April Chiasson

biosand water filters stacked up in a warehouse

Delivering biosand water filters

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Hello Everyone!

We thought you would enjoy seeing the biosand water filters you’re providing making their way into the hands and homes of villagers in Cambodia!

Thank you so much again for your generosity and for bringing the tremendous gift of clean water to families in Cambodia! 

If you financially partner with CWEF, it’s because of you that many Cambodian families are receiving these water filters and enjoying a life with fewer illnesses.

These same families are able to both work more often and attend school more often. Generally, they are also able to earn money and provide for themselves an even better life than before they owned a water filter. And this is all because of you and your gift of clean water!

We appreciate you and are thankful for your faithful partnership in this great work!

biosand water filter in front of a bunch of sand bags

A biosand water filter in front of bags of sand. All ready to load onto the truck for delivery in the villages.

Biosand water filters loaded up on the delivery truck.

Loading a bag of sand onto a motorcycle for home delivery.

Delivering one filter to its new family.

Recipient standing proudly with her new CWEF biosand water filter while enjoying a glass of life-changing clean water!

THANK YOU to each of you that generously donates to make this amazing gift of clean water to Cambodian families possible!

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Don’t miss out! Sign up for latest updates from Cambodia and China by clicking here.

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YOUR IMPACT IN CHINA IN 2025

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I’m excited to share with you that, if you partnered with CWEF in 2025, you made it possible for 73 Chinese girls to continue their education!  Through CWEF’s help, these young women received scholarships.  Depending on the specific school (we support two), some of the girls also received emotionally supportive care while others participated in enrichment programs like academic competitions and preparation for university. 

***In our high school program, 2/3rds of students consistently maintain scores above the university admission benchmark!*** 

Other benefits your generosity gave to Chinese students last year:

1) High School Tour – Middle school students explored campus life, participated in advanced classes, and met teachers. 

2) Newspaper Competition – which exercised students’ creative abilities  

3) University Prep – admissions officers from local universities explained available programs and standing policies to students. Senior students shared study tips and time-management strategies. 

4) Home Visits – from the school staff for our high school scholarship recipients, to monitor their progress and build up their social network 

5) Counseling Sessions – provided for students with the greatest needs

If you partnered with CWEF in 2025, you had a tremendous impact on the lives of students in rural China.  Without the help of people like you, we couldn’t offer these scholarships and programs, offering students a much-less-burdened path to a financially stronger future.  Thank you so much for your generosity and partnership.

~ April Chiasson, CWEF Communications Manager

YOUR IMPACT IN CHINA IN 2025 Read More »

Because of You, Eth Has Clean Water to Drink!

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Eth is a woman that lives in a village in Cambodia.  After receiving a biosand water filter through your generosity, Eth and her family report experiencing stomach pain and succumbing to GI and other illnesses much less often than before!

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Thanks to you – Eth now owns a biosand water filter that she fills each day with water from their household well.  And when she goes to work in the field, she also brings clean water with her.  What a blessing!

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All six members of her family now feel at ease and safe drinking the water from their biosand water filter. She is very grateful to you for giving her and her family a biosand filter!!

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Your generosity through CWEF is helping many individuals and families like Eth’s live a healthier life by providing clean water.  Sometimes clean water can seem so simple, unsensational, or easy to take for granted for those of us who have always had access to clean water.  But really – having clean drinking water has an enormous impact on someone’s life!  Having clean water to drink can start a cycle of many positive changes.  It can allow someone – like Eth and her family – to be healthy more often, and that health can be used to work, earn money, and create positive economic momentum for the family.  Clean water, greater health, more money; all of these can impact so much. Thank you for your continued partnership and for providing access to clean water for families like Eth’s in rural Cambodia!

Because of You, Eth Has Clean Water to Drink! Read More »

A class of students in rural Yunnan watching a video for a mental health course provided by CWEF.

What do you think falling in love will be like?

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Do you look forward to falling in love? What do you think falling in love will be like?  These are some questions, Xiaochun, a teacher at Tuanjie Town Middle School in Yunnan asked students during a CWEF-sponsored mental health class this past fall. 

Teacher Teng talked in depth with students about how to have healthy romantic relationships.  Together they discussed many things including the difference between liking someone and loving someone:

  • Liking: Refers to mutual empathy, which includes a positive assessment of each other as well as a shared respect and appreciation.
  • Loving: Includes a need for intimacy with the other person. It also includes a shared dependency and tendency to help each other. Additionally, it involves exclusively loving that one person. 

