Rural Assistance Program Prey Veng (RAP), Cambodia

We never know the worth of water till the well is dry. ~Thomas Fuller M.D ,  1732

Change a life by giving the gift of water.

Most of us in the developed world have never known the hardship of lack of water. Some people may have experienced temporary interruption from a storm.  Some folks  have gone camping and  adapted to a sharply  limited, but temporary access to water. However, we  usually  do not stop to consider our great  privilege as we turn on the tap and,of course,  expect to get water.

I love the quote by Thomas Fuller, who in  the 1700's , pointed out the obvious . We do not  appreciate the real value of   water until we have none.

Why our Rural Assistance Program began

Our Rural Assistance Program, (RAP ) rose from this concept in 1998, when we encountered farming families in  northeasten Cambodia ( Prey Veng Province)  who had  experienced profound  suffering   from a prolonged drought.

Dire circumstances

According to UNICEF in Thailand,  a crop failure from lack of rain occurs one of every 3 years in Southeast Asia. When faced with a failing rainy season, single crop rice farmers  and their families  become desperate.  

In a normal rainy season, the rain water is captured in large clay jars,  about 4 to  5  feet tall and about 3 feet in diameter , placed  at each  corner of the roof. The stored rain water is used in the dry season  for drinking, cooking and limited bathing. While it is difficult to generalize how much rainwater is collected, a 2001  article by UNICEF in Thailand estimated that an 11 cubic meter jar, if full, could provide enough just  drinking and cooking water for a family of 5 for one year. Without  stored rain water, families are forced to go to desperate means to get water.  This can mean pulling even small  children out of school to use them  as labors to carry water, sometimes from great distances and sending older children and parents to the cities to search for work.

The knock on effect: No rain, no drinking water, no food

When the rice crops fail because  the rains don’t come, it  means that there will be no food for the coming year. This  forces single crop rice  farmers and all able bodied teens and adults to head for the  cities, usually, Phnom Penh the capital,  in hopes of finding work of any kind.

Illiterate and without resources, these workers are typically  exploited and paid as little as   $ 1 to $3 per day for hard labor  and sometimes  dangerous work in construction. Women and girls  often turn to prostitution as a way to earn money. The migrant workers  eventually return to their villages weeks or months later , sometimes, unknowingly bringing HIV to their villages.

Our solution

Our solution was to  drill wells where appropriate, as  a cost effective way to bring a reliable, safe source of water to these families and allow them to live a more secure life, focusing their efforts on more diversified farming  and educating their children.

Elementary and Middle School students  sponsor 4 wells   to change  lives

A well costs just $ 270.

As parents, we often talk about how to help our kids, in the developed world, to  understand  and appreciate the challenges of others less fortunate.  

Talk about personal empowerment and understanding!  The American School in Tokyo Japan,  Elementary School students sponsored 2 wells  and   the Middle School students also sponsored 2 wells .  The ASIJ  students raised money throughout the school year to fund the wells from various activities including sales of Friendship bracelets* at their Winter Festival and other events.These students , by working to sponsor the four wells, have dramatifcally changed the lives of these four families and their neighbors.

You can change a life by giving the gift of water!

These wells are life changing for a farming family.  Access to a  well  provides

• a safe, reliable source of water for drinking, cooking and bathing
• water for vegetable gardens
• a way to reduce food and income dependence on a single annual rice crop.
• access to water helps to keep families together and kids in school by reducing forced economic migration

Over the past 15 years and more than 500 wells later, we estimate that each well serves several additional families.

With 8 wells sponsored, we are actively seeking donations to pay for the remaining 22 wells we drilled  so that we can  continue to offer this life changing project to other families.

We are deeply grateful to you, our donors for your generous support to helping to  transform lives by providing access to water.

Barbara & Mark Rosasco

*The Friendship bracelets are a small income project for  teenage girls cared for in a group home run by Catholic nuns  in Bangkok, Thailand. These girls make the friendship bracelets as a way to earn pocket money.