Friday 5 June 2009

a little water goes a long way

http://www.sustainablecambodia.org/cambodia/VillageLife.asp

in the above website it says:

There are perhaps 50 adults and 250 children living in and around Osdao, a village that is about 2 square kilometers in size in the province of Pursat. The two nearest villages are Svay Ath and Krangpophlack.

There is a great deal of transit that takes place between the surrounding villages and Osdao, with methods of travel including bicycle, motorbike, lorries on train tracks, walking and carts pulled by motorbike or oxen. The people transport fruits, vegetable and rice for sale in the markets.

Roads that connect the villages are the primary transportation corridors for the population. In the central business district of Pursat town, homes are connected to the city water treatment facility, yet most homes beyond the central business district, including those in the village of Osdao, get their water from the nearest water source: Pursat River, small ponds, or from rice paddies. There is a general inaccessibility to water for the majority of the people in Pursat province.

For those living outside the central business district, water from lakes, rivers and irrigation networks is transported in buckets typically carried by the families. Most people boil the water and use it for non-human consumption. Otherwise it is untreated. Those who can afford it collect rain water in large clay pots or buy bottled water.

The community needs better connectivity to clean drinking water and irrigation for crops during the dry season. This means improvement and expansion of water pipelines, expansion and improvement of the treatment facility to ensure the water's safety and rebuilding and improving the irrigation networks. The best thing we could do is to build them some deep wells.



the above report could be written anywhere in Cambodia, not just Osdao. Villages thoughout Cambodia are in need of help in any shape or form. We chose to install a well at PHUM LEANG DAI (hope I have spelt that right) it is a village about 35 klms out of Siem Reap......

When we were in Cambodia last month, we realised that many villages did not have water. No water unless of course they drag it up from the river by bucket.

after much negotiation we rec'd the following email last night:

Dear Leone + John,
Today is such happy time that villager come and see you well drilling.
They say thanks to you. I wish you are here see this happy people. I send you some pics for today and will send the finish tomorrow. God bless you. Best Regard. Ly Heng

Ly Heng took some images for us yesterday to show us the pre drilling, the work in progress and a few of the villagers that the well will help.



we are over the moon, am in tears...... it's exciting, emotional, heartwarming ... you name it, all the emotions are there just to know that the people in this particular village are getting a well.

more images in the next few days!



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