THE PROJECT:
Clean water is an issue all over the developing world – and Cambodia is no exception. 70% of the population have no access to clean water and the situation is much worse in rural areas.
At the Marist Center of Hope, the problem is exacerbated by the fact that up to 200 people living on the site are dependent on a single borewell, installed by Support Cambodia in 2017 when the site was first developed.
This is clearly inadequate. So the Brothers have started a major project to address this while at the same time bringing long-term benefit to the local community and training and employment opportunities for local youth.
The Plant is to be named in memory of the late Bob Maidment.
For the full story please scroll down to THE BACKGROUND
The project is planned in two stages:
STAGE 1 [2024] Already underway: acquisition/installation of equipment, testing on students/local families . Support Cambodia have contributed $2300 [softener system & sterilizer, storage tank & installation.
STAGE 2 [2025]
To develop the Plant into a commercial business to bring in an income and train local youth to run it.
Aylsham & District Rotary Club have already donated £250 towards this project
THE BACKGROUND:
The Marist Brothers are a worldwide, Catholic order of lay missionaries [ie: not priests] working mainly in the field of education. In Cambodia they have Centres in Phnom Penh and Pailin which is on the border with Thailand.
Support Cambodia have worked with the Pailin centre since 2014 funding community-based projects such as emergency food, water wells, water filters and bikes as well as direct help for the student hostels. Currently, there are four brothers running the Centre – there are two sites:
- Marist Center of Hope , comprising two hostels, for male and female students, attending Secondary or High School in Pailin City.Brother Hai is the Director. Capacity when full is 100 students of which 10% are intended to be Persons of Disability.
- MEC, (Marist Education Center) is about a mile away on the same campus as the Catholic Church [where Support Cambodia also run a Sewing Centre]. The Education Centre runs English and computer classes for Pailin residents, both students and working people eg: police, government officials.
Brother Hoang Anh is the Director.
For both sites Brother Gustavo is the General Manager and Brother Bernard is the Bursar.
THE BACKGROUND
The development of the Centre of Hope began in 2016 [Bob & Katie Maidment were the first to visit the untamed site!] with the building of the main house. Support Cambodia provided the first borewell since there was no other water on site. This was followed by the kitchen/study block [the charity paid for the plumbing] and the two main hostels.
Following a hiatus in development due to the pandemic, in 2022 the [then ] Director, Brother Francis died suddenly, leaving a huge gap – Francis was the inspiration behind the whole project.The present management have been in place just over a year and are making significant changes to Brother Francis’ original plans for the site. The Water Filtration Plant is one of them.
Because of the involvement of Support Cambodia over many years in the development of the mission in Pailin, [and Bob Maidment in particular] the Brothers wish to name the Filtration Plant in Bob’s memory. This is in line with the naming of two other facilities on the site already named for their benefactors.