Turn On The Tap – Whole Communities Turned Around
It’s hard for us to imagine how it would be to not have safe accessible water. Sangseoun is 31 years old; he lives in Sdokprey village in Takeo province. He is married with three children. He has firsthand experience of this challenge…
“My village did not have clean water to use and so the people in the village had big problems. Many in the village were sick and we did not have water to drink. Before I was married for a time all the members in my family were sick and we did not have the money to pay for hospital fees and so they sold their rice fields.
When I got married and we had children I did not have any rice fields to work in like others in the village had. I had to find alternative work to earn money to support the family and buy rice. When the rainy season comes, even though I do not own rice fields, I work as a rice farmer for other land owners.
I also catch fish during these times and trade homemade desserts with people far away from the village in exchange for rice. After harvest time when there is no rice farming work I drive a motorbike taxi in Phnom Penh. My wife makes desserts to sell so we can both support the
family with rice and food all year round.
My life is very hard but what was really difficult for me in the past was having no clean water in the village to use.
In the past, all the people in this village had to collect water from the pagoda and when water was scarce people had to travel far, about 3.5 kilometres to collect it. This happened every year when the dry season came. It was difficult and the water situation caused many to fall sick in the village. People do not normally have money for medical treatment and therefore cannot work when ill.
Now we are really happy because we have a clean water source which Samaritan’s Purse has provided for our village and we are pleased to use this well along with our neighbours. We participate in taking care of the well in order to preserve its longevity and keep it for future generations who will be able to pump clean water from this well.”
