Attending school in the rural villages of Siem Reap is a privilege. While many children attend in their early years, the number drastically declines by high school. Less than a third have access to a high school education and very few of those are girls.
Instead, children are required to trek long distances in harsh weather to search for water.
Or work in the fields for an income so meagre it barely feeds them.
And for girls the options are even bleaker. Early marriage looms large for daughters in poverty stricken families.
These children will never know the liberation of education.
But there is a way to change this.
(Accessing water from Lovear’s new water system, June 2018)
A fresh water source for Lovear Village
A reliable source of fresh drinking water is life changing for Cambodian children and their wider community. It opens up opportunities and pathways out of poverty that were previously not available.
That’s why Step2Foundation have stepped up our commitment to building fresh water systems in village schools over the past year. In June Zeynep travel to Cambodia where she helped to build a cutting edge, low-maintenance water system for Lovear village.
The village school now has a source of fresh drinking water that can be accessed by students and the wider community. With the water and school intrinsically linked, attending school takes on a level of prestige which encourages attendance. It quickly becomes clear that a reliable source of fresh water ensures better health and better educational outcomes. These in turn create pathways out of poverty for children in Cambodia.
With your support we’ve built four water filtration systems in only twelve months!
That’s 3,200 litres of water per hour flowing into communities where previously there was none; three villages where families no longer worry about where they will source clean water for cooking and drinking.
But there is still more to do.
Community response to these water systems has been overwhelming. The ecstatic thanks of the villagers who now have water is tempered by despair at the lack of water in neighbouring villages. We continue to receive petitions asking for fresh water and school infrastructure.
It is the generosity and kindness of people like you who will make these possible.
There are several school sites for new water systems being explored and many more crying out for help. Without your help children in Cambodia will continue to face the hardships of searching every day for one of life’s basic necessities.
To fully install one water system costs $10,000. This is a cutting edge system requiring minimal maintenance. The system will continue to provide pure drinking water for the community indefinitely.
You can give the gift of fresh water and open up educational opportunities for children in Cambodia
- Make a donation toward a system
- Form a donor circle with friends to raise the target
- Fully fund a system
There are children facing a lifetime of poverty who need your support. Your kindness and generosity will open up pathways out of poverty that impact a whole community. Support an educational charity who really make a difference.