Drinks for their customers and their family
From a roadside grocery stand in a rural Cambodian village, Hai and Hoeun greet customers and wave to neighbors. Hoeun is a local soda salesman and while he’s away most days selling drinks, Hai runs their grocery stand.
The road that runs in front of Hai and Hoeun's grocery stand, where the family earns income
It’s hard to believe that just down the road from Hai’s display of snacks and refreshing bottled beverages sits a home that once lacked a source of safe water. This is Hai and Hoeun's home. While Hoeun spent his days selling drinks, the only drink he could give his little girls each evening was water he or Hai collected from a nearby river.
Things changed when Phillip Bank, one of Water.org’s partners in Cambodia, made small, affordable loans for household water and sanitation solutions available to people like Hai and Hoeun.
Hoeun and his daughter, Peng, look out over the river where they used to get water that often made them sick
Most families in Hai and Hoeun's village collect water from this river for their daily hygiene and consumption needs
Phillip Bank provided a loan to the family to build a home and connect to the local water utility. With the funds they were also able to build a latrine. Hai proudly explained, “We always pay back our loan on time as our income is higher than what we need to pay out each month.” This is common among the families we serve at Water.org, as their loan repayment rates are 98%.
The pipes deliver safe water on Hai and Hoeun's property
"Now that we have access to clean water here it saves me time. And it is safe to use."
In discussing how their lives have changed since getting a safe water connection and private toilet at home, Hai shared, “In the past, we drank water taken from the stream. It was hard. We had to carry it all the way home. And…the water was foul. When my children drank it, they often had diarrhea. Now that we have access to clean water here it saves me time. And it is safe to use.”
Hai pours young Peng a glass of safe water in the family's kitchen, water that will keep her healthy
Today, Hai and Hoeun’s days don’t begin or end with difficult walks to collect water. Now, they have access to the most important drink of all right inside their home from which, they can walk to their small store to sell other refreshments to earn income that helps create the life of health and hope they want for their family in Cambodia.
