March, 2015—Khleng Por School is a three-room schoolhouse located in northwestern Cambodia. The school was built in 1995 and was in need of renovations. When Samaritan’s Purse first came to the community, many people were skeptical. But once we shared with them about Jesus Christ and His love, something changed inside their hearts.
These days they are kind and friendly, always giving us big smiles and talking with us when we come to work in the school. People in the village are interested in the project. With the help of Samaritan’s Purse, they gathered to support their school by raising funds for hygiene materials. Read their story below, as told by the principal, Saet Somchivan, and village leader, Inn Aem:
Although we had two latrines at our school, they were both broken. The children had nowhere to use the bathroom except outside the building. There also wasn’t a water source for the kids to get drinking water or wash their hands. Because of this, the students didn’t want to come to school. Instead, many of them would follow their parents to work in Thailand. The parents didn’t trust the school, and teachers were discouraged from teaching.
One day we heard about Samaritan’s Purse. The organization had been working in partnership with schools in Poipet, Malai, and O’Chrov districts for years. We immediately tried to find out how to contact Samaritan’s Purse. During that time, a staff member came to visit our school.
Samaritan’s Purse started constructing water and sanitation facilities and also trained us on good hygiene practices and how to operate and maintain the facilities they built. We can share this knowledge with our students to help them change their behaviors. Good things have happened in our school and have made our students, teachers, leaders, authorities, and the whole community feel happy and blessed.
Before the project, the school only had 98 students. Since new facilities were installed, enrollment has increased by 35 students. We give a big thanks to Samaritan’s Purse. May God bless you. Khleng Por’s people love you.
Many rural schools in Asia, Africa, and Latin America rely on contaminated water sources to meet students' daily needs. Thankfully, you can help change that through Samaritan Water Filters, which provide students with clean water for drinking, washing hands and faces, and even brushing teeth! These filters also have potential to help clinics care for sick patients and churches reach out to their communities.