Giving My Grandchildren A Better Future

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Children from the local school play underneath the Community Water Treatment Plant

Children from the local school play underneath the Community Water Treatment Plant

Chheu Teal Village, Peam Chileang Commune
Cambodia

Before becoming their commune’s Community Water Entreprenuers, Mrs. Im Koyhour and her husband Mr. Yan Yoeun were farmers. Farming didn’t give them a predictable income supply: “We only had income from one or two harvests per year and it was unpredictable. This job provides us with a steady income.” Mrs. Im said.

The Community Treatment Plant opened in November 2014, with co-funding from the Prince Albert II of Monaco foundation. Business has been stronger than expected and as a result Mrs. Im took a loan from a local bank to buy more 20-litre bottles for new customers. Today, she is contemplating whether she should add a ledge under the treatment plant to create additional storage space for the bottles, so that they do not take up precious floor space within the plant. Mrs. Im walked us around the space beneath the treatment plant, pointing to where she plans to install the shelf.

Community Water Treatment Plant in Peam Chileang Village

Community Water Treatment Plant in Peam Chileang Village

She told us that the greatest joy she had from operating the plant was being able to earn enough care for her grandchildren as their parents (Mrs Im’s children) were too poor to do so. Sitting on the raised floor of Mrs. Im’s village house, we meet her grandchildren – 11 year old Pic Ta, 13 year old Van Rachana and 16 year old Van Chiva.

Mrs. Im Koy Hour, CWE and Family. Village Chheu Teal village, Peam Chileang Commune, Tbung Khmum Province Cambodia.

Mrs. Im Koy Hour, CWE and Family. Village Chheu Teal village, Peam Chileang Commune, Tbung Khmum Province Cambodia.

Pic Ta used to suffer from diarrhoea, typhoid, and dengue fever. Even compared with local Cambodian children, she is small for an eleven year old. Since moving in with her grandmother and drinking clean water, her health has improved dramatically. She used to miss school almost every week due to illness but now misses perhaps one day every other month. Brothers Van Rachana and Van Chiva also saw their grades and class attendance improve since they stopped suffering from typhoid and diarrhoea. Van Rachana’s class rank improved two spots from 20/41 to 18/41 while Van Chiva’s grades improved even more, moving eight spots from 28/40 to 20/40.

“People in my community still use well water to cook and clean but I think they understand now that for drinking they should drink treated water instead.” Mrs. Im told us.

This project in Peam Chileang commune, implemented under the Community Water Enterprise programme in Cambodia, was supported with co-funding from the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.

Saved Labor Helps Mrs. Man Provide More Birth Control Education

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Mrs. Man Ti Ma in her home where she runs a birth control and beauty supply business.

Pram Damleng Village, Peam Chileang Commune
Cambodia

Mrs. Man Ti Ma has something of an unconventional business and household, at least at first glance. While much of her income comes from family land that Mrs. Man rents out for growing rice, Mrs. Man’s main focus is on a beauty supply and family planning business in her local Muslim Cham community. Alongside beauty supplies, make up and hair dye Mrs. Man and her daughter provide education on natural family planning along with birth spacing pills, condoms, and pregnancy tests.

Unlike some of the other families in her community, Mrs. Man has long had enough money to buy wood to boil water. Before the Community Water Treatment plant was installed in her community Mrs. Man would buy wood, gather water, and spend time each day boiling the water to drink. The routine of making a fire and boiling water took away time from Mrs. Man’s family and her business.

“Not needing to boil water gives us time back to see customers and so business has improved. We give customers who show up the water to drink and they like it, leading some of them to buy it for their families. With increased income I can now give my son 5,000 Riel for food and allowance every day instead of 2,000 Riel before.” Mrs. Man said.

Mrs. Man is divorced and needs to care for her son and daughter alone. Any time spent on household chores took away time from her family and her business. Boiling water wasn’t a perfect solution either: Mrs. Man’s 15 year old son, Ei Amanas, still got sick about twice per month and missed school.

