In addition to the Emergency Food Packs, the Community Housing, the Ochra Kandal Borewell and the Farming initiatives, this summer’s fundraising + generous individual donations has funded:
- A HANDWASH FACILITY at DAY SO PRIMARY SCHOOL
Day So Primary has around 250 children and is in a remote location around 20 miles from Pailin City. They have a borewell [put in by Support Cambodia in 2018] but hand hygiene in Cambodian schools is not always good and Covid 19 has made this an urgent need. During the summer, Wiltshire-based student Abigail Durrant, completed a 5,000 km virtual bike ride and has very generously donated most of the proceeds to provide [through Support Cambodia] a much-needed Handwash Facility for the school. The Handwash is now finished and awaits the official re-opening of schools following closures due to the pandemic. Well done Abbie – and thank you for persevering at a really worthwhile project.
- MATTRESSES for LAVALLA STUDENT HOSTEL
Lavalla Student Hostel in Pailin City has been in the making for several years but is now almost complete and awaiting the first cohort of students, hopefully in November. As most Cambodian high schools are in the towns, opportunities for rural students from disadvantaged families are very limited. Lavalla Hostel enables these students to attend high school in Pailin, thereby opening the door to further training and university. The Hostel will cater for girls and boys and include a number of places for students with a disability. In previous years, Support Cambodia has contributed to some of the basic building costs, installed a borewell to help with the water supply and in 2021 an anonymous donor has paid for 50 mattresses for the dormitories. We have also sent a small contribution to cover some essential maintenance.
- WHEELCHAIRS for PwD [PEOPLE with a DISABILTY] in BANTEAY MEANCHEY [Svay Sisophon]
Every year since 2016, Support Cambodia has funded wheelchairs via the Jesuit Service Cambodia [JSC] Banteay Meanchey office located in Svay Sisophon. JSC focus on improving living conditions for disadvantaged people – building infrastructures such as access to clean water, (e.g., ponds), toilets, simple houses and support for students and schools. They also distribute wheelchairs to people with varying disabilities [polio, cerebral palsy, landmine and traffic accidents being the most common] to enhance their physical mobility and encourage independence. The wheelchairs are specially designed to suit the terrain, and because they’re made locally and can be easily repaired, the cost is lower than imported chairs would be. One of these chairs costs about £100 and thanks to a very generous donation, Support Cambodia has been able to provide 10 wheelchairs in 2021.
- THREE NEW BOREWELLS around NIKUM VILLAGE
The success of the Wickmere event in August [see NEWS for a report and pictures] means that in addition to funding the Ochra Kandal Borewell [scroll down for more on this], the surplus is enough to provide three further borewells – this time in the area around Nikum Village, in the country about an hour outside Battambang.
Nikum is a large, sprawling community with several centres, scattered over a wide area. Much of it is forested and bisected by narrow, apparently identical dirt tracks. The number of houses is growing and clean water is scarce, especially in the dry season, so these wells are urgently needed.
Support Cambodia will fund three borewells in three separate locations to serve in excess of 100 families. Local residents and the head of the village will be responsible for looking after the wells. Drilling is scheduled to start at the end of October. Pictures and reports later in the year.