Dispatch from Cambodia part 3

Posted by Caelie Smith 
on Dec 01, 2014
 

Below is another report from Rich Cromwell in Cambodia. The chief data and survey referred to is posted in the downloads section on the left hand side of our homepage.

 
Good Day Fellow Rotarians,
As some of you might have heard Rotary International requires that communities receiving Global Grant funds have an active reliable Rotary Club to administer the grants. Siem Reap's Rotary Club of Angkor has been uncooperative and unreliable for about four years resulting in hundreds of thousands of grant funds not reaching their intended recipients here in Cambodia.
It is essential to our club's effort on behalf of the Cambodians to have a reliable local club  with which  to partner. I'm happy to report that some progress has been made. I met with what remains of their club leadership twice and this coming week they are holding an open weekly meeting to which I have invited nine prospective members (5 of whom have given firm commitments to join).
When these new vibrant members have joined the Club it can be rebuilt  into a community service organization which will benefit it's members, the Cambodian community and the International community that wishes to help Cambodia.
Our Village project took a big leap forward with the compilation of the data that our team collected from 108 villagers. We have been refining and reviewing the data collected from the villagers and comparing it with the data received during the five village chief interviews that I conducted with the help of  a translator.
If you would like to get an idea of what the villagers face take a quick look at the village chief data (attachment # 2). Check the villages with no latrines or wells on page 2. They drink from polluted ponds and rivers. If you then went to the Villagers individual data on page 15, Figure 13,  in the WFC KAP document (attachment #1) you'd find that on average only 31% of villagers boil the pond and river water. The problem is obvious. They need new, clean water sources, Water filters, Latrines and perhaps most important ongoing hygiene education.
The last week of my stay will be filled with developing the actual action plan and meeting with potential partners.
Respectfully submitted,

Rich Cromwell