Updated statistics
3.7 million people don't have clean water.
3.7 million people don't have clean water.
That's 1 in 5 people.
Nearly a quarter of the population lack a decent toilet.
Nearly a quarter of the population lack a decent toilet.
3.9 million people live without this basic essential.
2.8 million don't have soap or water to wash their hands at home
2.8 million don't have soap or water to wash their hands at home
If they have a place at all.
Clean water, greener gardens
In Prek Bei, around 900 people struggle to make a living from small-scale farming. Lack of water services and toilets has added greatly to local poverty.
Until recently, the only way to get regular water here was to order it by the bottle from a travelling truck. Quality was questionable, and prices were high.
The water deliveries were also less than punctual. “Sometimes the truck didn't come for two days,” says Krowh Phong, 75.
The expense and difficulty of living this way put a limit on what people could achieve.
This changed dramatically when, together with our local partners DDSP – who focus on helping people with disabilities in Cambodia – we installed a community well.
Phong is delighted: “Now I have water, I can grow vegetables to cook and sell at market, like pumpkin and lemongrass and others.”
Innovation in floating villages
For the 100,000 people who live on Tonlé Sap, the lake is their lifeblood. We helped to trial the Handypod, which filters toilet waste through a floating hyacinth garden before it goes back to the lake - keeping the water clean for other uses like cleaning and fishing.
