CAMBODIA: CLEAN WATER THANKS TO THE PODINI FOUNDATION

19.12.2020 – Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in the world. Social inequalities, limited family economic resources and the low quality of education cause a high level of vulnerability among children who are often required to contribute to the survival of the family by working in the fields, dropping out of school prematurely. When they do have the opportunity to attend school, they are so malnourished, weak and tired due to waterborne diseases that dropping out is inevitable and permanent.

For the second year running, the Podini Foundation is supporting the “CLEAN WATER AND SCHOOL” project in the village of Krang Doung, located in the province of Kompong Chhnang.

The project aims to bring clean water and education to the most remote villages in Cambodia that are not connected to an aqueduct and where there is low school attendance and early school leaving.

After careful selection of the neediest families by local health workers, children from the same household undergo a medical check-up at the end of the year to assess the impact of drinking water consumption on their general health.

The programme includes a course in Hygiene and Use of the Filter for adults and children of the beneficiary families, and the delivery of the drinking water filter at the end of the course. It also includes the delivery of food and hygiene products every three months, linked to the children’s school attendance, to help improve general living conditions. Beneficiary families receive: 13 kg of rice, dried fish, oil, soya sauce, soya milk, as well as soap, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrush and laundry detergent.

Since the beginning of the Covid emergency, the number of soaps has been increased and thanks to a health worker, the children learn how to wash their hands thoroughly and how to pass on what they have learned to their families and communities.

The course teaches the main rules of hygiene: how to grow vegetables, wash and cook food, personal hygiene, childbirth and baby hygiene, how to treat small wounds and also sexual hygiene, which is very important in a country with a high rate of HIV.

The “Clean water and school” project was conceived and implemented by the association “Il Nodo Onlus”, which boasts a strong direct presence in Asia and has been linked to the Podini Foundation for many years by a strong and fruitful collaboration.

The Foundation has been present in Cambodia since Stefano, the youngest of the Podini brothers, and his wife Licia adopted Chamroen and Sokchea, two splendid children – now boys – from Khmer.

The reality of the Cambodian orphanages and the state of degradation in which the structures find themselves have led the Foundation to carry out a series of interventions in collaboration with direct and indirect operators who live there: the construction of a nursery and the implementation of the “School with sport” project are just some examples of the activities carried out.