In Khmer (the majority language in Cambodia), drinking water is called “tuk suat,” which directly translates to “water pretty.”
Many families in rural Cambodia have drinking water that is far from pretty, and instead of giving them the energy they need to work, can put them in the hospital with a hefty medical bill in tow.
Kanyo is from Kalai commune in Ratanakiri province, Cambodia. His village is an agricultural community that relies on bountiful rain during rainy season for their crops and for drinking water.
Their families live on small plots of land and survive on the rice, vegetables, and meat they can grow. In this area, if households have a family well, it is often unprotected and shallow.
“Before we got the water filter, our family drank rainwater that was collected in jars, well water, or stream water,” Kanyo shared.
The unhygienic water sources can cause waterborne illnesses that have a lasting effect on people’s ability to continue working and caring for their families.
“We understand that such water is not hygienic…and can cause various diseases such as diarrhea or stomach cramps and we often have to go to the doctor for treatment,” Kanyo said.
Can you imagine knowing your water will make you sick but not having any other choice?
In 2023, in partnership with local leaders, CWEF gave 60 bio-sand filters to households, including Kanyo’s household, in three villages.We checked in with Kanyo a year and a half after he received his filter, and it is still operational and working great. The filters should last 15+ years if maintained.
Kanyo is grateful for his water filter:
“Thank God for CWEF! After we received the water filter, our family’s life has improved. Because our entire family is free of diseases, we don’t have to spend as much on medical treatment as before. We have time to work happily.“
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Thank you for your generous donations through CWEF! Because of you, families in rural Cambodia like Kanyo’s are not only drinking healthy, clean, PRETTY water, they also have more money, greater health, and greater happiness. THANK YOU!!!
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Since 2011, CWEF has collaborated with local churches and government partners in Cambodia’s Kampong Thom province to improve health through holistic development projects. A pillar of CWEF’s work in Kampong Thom has been the Biosand Water Filter project supported by your generous gifts, which have provided local families with convenient access to clean and…
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