Location
Tropayang Chrai Village, Chhouk Commune, Chhouk District, Kampot Province, Cambodia
Community Description
Tropayang Chrai Village rests 3.5 kilometers from National Highway 3 in Chhouk District, Kampot Province, a southwestern province in the Kingdom of Cambodia. The village consists of 335 families, roughly 1,400 people, spread over 263 hectares. Most families are farmers, while others work at a nearby cement factory.
Tropayang Chrai residents lack a clean, reliable, year round water source. Most people rely on water from nearby ponds and watering holes, one of which was created by a US bomb. Often times these ponds and watering holes have been polluted with animal and human feces.
During the dry season, villagers rely on hauling their water from the nearest Buddhist Temple, as the ponds and watering holes go dry from February thru May. This limits the amount of water used at the house, as it is difficult and tedious work to haul the water 2 km back to the village.
The people of the village suffer illnesses due to contaminated water and poor hygiene practices stemming from an inadequate water supply. In addition, there is a lack of latrines, which further progresses the problem.
Project Description
This project is to build two public hand-pumped wells Tropayang Chrai Village to serve the water needs of the villagers year round.
A qualified, professional well drilling company will do all the work, including drilling each well approximately 20-30 meters deep and 10 cm in diameter.
A black metal hand pump will be fitted over the opening of the well and a 1.2 m concrete apron will surround the well. Sand will be placed in the bottom part of the well where the water collects and PVC pipe will run the height of the well to bring the water to the surface.
The funds for this project will be used for the cost of drilling the well, purchasing supplies, including the hand pump and PVC pipe, installing all necessary parts, and laying the concrete apron.
The water will be tested using other funding. The community has already raised $300 for the project, over a third of the cost for the wells.
The wells will be placed in two strategic spots in the village to maximize the access to the wells. One well will be located about 200 meters off the main road along a path among a cluster of houses. The other well will be located along the main road near many houses. Two families have been chosen to take responsibility for maintaining the wells.
After the wells have been built, the community will engage in health education activities to reinforce the importance of proper hygiene and sanitation, along with continued encouragement from the village leaders to implement proper fecal waste disposal techniques.
Project Impact
One of the wells directly benefits 12 families, about 60 people, who live near the well. However, the well may also be used by any surrounding villagers that choose to use it.
The other well will directly benefit 11 families, about 40 people, who live in nearby houses. This well will be located along the main road and will also allow easy access to anyone traveling along the road.
Many other villagers will have access to these wells year round, as they will be closer to their homes than the nearest Buddhist temple.
Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Jacob Hanson
Comments
Dollar Amount of Project
$500.00
Donations Collected to Date
$500.00
Dollar Amount Needed
$0.00 – This project has now been fully funded through the generosity of friends and family of Peace Corps Volunteer Jacob Hanson, with the final donation coming from Jane Preston of Danville, KY, USA.
We encourage others to continue to donate using the Donate button below, and we will notify Jacob of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Jacob and/or those of other PCVs in the country.