to delay the real world" and give back, my one year of spending all my savings. Well, it has grown and taken over my life fully and, there is no way the "real world" is getting me back any time soon. But, I need a bit more funding to do it. I will go home for the summer, from late May until September, working to save some money up. With that funding, and if I’m lucky, your funding as well, I will go back to Cambodia in August or September and stay for the year, supporting a variety of projects in Cambodia, mostly focusing on our bike project. The idea is to, at the beginning of the school year in September, visit all of the small villages around our school in northern Cambodia and have successful Cambodian educators and businesspeople speak to the families about the importance education played in their life. We will also speak to the parents about attendance and let them know that if their children attend school 90% of the time or more, they will receive a bike upon graduation. As a bike is more than double the average monthly salary of most people in the area, we believe this will cause some parents who might have pulled their child out of school in 5th grade or earlier to allow their child to stay. Why a bike you ask? Well, with thorough research around the area, we have realized that lacking a bike is a barrier to entry to education. The high school is at minimum 8k down the road and so, if a family only has a few bikes, maybe the oldest boy will go to school, if he is lucky. Parents have asked us for bikes when we have asked what it would take to get their kids to school. Another barrier to entry is the cost of lunch. As high school is all day, most kids would need to buy at least part of their lunch in the town, which costs about 12 cents per day. In order to further increase high school attendance, we are working with the local high school and will have them report back to us as to when the children attended school. We will retroactively pay the families 12 cents for each day that their child attended school, effectively paying for lunch. We believe that this will a) increase high school attendance and b) increase elementary school attendance. If successful, I hope to bring this to other schools around the country.
What can you tell us about where your adventure will take place? Why did you pick this specific region/city/country? How familiar are you with it?
I have lived in Cambodia for the last 6 months and have been working on this project for a full year before that. Cambodia in intriguing, genuine, exciting, and quickly developing. For the first time in decades, Cambodia is safe and the people are vibrant and excited to be alive. As one of our teachers said, "Now is a great time to be alive in Cambodia," and it shows.
What is the time frame of your proposal? (When can you begin it? How long do you plan on committing to it?)
I have begun it, and your funding will help me start phase too from Aug/Sept - the bike phase - and increase the tours/projects. Commitment to this? Forever…..
Will you be working with any organizations/non-profits/companies to carry out your proposal?
Many! The PEPY Ride is now a registered non-for-profit in the state of NY. We also support Cambodian Children’s Fund, Sangkheum Center, Mlup Baitong, Mlop Tapang, Starfish Project, and others.
Will you be embarking on your adventure solo or with colleagues?
Lots of other volunteers will hopefully support this work, but at the moment, I am the only PEPY person on the ground in Cambodia.
What is your budget? (Please list major expenses such as plane fare and transportation costs, room and board, activities, health insurance.) If you will need additional funding outside of the DTRW fellowship, how do plan on obtaining it?
I would love to use the DTRW fellowship to pay my personal costs in this project.
$1,200 - round trip flight
$600 - 12 months travel insurance
$1,200 - 12 months rent in Cambodia
Additional funding, I can provide for myself.
If your proposed adventure will take place in a foreign country, what paperwork/visas will you need to obtain? What other logistics will you need to take care of?
A visa is easily attainable, and extendible in Cambodia. I have all my shots, etc.
Name something that could go wrong and how you would handle it.
Bird Flu. I’d stay, but avoid birds, or people with flus ;-)
Really though… hmmm….. one thing that could happen is that momentum for this project could slow. Right now I have many volunteers working on this every day. This could be the high point and people could loose interest. But, even if they do, I am committed to this project. I am excited that so many others have found inspiration through this model, but I am not basing my work on their support. I am committed to this, even if I am going solo (but I don’t think that i will have to!)
Tell us if you’ve had any past adventures and how you developed your appetite for them.
My dad is from Italy, so we visited there a bunch when I was a kid. My neighbors growing up were from Germany. When I was 13, my mom sent me by myself on a plane to visit them. My mom claims that is the day she "lost me to the world" as she was balling as I skipped down the gateway ;-)
Hmmm… Semester at Sea during university really set me moving. Consulting for year, yikes. That would inspire ANYONE to go off on adventures. I was a ski instructor for a season in Breckenridge, LOVED that. And then taught English in Japan for three years before starting an NGO and moving here to Cambodia! Each adventure feed into the next, although my dad likes to claim it’s from his genes or something…. hmmm…
Which adventurer in Delaying the Real World did you find the most inspiring and why?
I think I said this last year, and I will do it again :-) Colleen, I find the most inspiration from YOUR story. You didn’t just sit back and go off on your "delaying" adventure, you INSPIRED others to as well. Just like Colleen and her desire to inspire others to look beyond the beaten path in front of them, I am striving to do similar things with PEPY. I visited Cambodia, I was inspired, and came back to do more. I believe that by putting it out there, giving people a chance to come to Cambodia and give back themselves, I am actually investing in hundreds of future supports for Cambodia. I know they will come back and do more, or volunteer in their home country, or find ways to support similar projects, because I have seen them do it. Sometimes following the path set out before you is the only thing to do, because no one brushes away the bushes to show you another way. Colleen, you opened up many paths for many people. I hope to reach a fraction of the people you have and I will be satisfied with my work.
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