“With the treated water from the Community Water Treatment plant my family is healthier and my son doesn’t get sick anymore. I think that our skin looks better as well. I tell the women who come to me for beauty treatments to drink the water so that their skin will be healthy and clear.” Mrs. Ma said.

Now that her family spends less time acquiring water they spend more time on their businesses. Four to five customers per day arrive, many initially for beauty supplies, but some leave with either family planning education or condoms, birth spacing pills, or pregnancy tests.

Mrs. Man demonstrates a visual guide to natural family planning.

Among beauty supplies Mrs. Man's family also sells condoms and birth spacing pills.

Among beauty supplies Mrs. Man’s family also sells condoms and birth spacing pills.

Mrs. Man is a member of the commune government and also spent five years as a member of the Reproductive Health Association of Cambodia. The RHAC educated Mrs. Man on how to train the local community about birth control. When the RHAC recently closed Mrs. Ma decided to continue the education on her own.

As outsiders we were initially uncomfortable asking Mrs. Ma about the birth control business when we saw the stocks of condoms and pills in her cabinets. Our assumptions made us think it might be a secretive business. This turns out not to be the truth at all: Mrs. Man’s community fully supports her role as an educator.

“The community doesn’t support abortion, but birth control is fine.” Mrs. Man told us.

While most visitors come for beauty supplies during the day, Mrs. Ma’s birth control business picks up at night: “People arrive late, even when the door is locked, if they need birth control urgently.” Mrs. Ma said with a laugh. “They bang on the door, and if we are home we help them, but we do wish they would plan ahead.” She continued.

This project in Peam Chileang commune, implemented under the Community Water Enterprise programme in Cambodia, was supported with co-funding from the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.

Fifteen Completed Treatment Plants Transferred to Local Cambodians

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On Thursday, March 26th Lien AID and UNICEF handed over 15 recently completed water treatment project sites at an event in Tbong Khmum province, Cambodia. The completed water treatment plants and associated infrastructure are now owned by the local communities.

The project sites in Prey Veng Province, Kampong Cham Province and Tbong Khmum Province were a collaboration between UNICEF and Lien AID and target approximately 72,000 people in 74 villages. The plants are administered by the local communes and operated by a Community Water Entrepreneur.

Approximately 500 villagers and 50 officials attended the handover including Cambodian commune chiefs, Tbong Khmum Provincial Governor Mr Prach Chan, Undersecretary of State His Excellency Theng Chan-Sangvar and the Minister from the Ministry of Rural Development His Excellency Chea Sophara.

At the event H.E. Chea stressed that charging for water is important so that people will use the water responsibly. H.E. Chea added that many of the local wells access water sources which are contaminated with arsenic, so even if people have access to water the main issue is that the existing water is not safe to drink.

UNICEF WASH chief Mr. Kabuka Banda highlighted that projects are a part of the UNICEF WASH programme arsenic mitigation response. Instead of gathering water, “women and girls who collect water for their families will save time for other chores including studying“ said Mr. Kabuka.

“We look forward to partnering with UNICEF again on the provisioning of sustainable clean water access as well as other WASH sector activities in Cambodia.” said Mr. Lian Hock, CEO of Lien AID.

A 20 litre bottle of water from the plants sells for 1,000 Cambodian Riel (about 25 cents), lower than the common 4,000 Riel cost in private markets. After the event in Pi Village, Kampong Treas commune the village water entrepreneur Mr. Math Ma El began selling water to villagers.  The initial supply of 20 litre bottles sold out in about 45 minutes.

 

Cambodia's Minister of Rural Development H.E. Chea Sophara cutting the ribbon at the opening of a new water treatment plant in Tbong Khmum province.

Cambodia’s Minister of Rural Development H.E. Chea Sophara cutting the ribbon at the opening of a new water treatment plant in Tbong Khmum province.

 

Cambodia's Minister of Rural Development H.E. Chea Sophara sampling water from the recently completed treatment plant.

