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Give Safe Water to Mothers
Help Serve 323 People
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$1,090 Raised of $21,000
3 supporters, 5% sponsored
“I wish there would be enough water for consumption so I don’t have to purchase it weekly.” - Leat
Svay Leu region, Cambodia
- Story
- Svay Leu, Cambodia
- FAQ's
Your gift provides a safe water source, health training, and hope to mothers like Leat living in Svay Leu.
Life in Svay Leu, Cambodia
June 2022
In Svay Leu, Cambodia, over 70 percent of the population struggles with water scarcity. This causes health problems, slows business activity, prevents children from attending school, and causes many other hardships, but it’s entirely preventable.
Leat is a mother of three children who range in age from four to 17 years old. Four years ago, her husband passed away from sickness, leaving Leat to care for her family on her own. In order to provide for them, Leat works as a laborer, taking any odd jobs that are available to make ends meet.
To help their mother, Leat’s 15 and 17-year-old children have dropped out of school and moved out in order to become laborers. They often send money home to their mother and come visit when they are able to.
“I wish my children would continue going to school,” Leat said. However, she needs their help to provide for herself and her youngest child.
Leat lives in a small wooden house on stilts in Trapeang Ruessei village where there is no water source nearby. In order to provide for her needs, Leat purchases water from a vendor and spends the equivalent of about four U.S. dollars per day. In addition, the water she purchases comes from an unprotected pond and is unsafe for drinking. However, it is all she has.
Leat said, “My youngest child often has stomach pain, cold, cough and fever,” illnesses that are often caused by drinking unsafe water.
Leat does not treat or boil her water prior to drinking. Though this could temporarily relieve them of some of their illnesses, it is not a sustainable practice for families.
When you give safe water, you give to women like Leat in Svay Leu, Cambodia. You help mothers make a way out of poverty and you provide them with hope for the future, both for themselves and for their children.
About the Region
Svay Leu, Cambodia
In the northern low, flat plains of Cambodia sits the region of Svay Leu. Svay Leu is home to an estimated 46,000 people.
71 percent of the population Lifewater serves believes that water scarcity is one of the region’s greatest problems.
A large portion of the population in Svay Leu lives in wood houses, built on large stilts to help protect the homes during the monsoon season. 96 percent of the population relies on agriculture and crop cultivation for their main source of income. Nearly three quarters of the population has less than a primary school education.
Concerningly, 56 percent of children under five years old had diarrhea during the seven days prior to the most recent 2021 survey. Diarrhea is a global leading cause of death in children under the age of five years old, and it’s primarily caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation.
The good news is, this is entirely preventable. Lifewater’s work shows that waterborne illness can be nearly eliminated with basic access to things like safe drinking water, proper sanitation, and washing hands with soap.
Children and families in Svay Leu need your help. Give to Svay Leu today.
No. Your gift will help provide safe drinking water and improved sanitation and hygiene for the Svay Leu region rather than one specific village, making it possible for Lifewater to reach families like this as well as their neighbors.
Yes! You can expect regular updates on progress in Svay Leu. Lifewater is just beginning a “church first” approach, and we’ll update you as milestones and stories of transformation arrive.
Lifewater has local staff that live and serve among the communities and schools where Lifewater works. Our staff know the language and the culture and are best equipped to serve communities. Because we seek to ensure sustainable water projects and community buy in, we do not allow donors to visit the projects they sponsor. However, we do commit to sending real-time updates, photos, and stories from the projects themselves.
With more than 45 years’ experience, LIfewater is the longest-running Christian clean water charity in North America. Over those 45 years, Lifewater has worked in more than 45 different countries. Currently, our work is focused in Sub-Saharan Africa (Ethiopia, Uganda, and Tanzania) and Southeast Asia (Cambodia).
Lifewater identifies countries and regions that are unreached and underserved with basic water access and sanitation, which means we focus on areas where other organizations are not serving.
