This project receives support from the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP) and is in partnership with our implementing partner Habitat for Humanity Cambodia to provide Water, Sanitation and Hygiene kits to keep vulnerable families safe during the pandemic.
Living in a remote village in Cambodia, 1,083 people kept having the traditional lifestyles that lacked hygiene and sanitary practices, as well as basic care of their home. They had never received any type of guidance, nor were they ever informed of living in any other ways, so they never knew otherwise. This only caused a lot of health issues due to waterborne diseases and unhygienic practices, that affected everyone, especially women and children.
Seeing this issue could be solved with proper guidance, Habitat Cambodia and NTFP implemented “The Building Resilient and Inclusive Rural Communities” in November 2021. Its main goal was to educate people in better ways of living, and hoping these teachings will be passed on.
21 people of the community came together to create the PASSA (Participatory Approach to Safe Shelter Awareness) group, and received training on construction techniques and home maintenance along with raising awareness on safe water, proper use of toilets, and hygiene practices. Sary, vice leader of the group, told us how useful the trainings were, and how much knowledge was acquired from them “Other PASSA group members and I will keep applying and sharing my knowledge with my neighbors and other community as much as I can to improve their living conditions.”
Said and done, since the program began and the PASSA members shared their learnings to other community members, there has been a raise of improved lifestyles. “I observed that the people in my community allocated some time to clean the house and take care of health by drinking treated water and applied hygiene practices even though they are busy with their core works,” said Phaline, Sanitation Action Group (SAG) Leader of the village. “Furthermore, we observed that the community people in the village took their time to discuss their welfare, the impact of disaster and climate change, as well as water and sanitation issues that they had never thought of in the past.”
After thanking all the donors and people who helped the program work, PASSA group leader Mr. Sith promised to continue working on the project, and change everyone’s out of date ways to safer, healthier and better ways of living.
