KAMPONG THOM, Cambodia, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- Due to the distance of her home from school and lack of transportation, Ly Arina, a 12-year-old underprivileged student here in central Cambodia, had wanted to quit school for many times. But she changed her mind after receiving a bicycle donated by a Chinese company on Monday.
Living in a village in Santuk district, roughly 6 km from the Snorkhley Primary School, the sixth-grade student has to walk to school every day because her single father, who is a buffalo herder, could not afford a bike for her.
"Now, I no longer need to walk to school," she told Xinhua after receiving the donated bike. "Thank you, China, for this generous donation."
Arina said she used to walk or ask her friends for a ride to school before having the bike.
"I feel elated because this bike will help relieve my hardship and enable me to ride to school in time," she said. "I promise to study hard and take good care of it for longer use."
Arina is one of the 2,000 underprivileged primary school students in Cambodia to receive the third batch of bicycles donated by bike-sharing service provider Hello Inc. and shipped to Cambodia by COSCO Shipping Charity Foundation.
In Cambodia, the China Foundation for Rural Development (CFRD), through the Civil Society Alliance Forum, handed out the bikes to underprivileged students in 130 schools across nine provinces in the Southeast Asian country.
Chea Leakhena, a 13-year-old underprivileged student at the Kampong Thmor Primary School in Kampong Thom province, said it took her at least 15 minutes to walk from home to school every day.
"It's really difficult to walk to and from school because the weather is hot," the sixth-grade student told Xinhua. "With this bike, I will reach my classroom quickly and safely."
Chum Simontha, principal of the Balaing Khang Lech Primary School in Kampong Thom province, said it was common to see students taking long walks from home to school in rural areas due to poverty and lack of transportation.
"I believe the bikes will help change the lives of poor students in rural areas, encouraging them to come to school in a timely and regular manner," she told Xinhua.
Im Vanny, deputy director of Kampong Thom Provincial Department of Education, Youth and Sport, expressed his sincere gratitude to the Chinese charities for donating the bicycles to primary schools in Cambodia, saying that they were crucial for poor students to ride to school.
Zhang Rong, a representative of Hello Inc., said the company has donated a total of 5,024 bicycles to Cambodia in three batches since 2022.
"These bikes not only carry love and care, but also symbolize our pursuit of a better life and persistence in public welfare undertakings."
CFRD representative Zhang Shenyue said the organization was pleased to help rural students in Cambodia, hoping that the bikes would motivate them to study hard. ■