Cambodia’s Minister of Rural Development H.E. Chea Sophara sampling water from the recently completed treatment plant.

 

The project site's initial supply of 20 litre water bottles quickly sold out.

The project site’s initial supply of 20 litre water bottles quickly sold out.

 

Villagers carrying recently purchased water bottles away from the treatment plant.

Villagers carrying recently purchased water bottles away from the treatment plant.

Adopt a village for CSR

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As Lien AID continues to engage corporates in different ways to achieve their corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, it appears clear that there is a growing trend of the private sector engaging with the non-profit space, not just passively donating valuable resources but also by donating valuable skills through the active participation of their employees in these activities. Every company is different, and while the end-goal is the same (improving access to clean water for poor rural communities), it is our approach to work very closely with a company’s management, to build a CSR programme that is equally beneficial for its own CSR objectives.

In 2012, we were approached by BASF – The Chemical Company, interested to partner with us on a sustainable water project as part of a new BASF management trainee program in South East Asia . In order to provide employee engagement and development opportunities beyond corporate training, the new management trainees actively worked alongside Lien AID staff at all stages of the project cycle (needs assessment, project implementation, post project sustainability assessment) over a course of 6 months to develop a Lien AID designed community-based water social enterprise (CWE) at a small Cambodian floating village, in need of an improved access to clean, affordable drinking water. In addition, a health and hygiene training for school children was introduced by BASF’s management trainees.

In March 2013, Kampong Uor Village with a population of 620, celebrated the official launch of the first CWE in their community.

We are excited to continue on this journey working with more corporates to form more water alliances that bring clean water to more poor rural communities in Asia. Below is a clip of  the FM93.8 Live Interview with Mr Dean Draper, Managing Director ASEAN Sub-region, BASF South East Asia Pte Ltd.

 

Youth volunteers immersed across Lien AID’s offices

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International Youth Day is celebrated globally on 12 August. In this issue, we shine a spotlight on our latest youth volunteers, their field experiences, and takeaways since answering the call to action by contributing their time, skills and enthusiastic energy to our cause.

Over the years, Lien AID has actively engaged Singaporean youths from tertiary institutions such as Nanyang Technological University (The Blue Right), and Ngee Ann Polytechnic. Many receive the opportunity to step foot on our project sites, directly interacting with beneficiaries and gaining first-hand experience and understanding of the severity of the water issue in Asia.

Since last year, we have begun to engage youth volunteers from Cambodia, Vietnam and more recently the United States, immersing them across our organisation in Singapore and Phnom Penh.

The students from Royal University of Phnom Penh visited Kandal Province’s rural villages and aided the organisation in carrying out needs assessments surveys, which involved interviewing villagers in their homes and collected much needed data to inform our intervention process.

“I am close to graduating and wanted more experience in the work that I was studying at university. I am studying engineering and thought it would be a good way to get exposure to water treatment technology. I also wanted to make a difference in people’s lives and be involved in something so important,” explained Kimsay.

Read more about Kimsay’s experience here.

Read more about Kerry Phan’s (student intern from the United States) experience here.

Research Team Collaborates with Lien AID to review its impact in Cambodia (Part 3 of 3)

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Researchers from the Asia Centre for Social Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy traveled to Cambodia to speak to key players (government officials, local contractors, beneficiaries, partners) of the project sites and get a personal insight on Lien AID’s impact in the country.
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To find out more about our work in Cambodia, take a look at Where We Work – Cambodia.

Research Team Collaborates with Lien AID to review its impact in Cambodia (Part 2 of 3)

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Researchers from the Asia Centre for Social and Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy traveled to Cambodia to speak to key players (government officials, local contractors, beneficiaries, partners) of the project sites and get a personal insight on Lien AID’s impact in the country.
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To find out more about our work in Cambodia, take a look at Where We Work – Cambodia.

