Coming full circle: A story of student inspiration

Susan Edwards, Head of Global Concerns, Teacher of English, Dover Campus
11 November 2015

Overwhelmingly, mine is a positive job. On a daily basis, I work with students who want to help others. It doesn’t get much better than that, and then, if that in itself is not the definition of a rewarding job, then surely you will be convinced when I say that one of the great privileges of working at UWCSEA is the unexpected, humbling and inspirational stories that come my way.

Elsemieke Marren came to my office one morning in February 2013, quietly and in a very unassuming manner she told me of her plan to cycle the Munda Biddi Trail Ride in Western Australia. This off-road cycling epic would be undertaken with her dad and the reason for this challenge was to raise funds to build a school in Cambodia. Having travelled to Cambodia on several occasions, Elsemieke had seen the need first hand and so, following the Global Concerns’ motto ‘Turning Ideas into Action’, she and her father took action.

The journey was tough and unforgettable; Elsemieke and David’s gift of education to 1,200 children in rural Cambodia, remarkable.

Susan Edwards
Head of Global Concerns
UWCSEA Dover

The seed idea of riding the Munda Biddi trail in Western Australia to build a school in Cambodia was planted on our way home from the airport after our second family housebuilding trip. It is a great privilege to build for the Cambodian families, yet I wanted to do something more, so building a school through Tabitha seemed to be the perfect contribution.

How on earth were we going to raise US$52,000 needed for a six-room school? Since our family is keen on sports, we thought ‘why not do a major sporting event?’ The trail we chose is the longest off-road trail in the southern hemisphere, stretching 1,000km through outback Australia from Mundaring, just north of Perth, to Albany, the southernmost point of Western Australia.

To do it, we would have to camp, carrying our own food and clothes with us on the bikes. We headed to Perth straight after I returned from the Ladakh Trip in July 2013.

The trail was a real challenge and I must admit there were several days where I just wanted to give up and go home to a nice warm shower and hot food. The toughest day was when we rode for 10 hours, having been lost twice. We ended up riding in the dark for three hours—not very pleasant because neither of us had a sense of direction and we could only see about one metre ahead. I felt such a sense of relief when I saw the sign for the overnight hut at the end of that day’s long ride.

Thankfully, the trail got easier further south as it had only been open for a year and so was in very good condition. Once we reached Albany, I was relieved, sad and overjoyed because our amazing adventure was over. I couldn’t believe we had reached our goal.

Once back in Singapore, we tallied up the donor funds to discover that we had raised SG$128,000—enough for two schools! I contacted Janne Ritskes, the Founder-Director of Tabitha and a few weeks later, I received the proposals for the construction of two schools: Koul in Svey Rieng Province and PumLey in Prey Veng Province. Tabitha started construction immediately and it was amazing to see the progress of the schools in the weekly reports.

During the 2014 Term 2 holiday, our family went back to Cambodia. It was a very special moment as we visited the schools and received a very warm welcome. I was happy beyond belief to see the schools in session; it made all the hard work worthwhile and showed me what a difference I could make with a little effort. It was even more special to realise that the Prey Veng school is located next to the village that our family had been house building in only two years previously. We had come full circle … a job well done by all involved.

Elsemieke Marren
Grade 10
UWCSEA Dover