This is our third time working with this wonderful organization. 

Lifewater: provides access to safe water, and improved sanitation and hygiene, one village at a time. For this particular project eMite will be  funding a large village water program in Cambodia, with construction projected to conclude by Q3 of 2022. 

eMite is providing safe water, improved health, and Gospel hope in Rohal Village north of Siem Reap where the famous Angkor Wat temple complex is located in Cambodia. 

Rohal Village is home to 306 people, with the main industry being agriculture. Another organization installed a well with a hand pump several years ago, but without community investment and education, the pump broke and became unusable and unsafe again, leaving people at risk of catching water-borne diseases like Cholera. 

In lieu of a working well, several families dug a pit to access water. For the past year, church volunteers have taken their water committee training to share WASH education with this community, and several surrounding communities.

This project is part of Lifewater’s “Healthy Village” vision, where they aim to build long-term regional transformation. They have been operating in different countries since 2016, including Cambodia working with villages who are eager to empower themselves for sustainable change. 

Lifewater works with a community-led approach to sanitation so leaders inspire others to take ownership of these initiatives so everyone benefits.  It takes up to three years for communities to obtain a “healthy village” status and assume responsibility for the ongoing maintenance of the clean water source. 

Project Scope

Country: Rohal Village, Cambodia

# Served: 306

Need: $31,500

$100 Provides clean water for a family

$50 Provides 2 people clean water

$25 Provides 1 person clean water

MAY & JUNE UPDATE

"Soursdei" (hello) from Cambodia! It's rainy season in the kingdom of wonder, which means drilling for water has been challenging. Unfortunately, we received news from our partner Lifewater that even with such wonderful odds in Trapeang Ruessei village, the team could not complete drilling at this time.

This is the update from engineer Samay Yin:

“For these sub-villages (Trapeang Ruessei I and Trapeang Ruessei II), two new boreholes were planned for construction in Q2/2022. In the month of May/2022, the contractor tried the first drilling but was not successful; then conducted a geophysical survey to get a feasible site, but couldn't get a feasible site within those sub-villages. Currently, there is rain, so the contractor will not be able to continue drilling for these sub-villages. Hence, I request to postpone this plan until 2023. To replace this plan, I recommend drilling two new boreholes for Rohal village. Rohal was a 2023 plan as per the previous master plan, but it is accessible, has no land issue, and progressing the prerequisites well. Therefore, I request to add Rohal Village to the 2022 plan. As per the standard, this village requires two boreholes. One borehole will serve 160 population; the other borehole will serve 146.”

So we have good news! We are supporting the drilling of Rohal Village to bring access to safe and clean drinking water to 306 people!

The water quality is currently under analysis, and once that's complete, a fountain will be installed. We expect the two water points to be completed by the end of July or the start of August. The water points will also be subject to a detailed review by a Lifewater engineer.

APRIL UPDATE

Did you know that 21% of the Cambodian population does not have basic access to safe drinking water? Further, 34% have no reliable source of handwashing facilities with soap and water. Water in the area is severely contaminated since 32% do not have access to a toilet, creating a major public health crisis. The great news is that this is entirely preventable. 

Lifewater’s mission is to bring sanitary water access to the world’s hardest-to-reach communities. Their team consists of a local staff who knows the culture and language and helps the community adopt lifesaving sanitation and hygiene practices and build a reliable and safe water source that will positively impact the community for generations.