What is WASH?

WASH stands for “water, sanitation and hygiene.” One of our main objectives under this program is to provide school children with safe water for drinking and potable water for hygiene including access to sanitation facilities.

Several parts of Cambodia do not have piped water infrastructure. With the lack of potable water for consumption, sanitation and hygiene, the community including children in schools suffer hardship. The people have instead to rely on other natural sources of water including ponds, wells, rivers and rain. However, these sources of water are not reliable not just because of contamination but also become scarce during the dry season.

Most villagers drink water from an unprotected well, hand-dug pond, or open rainwater jar, which would often make their children ill. We therefore strive to not only make water available but also safe for consumption in order to significantly reduce the chance of waterborne disease.