In this emergency aid project we support a family of seven in Kamping Pouy Damp, which consists of two parents and five children. The father is a fisherman and catches three to five kilograms of fish daily, which he uses for his own needs, as well as for sale. He earns about 2.5 USD per day. The way to work is about one hour each way, on foot. The mother is a housewife. Two of the five children attend school, the three smaller children are looked after by their mother at home.

The family does not have its own means of transport. Two years ago, the family had to sell their house to pay off debts. Fortunately, they still own half a hectare of land, which is far away from the village community. The parents seem hopeless and exhausted from the circumstances in which they have lived for years. The daily struggle for survival, coupled with a lack of education, makes it almost impossible for them to develop strategies to improve their situation sustainably.

According to the family, they were promised the building of a family owned latrine from ADB (Asian Development Bank) a long time ago. So far, a pit has been dug and some materials provided. Unfortunately, no cement was delivered and the family has no financial resources to buy the cement themselves. This is why the construction project has come to a standstill. Unfortunately, the extent of the arrangements made with the family to implement the project, are not known to us.

In cooperation with our local partner organisation Bareebo, during our first visit we informed the family about a simple, quick-to-implement and not cost-intensive composting toilet. In Cambodia, many preventable diseases are transmitted through open defecation and poisonous animals also pose danger.

The family owns two water tanks with a total capacity of 350 litres. Although they have no financial resources, they have to buy the water. Unfortunately, the quality of this water is also very poor. Of course, they lack any basic knowledge to distinguish clean from contaminated water. The consequences are also completely alien to them.

According to the WHO, 780 million people still have no access to clean drinking water and 2.5 billion people have no access to sanitation. Unfortunately, deaths resulting from this are the order of the day in Cambodia. Diarrhoea-related diseases alone kill 1.5 million children worldwide every year and are the second largest cause of death among children under the age of five worldwide. (Source: www.bundesgesundheitsministerium.de).

We want to counteract this and start our emergency project with this family. We will provide a package that will help the family to recover from years of deprivation and gain new strength for a better future.

Of course, such an emergency project can only be implemented if appropriate financial resources are made available. Fortunately, there are people like Marion Externbrink who use her birthday to help people in acute need. We would like to thank her and everyone who gave her this gift.

Project coordinates: 113.001139, 102.952000

Date: 16.02.2018