The Samaritan Water Filter is bringing health and hope to students and staff at rural schools in Cambodia.
July, 2014—Kak Ratha is the principal of a 450-student primary school in rural Cambodia. He has dedicated his life to helping equip children with a good education.
However Kak has watched with dismay as one student after another was forced to stay home after contracting potentially deadly diarrheal diseases caused by drinking the school’s contaminated water. Each time they were absent they fell further behind. “Without good health, it’s impossible to get a good education,” Kak said.
Students and teachers would come to school and drink water from a well that no one knew was contaminated.
That was until Samaritan’s Purse installed one of its large-volume Samaritan Water Filters at Kak’s school. Now he and his young pupils are enjoying the benefits.
“Things are very different for our students,” Kak said. “The water filter we received provides enough water for our drinking needs and our students are getting sick less.”
When we installed the water filter at Kak’s school, we also installed a hand-washing station so the children and staff no longer need to wash their hands in a nearby pond that is also used by cows and water buffalo. In addition, our health and hygiene training reinforced good hand-washing habits to help the students stay healthy.
Because of Canadian donations, Kak’s students have clean water that won’t hurt them—or their education. However, there are thousands more schools in Cambodia and other developing countries where students are trying to learn while drinking contaminated water.
Please help us address this urgent need. Through your donations and prayers, you can turn on the tap to safe water at schools that need our help. And as we work with educators to improve the lives of their students, we earn opportunities to tell them about the living water of Jesus Christ. For those who commit their lives to Christ, that water “will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14, NKJV).
Having fun washing hands
Arruny loves all her Grade 2 classes—except math! The seven-year-old lives in rural Cambodia, and when Samaritan’s Purse began building a Samaritan Water Filter and a hand washing station at her school, she was curious.
The construction coincided with health and hygiene lessons she was being taught about drinking safe water, washing hands, and using the latrine. Thanks to donations from Canadians like you, we were able to provide her principal and teachers with curriculum full of fun activities to make these important lessons memorable.
One session that stuck out in Arruny’s mind was about all the germs that can be on our hands when they’re dirty. She learned the importance of washing them thoroughly and regularly. Now that her school’s hand washing station is constructed, it’s something she and her friends enjoy doing together.
As is the case at Arruny’s school, many of the hand washing stations Samaritan’s Purse installs have mirrors that not only add an element of fun to hygiene, but help children wash their faces and brush their teeth, too.
Please donate today and help at-risk children access clean water at school—for all their water, sanitation, and hygiene needs.
