Getting Well clean water program
60% of rural Cambodians are without clean drinking water. Women and children in the main suffer most, having to travel long distances to fetch water and which impacts on their health, livelihood and education.
Lotus Outreach has thus far constructed 74 pump wells that serving more than 10,000 villagers of drought prone regions of rural Cambodia as well as provided education to recipient communities regarding water sanitation and hygiene.
When poor Cambodians have no drinking water, they have to buy it or spend valuable work hours walking to get it and bringing it back. For a typical family, the cost is up to $30 per month, the average monthly salary of one Cambodian adult. This expense has a severe impact on communities where 80% of families cannot afford more than two days’ supply of rice at a time.
These wells reduce the financial burden on rural families, lowering the incidence of infectious disease as well as allowing villagers to grow vegetables during the dry, drought-prone season, which can last from 8 to 10 months per year. The availability of fresh vegetables helps reduce widespread malnutrition and hunger.
These wells also help villagers to weather the increasingly frequent and extreme droughts and flooding they face due to climate change and deforestation.
Partners: Cambodian Organization for Children and Development (COCD) • Cambodian Women’s Crisis Center (CWCC)
Supported by: Douglas A. Campbell Foundation • IPA Foundation • Radiant Spirit • Devopsday • Forix Foundation • Buddhist Global Relief • The Lutheran Church of Ascension