The class also discussed 5 principles that contribute to having a healthy romance:

  1. Expectations: Clarify the emotional expectations for yourself and others. 
  2. Timing: early adulthood (18-25 years old) is an important time for establishing intimacy, students should reserve their best selves for the right person. 
  3. Distance: students discussed four types of interpersonal distance, so that they can understand the importance of maintaining appropriate interpersonal boundaries 
  4. Capacity to Love: students were encouraged to first learn to love themselves and then to develop an ability to understand and work well with others before seeking out a romantic relationship
  5. Alignment of Values: students reflected on the importance of sharing the same values with their significant other 

Concluding Message:

Always believe in love and look forward to it. Have the confidence to love yourself. Cultivate an ability to love others. Love can be perfect, or it can have regrets. Whether the students experience the luck of falling in love at first sight or the sadness of unrequited love, both are part of life. It is hoped that students can face the gains and losses in their future relationships with a positive attitude, learn to grow through love, and have faith that someday they will enjoy sharing life with someone who is a great match for them!

THANK YOU for partnering with CWEF and supporting the mental health of young people in China!  Because of you, these students have a better chance of enjoying healthier romantic relationships and making wise choices about love both now and in the future.

Few decisions are as impactful on personal thriving as the ones made about love and romance. Thank you for being part of equipping these students to become leaders that will strengthen their own communities.

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you paved my path out of the mountains

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This year CWEF held a ceremony for its new scholarship recipients in Yunnan, and Bangmei, the student representative, gave this speech with gratitude for your support:

Hello everyone! I am Bangmei from Class 515, Grade 10. I am honored to stand here, still trembling slightly as I hold the microphone. I know that the light before me is the result of countless warm hands pushing aside the clouds for me. The ability to calmly share my dreams today is because you have paved my path out of the mountains with love. Please allow me to first bow deeply to all the caring individuals from the CWEF and Kunming Yixing Public Welfare Development Center — thank you for making dreams come true. 

I used to be a child struggling in poverty. My family’s financial difficulties were like a heavy yoke making it hard for me to pursue my studies. Watching my father work day and night to cover my tuition and living expenses, seeing his growing white hair and bending back, I asked myself countless times: Must my educational path be forced to end like this? Must my small dream be shattered by reality’s cruelty? In my confusion and helplessness, your support came like a warm ray of sunshine, bringing me hope and strength. 

It is you who, with selfless love and generous support, have allowed me to study in bright classrooms and pursue my dreams without distraction. You have shown me that there are many people in this world who care about poor children like us, making me believe that as long as we do not give up, we can overcome difficulties and move towards a better future. 

Thanks to your support, I can devote more time and energy to studying, read more books, participate in more activities, help more people, and pursue my dreams. 

When it comes to dreams, I have always held a firm belief: I hope to become a people’s teacher, using my knowledge and love to nurture more children, so they can go out to see the wider world and find their own value. I hope to become as warm-hearted as you in the future, illuminating the path for more children to realize their dreams. I know this road will be full of thorns and twists, but I firmly believe that faith will guide me to my ideal destination. In future studies, I will work harder and stay grateful, passing on your love so that more people can feel the warmth and care of society. 

Finally, I want to say again: Thank you! It is wonderful to have you! 

-Bangmei

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Did you know that most of the scholarship recipients you support live on less than 20,000 yuan (less than $3,000USD) per year?  That most of them come from single-parent homes or homes where a primary caregiver is disabled or chronically ill?  Many of them spend nearly half of their modest income on educational expenses. Your generosity is relieving tremendous burdens and bringing light and hope to these young people and their families.  Thank you for giving CWEF the honor of your partnership!  Thank you for giving education and hope to girls from rural China!

Hear more inspiring stories from students in China by subscribing to our updates here.

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On a remote cashew farm

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I work on a cashew farm very far from downtown. During the rainy season, the road is slippery.  It is difficult to live on the farm. However, we have no choice but to live in remote areas. 

My husband got cholera and diarrhea because we drank water directly from the pond.  Sometimes we boil the water, but that is difficult for my family. The hospital is so far from my village.  It’s about 80km to get to downtown. 

Nearby we only have a small clinic. When we got sick, the medical treatment was so expensive that we made the long trip to the hospital downtown anyway.  This is because the health center in our village did not have enough of the medicine we needed. 

