Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia. Fully 75% of the population remains engaged in subsistence farming, particularly in the poverty-ridden countryside which suffers from an absence of the basic infrastructure of water and sanitation systems. After decades of war, the Cambodian people are struggling to rebuild their country. The RandomKid Rain-to-the Rescue Community Pond Project will empower, elevate, and educate villagers to become self-reliant. During the 6 month dry season, many of the existing open water supplies dry up, often forcing people to transport water manually over long distances. Also, the primary water carriers are children, who, as a result of making multiple trips over distances, spend their entire day in this activity, eliminating their option to attend school. In order to increase the village's access to high protein food, the families will excavate a large community water-pond that will double as a fishpond, helping to eliminate hunger and malnutrition from... moreCambodia is one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia. Fully 75% of the population remains engaged in subsistence farming, particularly in the poverty-ridden countryside which suffers from an absence of the basic infrastructure of water and sanitation systems. After decades of war, the Cambodian people are struggling to rebuild their country. The RandomKid Rain-to-the Rescue Community Pond Project will empower, elevate, and educate villagers to become self-reliant. During the 6 month dry season, many of the existing open water supplies dry up, often forcing people to transport water manually over long distances. Also, the primary water carriers are children, who, as a result of making multiple trips over distances, spend their entire day in this activity, eliminating their option to attend school. In order to increase the village's access to high protein food, the families will excavate a large community water-pond that will double as a fishpond, helping to eliminate hunger and malnutrition from protein deficiency for hundreds of people. This large pond will be hand-excavated by the families who will be paid wages for their hard work during a seasonal time when there is limited income-generating work. These wages can open doors of opportunity like planting a cash crop to sell at market. Sustainable Cambodia is experienced in helping families to build effective, sustainable water filtration systems called BioSand Filters to clean the pond water for safe daily use. In addition, SC will submit a funding opportunity proposal for the RandomKid Walk-to-School Project. This project will empower the village families to build a nearby community school for their children’s first experience of attending school! Please visit the SC website to download the special Powerpoint Presentation that will help RandomKid funders to envision the whole community pond and school project: www.sustainablecambodia.org. Click Resources and Documents. Click Grant Reports then Download RandomKid Rain-to-the-Rescue Community Pond and School.

The strongest message you can ever send to someone in need is that you honor and respect who they are- their abilities, their resourcefulness, their understanding of how to improve their own lives. The way that you communicate your belief in their resiliency is how you listen, how you work together as partners, and how you share the responsibility of the projects. All along the way, Sustainable Cambodia staff and volunteers realize that the foundation of working hand-in-hand with families to rebuild their lives is trust. We are not a charity organization; rather SC empowers people with the tools and training they need to develop successful projects and outcomes. For example, when the families are working hard to hand-dig the Rain-to-the-Rescue Community Pond, they are also building a sense of community and ownership. This is the lasting outcome that you hope for!