Research Team Collaborates with Lien AID to review its impact in Cambodia (Part 1 of 3)

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Researchers from the Asia Centre for Social and Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy travelled to Cambodia to speak to key players (government officials, local contractors, beneficiaries, partners) of the project sites and get a personal insight on Lien AID’s impact in the country.
Information-bubble-sect-1.4-question-11
To find out more about our work in Cambodia, take a look at Where We Work – Cambodia.

Is my diarrhea caused by drinking the water at the nearby river?

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According to the 2014 Updated Report on the “Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation Report” released by the World Health Organization and UNICEF, through collaborative efforts worldwide, the global community met the Millennium Development Goal’s (MDG) drinking water target, of 88% of the global population having access to improved water sources.

With better water infrastructure put in place through these collaborative efforts, many more communities were able to access to improved water sources more easily than previous years. Hand in hand with improving this access however, a conscious effort to educate and raise awareness to beneficiaries on the importance of drinking clean water is necessary to change behaviors, and further extend the sustainable impact achieved by the increased ease people have to access improved water sources.

This May, as part of our Community-based Water Social Enterprise (CWE) initiative, Lien AID’s team continued to travel to five locations, across two provinces in Cambodia (Kandal Province, Kampong Chhnang Province), to conduct health and hygiene awareness sessions with the assistance from the local government officials. At these sessions, information on the importance of drinking clean water and the negative effects of consuming contaminated water is shared interactively in a thought-provoking manner.

Changing behaviors does not occur overnight, but through these sessions, it is our intention to encourage and facilitate these changes in behavior, that if not addressed, may diminish the impact of an increased access to clean water.

We have listened to many water stories over the years. Last year, we spoke to some villagers in the Kampong Chhnang Province to get a better understanding of their water situation. Through conversations with the villagers, it drove home the point that raising awareness and educating villagerson the benefits of drinking clean water, and how drinking dirty water may cause water-related diseases such as diarrhea, has to go hand-in-hand with the improvement of clean water through the development of adequate and sustainable water infrastructure.

 

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Seung Khom, Mother of 7 children, Kampong Chhnang Province
Seung Khom is a mother of 7 children. The adults and older children take turns fetching water for daily use. The family retrieves dirty river water using six small containers, which is then used for boiling, drinking, washing, and cooking. She waits for the water to sit “for a couple of hours until there is no turbidity before I consume it”. However the river water is still unsafe to consume and she regularly falls ill. Every month, Seung takes medications to ease her diarrhea, but drinks it with the same river water that caused her illness.

Duk Tom, 72-year-old woman, Kampong Chhnang Province
We had asked Duk if she had fallen ill recently, in which she recalls she had diarrhea and attributed this affliction to the food that she ate (water flowers and snails), and not the water that she’d drank, which at that time continued to be untreated river water. She readily shared with us her home-made remedy to treat diarrhea which involves holding her breath while picking seven leaves from a specific medicinal tree. These leaves are eaten whole or mixed with water before they are consumed.

To find out more about our efforts towards delivering clean water access, take a look at What We Do.

Lien AID scales up Programmes and collaborations to double direct beneficiary count in 2014

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Lien AID, aims to help more than 200,000 direct beneficiaries in rural Cambodia, China and Vietnam gain access to water and sanitation by the end of this year, doubling the direct beneficiary count from 2013.

Securing four new collaborations with the UN children’s agency, UNICEF, international NGOs such as the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, as well as corporations such as environmental engineering company, United Envirotech, further strengthens Lien AID’s mission to expand its programmes in scale and locations in order to alleviate health issues surrounding the lack of access to clean water and sanitation.

“We are excited to be inking new and strong partnerships with international foundations and corporations who believe in our vision to help improve access to water and sanitation – the very basics of wellbeing – to poor communities in the region,” said Koh Lian Hock, CEO of Lien AID.

“Having new partners onboard would mean that we are able to synergize the strengths of our partners who come from various sectors including global development partners, private corporations, governments and NGOs, and we are able to deploy solutions to those in need in a more cost and time effective manner,” added Koh.

To find out more, please take a look at What We Do.