After my family received a bio-sand water filter from CWEF, the water is now safe to drink. And the filter is easy to use. We don’t have to spend any time boiling water.  We are healthy again. We do not experience stomach pain, diarrhea, or other waterborne illnesses.

So now my family has time to work in the field, and we can afford food and transportation to school for our children. We would like to thank you for your support in lessening our poverty by reducing our cost of living.

– Sokhim, villager from Kampong Thom province in Cambodia

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What a difference clean water makes!  Dirty water leads to illnesses.  Illnesses keep capable hardworking people from working. Without work, there is less money for food, school, and everything else.  Clean water starts a cycle of healing and hope!  

And in addition to Sokhim’s own perseverance and hard work, you are one big reason that Sokhim has clean water to drink today and that her family is now healthy and thriving!  Your generosity is providing years of clean water for many hardworking families like Sokhim’s!

THANK YOU for partnering with CWEF and generously giving the gift of clean water! 

Would you like to learn more about why biosand water filters are so life-changing? Click here to read our blog post that explains just that!

On a remote cashew farm Read More »

a picture showing three adults speaking from a desk on stage to an auditorium of students.

Seminar: what to expect in Adolescence

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On June 3rd, your generous giving through CWEF supported a unique lecture for students on coping with the physical and emotional changes of adolescence. The presentation aimed to help adolescent girls understand themselves as well as improve their mental health and life skills.

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  • Time: June 3rd, 2025 
  • Venue: Wumeng Township Central School 
  • Participants: 100 girls in Grades 4-6, Teacher Shao Jiafang, Principal Li of Wumeng Township Central School, and the teaching team 

Main Events

1. Principal’s Speech – The principal emphasized the significance of mental health in adolescence. He encouraged students to actively participate in solving the problems they face, and to approach adolescent changes with a confident and healthy attitude. 

2. Teacher’s Lecture – kindly explained common changes in adolescence:

  • Physical changes like breast development, appearance of pubic and armpit hair, the patterns of a menstrual cycle etc.
  • Psychological changes like causes of emotional fluctuations, developing a positive self-image etc.

3. Interactive Q&A: students overcame their shyness and became eager to ask questions.  

4. Guided simulations: students practiced coping skills through simulated conversations / scenarios

5. Growth Oath: Students participated in an oath to accept physical and emotional changes and strengthen their self-identity.

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Results

  • Questions that were previously too embarrassing to ask were answered.  Students learned how to cope with adolescent changes. As one student mentioned, “After the lecture, I know how to face physical changes, and the stone in my heart has finally dropped.”
  • Students gained a more scientific understanding of adolescent physical and psychological changes, reducing ther fear and confusion and teaching them how to have the right attitude when coping with challenges. 

Summary 

This lecture provided valuable knowledge and reflections to girls at Wumeng Township Central School in Yunnan, China. The activity not only provided scientific knowledge but also emotional care.  Students will face the changes of adolescence more confidently.

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Want to know how you can partner with us in blessing the young people of rural China? Sign up for our newsletter here to stay up-to-date!

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a cambodian man driving a motorcycle down a red dirt road with a large container strapped to the back of his motorcycle

stepping into village life in cambodia

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What is it like to live in a rural Cambodian village?

It looks like…

  • Plumes of red dust in the air. Trees and homes coated in rusty clay.
  • Farmers and laborers driving motos, trucks, bicycles, trailer-attached big motos, traveling over and around divots in the unpaved roads. Big vehicles create dust clouds that make it impossible to see oncoming traffic.
  • Houses raised on stilts to create shade and allow airflow for the people and animals below. There is no air conditioning in the 35-40 degree celsius (95-100 fahrenheit) heat.
  • Naked children who are dripping wet from their third bath of the day. A way to keep cool.
  • Jackfruit, mango, and lychee trees scattered around people’s properties; fruit that is ready to be shared between family members and neighbors.
  • A woman sitting in her husband’s car repair shop, sewing and altering clothing for a living.
  • Long-sleeved shirts, long pants, long socks, and hats to protect their skin from the blazing sun.
  • Head lamps as laborers work through the night to harvest rubber from the rubber tree fields.
  • Older aunties and grandmas who sit at home and take care of the children while their parents work.
  • A young child drinking a cup of water fetched from the nearby well.
  • Wells, rain water catchment systems, expensive pre-filtered water containers from the local market, or the nearby stream – all possible water sources for the people who live here.

Your life may look vastly different than the people living in rural Cambodia, but you do have at least one thing in common: Water.

