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Water
Use & Health Education
Project in
Pursat,
Cambodia
By Elise NDiaye – HOPE International Development Agency
Project
Background
Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in the
world, whose GNI per capita in 2008 was US$600, just above the
US$583 average of
the least developed countries. (UNICEF,
The State of World’s Children, publicized Nov.11, 2009).
Although a country with rich soil and a rich culture, as can be seen
by the Angkor Watt,
The legacies of genocide and civil war have left Cambodia one of the
poorest and most underdeveloped countries in the world.
Although
t he country is on its route to reconstruction, need for basic
infrastructure, especially in the rural area, is still great.
The infant (under-5) mortality rate of
Cambodia,
although improving,
remains very high, 90/1000 in 2008,
ranking as the 41st among 195 countries researched. (UNICEF), and the
country
is
ranked 137th
out of 182
countries in the United Nations Development Program’s (UNDP) Human
Development Report
2009,
making it one of the least developed countries in Southeast Asia and
one of the least developed countries in all of Asia combined.
Poverty in general is rampant, with 34.1% of the population living
below $1 a day, and fully 77.7% living below $2 a day; according to
the government-sanctioned poverty line, 35.9% of the population is
poor. However, this poverty is more highly concentrated in some
sectors of the population than in others: for example, poverty is
much more prevalent in rural areas, where 90% of the poor live.
The alleviation of poverty remains the top
national priority of Cambodia as a majority of Cambodians,
especially in rural areas, continue to struggle to make ends meet in
order to provide basic needs to their families.
The rural beneficiaries represent the poorest
segment of the Cambodian population, and given the countries
position among all countries, the poorest of the world.
In this area there are no government
bodies working to provide potable water, nor are any other (local or
international) agencies involved in water supply.
Pursat has historically been among the poorer
and less developed provinces of
Cambodia.
It was ranked as one of the “worst off” provinces (source: 2003
Cambodian Millenium Development Goals Report), with poverty rates
above the national average.
In all communities where HOPE works in Cambodia,
residents have identified access to water as a priority need.
 On
average Pursat has one of the worst records on rural access to water
and sanitation.
In 2003, only 32.57% of households in
Pursat
Province,
highly concentrated in the urban area, had water at home, 23.04%
within 150meters from home, and 44.39% depended on other sources of
water such as rivers and ponds. Water-borne
diseases such as cholera, typhoid, dysentery, hepatitis and polio
result from the consumption of contaminated water. Recognizing the
vital importance of water to health, food security, incomes, and
general well-being, HOPE has worked to increase rural access to safe
water in Pursat for the past 15
years,
firmly
believing
that access to potable water is a key to improving the lives of the
rural poor. Experience in Pursat has consistently shown that
providing
access to clean water and
building
the capacity to maintain and manage this resource,
combined with health/sanitation education, is appropriate, providing
a sustained source of disease-free water,
becoming
a catalyst for families living in extreme poverty to engage in
further positive developments to improve their conditions.
As HOPE dealt with the challenge of providing
adequate
access to clean water,
especially targeting
female-headed
households and other poor families,
the program
expanded to include
education on
water use,
health
and nutrition.This
recognised the beneficiaries’
interest
in not only
having
clean
water for household use,
but
also
to
engage in income generating activities,
out of
which the
home gardening
component
grew. The
key benefit of home gardening and the main incentive to grow
vegetables was the potential for generating revenue.
The success of the new home gardens often exceeded
expectations.
By deliberately working in underserved remote villages. and by
establishing rigorous guidelines in the selection of water user
groups, HOPE has been effective in reaching the poor.
An external evaluation noted that “There is no
doubt that the HOPE projects respond to the needs and priorities of
project beneficiaries.
All villagers interviewed, direct
beneficiaries or not, confirmed the importance of access to water,
for health, bathing and to engage in food production and income
generating activities…. The overall conclusion of the evaluation is
that the projects have made a significant impact on the well being
of rural populations in the targeted villages.”
 Goal
and Objectives
The goal of this Project is
to
transform the lives of
500 underserved
poor
families living
in
Oromchong and Kom Bao Chrum villages,
creating sustainable communities where
people want to live,
with
access to healthy water, enough good food, education, and
environmental responsibility to allow them to sustain and
continually improve their quality of life.
More specifically, in support of these aims, Hope retains the
objectives for this project as following:
Water Use and Sanitation: To promote a healthier usage of water by
rural families; to improve the quality of drinking water.
Nutrition: To promote home gardening, thereby contributing to
overall health and providing additional income, and to introduce the
link between fruits and vegetables and nutrition to rural women; to
support the use of surplus water.
Capacity
Building:
to strengthen the capacity of rural villagers to effectively address
their health concerns through health/sanitation/nutrition education
information.
Project Description
Project
location:The
project
will be implemented within
Oromchong
and Kom Bao Chrum villages, Bak Chen Chien commune, Kravanh district
of Pursat province
Project Period:
This is a 2 year project, starting January 2010
Beneficiaries:
The neediest 500-600 families of the two villages.
Project Components:
The main components of the project will be the
provision of 100 wells, linked with well-user group training, health
education, and training for home gardening.
Ø Well
User Groups are formed at each site from the
5-6
families who will benefit from the well before the wells are built.
Ø
The Group receives
extensive training of water use and health education,
beginning even before the installation of the well.
(This is so that families can start internalizing
key concepts as quickly as possible and
also
for
HOPE
to understand
how motivated and interested families actually are before large
amounts of time and money are invested
towards a
group)
The training, which lasts
almost a full year and a half, include topics such as
well maintenance,
cleanliness, hygiene/sanitation, nutrition, the relationship between
disease and dirty water,
recycling water, collecting
rainwater, and the efficient use of water during the dry season.
Ø
The well
user themselves
will do the
actual digging and
installation of the well.
Ø
HOPE will provide
materiel
for building a well (concrete rings, concrete and sand for the well
apron, etc.) and
technical support in the form of a well technician and advice from
HOPE staff on digging the initial hole.
Ø
Awareness
of the link between diet
and nutrition is also raised through training and the
establishment of vegetable
gardens for household consumption.
Ø
Well Use Agreement includes the home gardening component as one of the
well user’s obligation.
Thus, all families who have a HOPE well on their land
will be required to also
participate in home gardening activities.
Ø
Home gardeners are provided with seeds and tools to begin planting,
and are provided with training and education on composting, reducing
the use of chemical fertilizers, the use of living fences, crop
rotation, using plants as natural pesticides, permaculture
techniques, and how to choose crops based on marketing
opportunities.
Ø
Ongoing education, with gardeners meeting regularly to discuss
problems, propose solutions, and share experiences will be provided.
Expected Outcome
1.
Each
well will be used by
5
to
7
rural
families,
providing access
to a close source of clean water year round
which
can improve food security and overall health,
increase incomes, and free up time and resources to allow children
to go to school.
2.
Providing water close to the home reduces the amount of time women
are spending collecting water each day,
also
increasing the
safety to women and girls who
otherwise
would travel a long distance alone to get
water.
3.
The
training
seeks
to
empower the needy people
with tools they need to improve their lives. When program
participants fully understand how to use and care for the material
resources
received,
they receive further benefits from the program and the program
becomes more sustainable.
The home gardening project will build on the successes of the HOPE
wells; by using
surplus water to grow fruits and vegetables, their food security
enhances
and
additional income
is generated.
Having
a
source of income
(through
home gardens)
encourages the men to stay at home, rather than
to
seek
seasonal work and being transient workers,
resulting in
a long term benefit for the community.
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