May 29, 2008

Village well completed


I’m very happy to report that the Village well has been completed and is serving 23 families. The well is being used by Phum O' village community which is located about 45km east of Siemreap. Bunthin has told me that this poor community was facing very bad sanitation for very long time. There are many children getting sick and most of them have gotten dengue fever and dysentery. This well will go a long ways toward improving their everyday health. Bunthin is in the back row with his ever present ball cap. You should be able to click on the picture for a better look.

The next village we would like to target is Kampong Thom province, Krayear village, east of Siemreap about 200km away, Bunthin said that no tourists go there at all so they don’t even get the opportunity for the small family wells. They also are facing very bad sanitation and sickness with the children of the village.

In the next couple of weeks I’m going to develop a plan for raising money for the next well. Bunthin having his bank account has helped a lot. The cost of transferring the money was $20 here and his bank charged $26. I hate to lose that much money but it is much better then Western Union which was charging me $17 every $200 I sent over.

I have contacted 3 different organizations that do wells in other countries to see if they would add Cambodia to their list of countries they help but I have not been getting any responses yet. I’ll keep trying but my hopes are not very high right now. I think I will develop a list of companies that I may be able to interest in helping. Any large company that has a foundation that helps worthy causes. If anyone can think of a company to add to my list that would be a great help.

If anyone on my distribution list would rather not receive these emails please let me know and I will remove your name. Otherwise I hope that with your help we can continue to provide fresh water to more and more families that are in such great need. Your generosity has already given many families a gift that benefits them each and everyday.