Physical Health Cambodia Project #32418

Clean Water for 500 Families in Cambodia

by Concordia Welfare and Education Foundation

Project Report | Dec 10, 2018
Meet Pastor Koy Thea

By Joshua Lange | Executive Director

Koy Thea with Sokra and CWEF team members

CWEF’s trusted local partner for the Cambodia BioSand Water Filter project is Pastor Koy Thea, along with members of the congregation he serves, Veal Pring Christian Church.

Pastor Koy Thea was born in 1971 and grew up in the Veal Pring neighborhood. His childhood got off to a tragic start: he was orphaned as a 3-year-old. A generous local woman adopted him, and he went on to complete his secondary education in 1987. Since that time, he has been serving the community as a teacher, and now headmaster, of the school he graduated from – Kampong Taben Primary School. He is married to Sokra and together they have four children.

Koy Thea shared with us that health was always an issue for his and other families in the community:

“My family and the people in my neighborhood often got sick by using dirty water. Diarrhea, cholera and poor nutrition were common problems.”

In 2005, Koy Thea also began serving as the pastor of the church in Veal Pring, and through his work there has become an advocate for spiritual and physical health in his community.

In 2013, he began cooperating with CWEF and has been working closely with our Health Programs Director, Kanhchana Thoy. Together with another pastor in the area, CWEF has worked with Pastor Koy Thea to carry out an Animal Gift project (which is being run by a committee of local community leaders and residents) and now, the BioSand Water Filter project.

“The BioSand Water Filter project has reduced sickness in our neighborhood, and people don't have to spend so much time collecting and boiling water every day. Personally, my family has saved money, which we have used for sending our children to study in Kampong Thom city.”

Looking into the future, we hope to reach even more families in Koy Thea’s community with the precious and transformative gift of clean water. Please consider another generous donation today: $100 provides clean water for an entire family.

In addition to the Biosand Water Filters, CWEF trains families in proper maintenance of their filter, along with education on proper sanitation and hygiene, and its effect on disease prevention and overall health. With proper care and maintenance, each water filter can provide a family with clean water for more than 20 years.

Koy Thea leading a Bible study

Koy Thea constructing BioSand Water Filters

Koy Thea with family

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Sep 10, 2018
New BioSand Filter Means More Time for Vann

By Joshua Lange | Executive Director

Vann, her son, mother-in-law and their new filter

Vann is 36 years old and lives in Chheu Teal village in central Cambodia’s Kampong Thom province. As a toddler, Vann lost her right leg. Since that time she has walked with the help of an artificial leg. Similarly, Vann’s husband contracted polio and both of his legs are paralyzed as a result of the disease.

The couple is not able to own their own house, so they and their three children live with Vann’s mother-in-law at her home. Vann needs to go out to the rice fields every day to catch fish for cooking dinner at home. Her husband helps her with this work by fixing her fishing nets. Vann also needs to do the difficult chore of going into the jungle surrounding their village to find and cut firewood for cooking.

In early 2017, CWEF began providing BioSand Water Filters for the first group of families in their village and the surrounding area in partnership with local government leaders and two local Christian pastors. Through this project, Vann and her family were able to install a BioSand Water Filter at their home.

With the BioSand Water Filter, Vann and her family are able to safely drink water directly from the filter, saving them much time and energy they used to spend in collecting firewood for boiling the drinking water they collect from a nearby well. Their water is now clean and safe for drinking, cooking, cleaning and brushing teeth. This additional time every week means Vann and her husband can use more of their time to work and earn an income for their family.

Like so many other people CWEF has been able to provide with improved access to clean water, Vann and her family have been blessed with more time, renewed health, new opportunities for income, and greater hope for the future.

With the gifts received during the GlobalGiving Accelerator campaign, CWEF Cambodia Health Director Kanhchana Thoy is now working with our local partners in Kampong Thom province to expand the BioSand Water Filter project there to reach 200 additional families with convenient access to clean and healthy water in the coming months.

Looking into the future, we hope to reach even more families like Vann’s with the precious and transformative gift of clean water. Please consider another generous donation today: $100 provides clean water for an entire family.

Vann with her family

Vann's husband, fixing the fishing nets

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Jun 12, 2018
Clean Water, Renewed Health and A New Business

By Joshua Lange | Executive Director

Noeth & Thy in front of their new shop

Noeth lives in Kampong Taben village with her husband Thy and their three children who still live with them. They also have five grown children who live with their own families.

Like most of their neighbors, Noeth and Thy are farmers. Depending on the season, they grow mostly cassava and cashews. Thy is also currently serving as the village chief, a time-consuming and difficult post without a lot of benefit.

Noeth collects water for their family from a nearby well, but this untreated water is not safe for drinking. In early 2017, CWEF began providing BioSand Water Filters for the first group of 50 families in their village and the surrounding area in partnership with local government leaders and two local Christian pastors.

Through this project, Noeth and her family were able to install a BioSand Water Filter at their home in 2017. When we visited with her to follow up, Noeth reflected:

“Since I’ve had the BioSand Filter at home, I feel that my life is brighter than before. It’s so convenient for me to use the water, which is clear and doesn’t smell like before. We use the water from the filter for cooking, drinking and brushing our teeth. Also, I’ve been able to save money because my family doesn’t get sick as often as we did before, so we don’t need to spend as much money to buy medicine. With our savings, I have been able to open a small grocery shop now!”

Like so many other people CWEF has been able to provide with improved access to clean water, Noeth and her family have been blessed with more time, renewed health, new opportunities for income, and greater hope for the future.

With the gifts received during the GlobalGiving Accelerator campaign, CWEF Cambodia Health Director Kanhchana Thoy is now working with our local partners in Sandan district to expand the BioSand Water Filter project there to reach 100 additional families with convenient access to clean and healthy water in the coming months.

Looking into the future, we hope to reach even more families like Noeth’s with the precious and transformative gift of clean water. Please consider another generous donation today: $100 provides clean water for an entire family.

Noeth & Thy with their new water filter

Local church partners constructing filters

Poster used during biosand filter training

CWEF's Kanhchana Thoy at Veal Pring church

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