A New Door to Clean Water
In August 2022, when our HOPE Cambodian staff visited Oeun, she was hard at work in the fields under the scorching sun as usual. Oeun met with HOPE about 20 years ago. Having lost her husband and raising two children by herself, she worked as a laborer which earned her a daily income of about 50 yen (35 cents). She was so poor that she could not afford to feed her children.
Building a foundation to change lives with clean water
In 2004, she received assistance from HOPE's Water Project. A well was built near her house to provide her with access to clean water.
Our work with local communities begins with clean water, and together and comprehensive support tailored to each individual's living conditions, this ensures that our beneficiaries can escape poverty. By providing access to clean water, we can prevent diarrheal diseases and improve the community’s health.
Clean water has also improved the health of Oeun’s family. Since then, she has benefitted from our projects in several ways, such as home gardening assistance to increase the yield of vegetable crops, an animal bank to cultivate her farmland, and the women's Self-Help Group Program (SHG), all of which are designed to help people on the path to self-reliance. She received training in small business entrepreneurship through the SHG program in 2012 and subsequently opened a little shop on the highway nearby. "We got a new house, and my children can go to school”, she said with a beaming smile at the time.
Always proactive
Oeun was able to lift herself out of poverty not just through HOPE's assistance alone. In order to become self-reliant, it is important to cultivate a strong sense of ownership of the support provided and to take initiative.
Not only was she provided with support, but she had a strong desire to overcome her dire situation.
18 years later, I'm still happy
With the availability of clean water came new opportunities and Oeun's life changed for the better. About 20 years have passed since we met with her, and her living conditions have changed.
Her two children now lead independent lives with families of their own. Friends and family gather at her home during the holidays, but she occasionally visits her son's family in Battambang Province nearby.
Oeun now lives together with her cousin. She closed her grocery store in 2020 due to the lack of customers during the pandemic, but since then she has been selling the vegetables that she grows at the market and earns enough money to get by.
“I can't believe where I am now”, she exclaimed as she reflected on the past 20 years. “My life has changed so much since HOPE built that well. Since then, I’ve not gotten sick, and my health has improved. The only time I get sick these days is when I catch a cold, but I get better quickly. From having nothing, my life has improved to the point where my needs are provided more than adequately, and I think I was able to build a better future for my son and daughter.”
Oeun now enjoys her time with her grandchildren.
“They call me often and since my son has a car, he comes over to see me from time to time”, she said. “Both of my children are doing well and are leading self-sufficient lives. That is enough to make me happy.”
Please have a look at voices of the beneficiaries of HOPE's Water Project »