Water makes life sustainable for all people – from rural Cambodians to those working on Wall Street. Without safe drinking water, sickness can take people from their jobs, familial roles, and cause pressures on a community as a whole. As such a basic necessity to thriving communities, it’s one way we can support the health of communities in rural Cambodia.

*All pictures were taken during CWEF’s visit to Kampung Thum province, Cambodia for a health training on safe water and the disbursement of water filters. We delivered 44 filters to families in need. These water filters will last each family 15+ years. Life-giving water to real people, a real community, a real impact.

Would you like to help give clean water to families living in remote Cambodian villages like this? Click here to donate!

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Because of you, i never feel lonely or lost

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Hello!  Thank you for generously supporting education for young girls from Yunnan China!

 One of the young ladies you support, Zibu, wrote you a thank you letter. Here are a few excerpts from it:

#1 “Despite my family’s poverty and my parents’ constant ill health, which prevents them from working outside the home to earn a living, I have always lived frugally at school, constantly worried about overspending and adding to their burden. However, since receiving your generous financial support, I have felt less burdened and more confident. My parents have also been relieved, and my entire family is deeply touched. We have realized that even in dark times, there is light and warmth.”

#2 “Thanks to your selfless assistance, we have overcome one obstacle after another.”

#3 “Your support has been like a boat on my academic journey, carrying my boundless hopes and dreams across vast seas, propelling me towards poetry and distant horizons. No matter how arduous or tiring life and studies may be, they cannot deter my steps. For on my path of endeavor, your care and companionship have ensured that I never feel lonely or lost.”

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Did you catch that? According to Zibu, YOU have helped her feel less burdened and more confident. YOU have shown her that even in dark times there is hope. YOU have helped her overcome many obstacles.  And YOU have ensured that she never feels lonely or lost. THANK YOU for standing in the gap and generously helping to educate young women in rural China like Zibu!  

*Please note that, due to new laws, we are no longer able to share images of our scholarship students.  Even without their faces, I hope that you can hear Zibu’s gratitude for all that you have done. 

Would you like to know when there are opportunities to support students like Zibu? Sign up for CWEF updates here.

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classes you gave to migrant children in kunming

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Due to rapid urbanization, the population of migrant children in Kunming has increased significantly. Most migrant parents hold temporary jobs, leaving them little time to care for their children. The lack of family education has led to numerous challenges. These migrant children lack necessary daily care. This imbalance often leads to parent-child conflicts which causes children to struggle in other relationships as well. More seriously, some children do extreme things like drop out of school or run away from home.

This is why, through your generosity, CWEF supported life education classes for 250 students and 20 teachers at Bohua school in Kunming City during 2024.   Here are some examples of the many topics covered in the class: 

1. “Stereotypes” 

Target Group: 5th grade students 

Content: 

  • Through riddles and interactive discussions, students learned to recognize and distinguish stereotypes. 
  • The course aimed to help students understand the impact of stereotypes on evaluating others and learn to avoid stereotypes based on gender, region, and other characteristics

Key Quotes: 

  • “Stereotypes make us overlook individual differences, forming preconceived notions.” 
  • “Do not judge others’ abilities or personalities based on gender, region, or other characteristics.”

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2. “I Am a Media Assessment Expert” 

Target Group: 5th grade students 

Content: 

  • Through interactive questions and video screenings, students learned to assess media information and avoid succumbing to bad influences
  • The course aimed to improve students’ media literacy and cultivate their ability to think independently. 

Key Quotes: 

  • “Media information is everywhere; we must learn to identify the values in it.” 
  • “Do not blindly follow media propaganda; learn to think independently.”

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3. “Your Special Value” 

Target Group: 2nd & 3rd grade students 

Content: 

  • Through a picture book about tomato plants, students learned that everyone has unique value and strengths. 
  • The course used questions and interactive games to guide students to reflect on their own unique qualities and encourage them to have confidence.

Key Quotes: 

  • “Both tall and short tomato plants have their own strengths; everyone is unique.” 
  • “No matter what kind of person you are, you have your own value and deserve respect.” 

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THANK YOU for your heart for migrant children in China and for supporting the mental and relational health of both the children and their parents through your generosity!!  250 children are better equipped to face the big wide world BECAUSE OF YOU!

Want to stay informed on opportunities to equip young people from disadvantaged communities in China and Cambodia? Sign up for updates from CWEF here.

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