Although great strides have been made in the past 20 years to solve the global water crisis, remote and rural populations still remain unreached with adequate water and sanitation. These distant regions are difficult and often costly for governments and NGOs to serve well. Many of these communities feel as though they have been forgotten.
Currently, Lifewater has programs in Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, and Cambodia. You can go to lifewater.org/projects to select a specific water project to help. Because our programs are regionalized and made in partnership with the local governments, we are not able to take requests for specific water projects outside of our existing programs.
Lifewater budgets 80% of expenditures for programs. The remaining 20% is split between administrative/management and fundraising expenses. This ratio is best in class for nonprofits and is why Lifewater has received the highest rating from Charity Navigator.
Administrative/management expenses are used to ensure that we are effective in managing the funds entrusted to us and include the following types of expenses: accounting personnel, leadership time, professional development of staff, external auditors, legal counsel, government registration expenses in every U.S. state, credit card fees for processing donations, bank fees, database maintenance, and office expenses.
Fundraising expenses generate the income needed to do the work that we set out to do. These include the cost of direct mail appeals and communication, marketing projects, donor relations personnel, and email communication systems. Last year, every dollar invested into Lifewater fundraising efforts resulted in $10 of donation for the organization.
Over our 45 year history, Lifewater has received the highest accreditations from the most respected rating organization in the industry. Lifewater is recognized as one of the top-rated charities in the United States by independent reporting organizations, including:
Charity Navigator (four stars)
Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA)
Guidestar (Platinum)
Great Nonprofits (five star)
Excellence in Giving
Learn more at https://lifewater.org/top-rated-charity.
Lifewater’s work is founded on the belief that every person is made in the image of God. It is with this conviction that we seek out the globe’s most unreached, marginalized people groups in need of safe water.
Both nationally and internationally, 100 percent of our staff are Christians. These Christian staff help facilitate Lifewater’s Healthy Church strategy in communities. And, where there are no churches, we work with church planting partners to start new churches.
To create Healthy Churches, Lifewater first trains church leaders in foundational theology. These leaders are equipped with the basic story of the Christian faith and the biblical mandate to love others. Leaders learn that stopping the spread of disease and caring for the vulnerable aligns with our responsibility as Christians to love our neighbor.
Second, Lifewater ensures churches have safe bathrooms on their premises, handwashing stations, clean water nearby, and the education to promote health within their congregations. It’s imperative that churches are early adopters of healthy hygiene practices.
Third, Lifewater encourages churches to help vulnerable households become Healthy Homes. Church leaders undergo a training to become WASH (water access, sanitation, and hygiene) advocates in their communities. These advocates are encouraged to identify widows, child-headed households, the elderly, and the disabled to help them meet the health standards of Lifewater’s programs.
Lifewater’s Vision of a Healthy Village strategy is a relationship-first method. This model transforms entire regions house by house, village by village, and school by school. It is among the most intensive household-level work happening in the entire developing world and is closely tracked for progress, sustainability, and overall impact.
We construct custom-engineered safe water sources and teach life-saving health and sanitation practices in local villages and schools in need.
“We are confident Lifewater’s work will have life-sustaining impact.”
– Cary A. Paine, The Stewardship Foundation
Story
Your gift provides a safe water source, health training, and hope to mothers like Leat living in Svay Leu.
Life in Svay Leu, Cambodia
June 2022
In Svay Leu, Cambodia, over 70 percent of the population struggles with water scarcity. This causes health problems, slows business activity, prevents children from attending school, and causes many other hardships, but it’s entirely preventable.
Leat is a mother of three children who range in age from four to 17 years old. Four years ago, her husband passed away from sickness, leaving Leat to care for her family on her own. In order to provide for them, Leat works as a laborer, taking any odd jobs that are available to make ends meet.
To help their mother, Leat’s 15 and 17-year-old children have dropped out of school and moved out in order to become laborers. They often send money home to their mother and come visit when they are able to.
“I wish my children would continue going to school,” Leat said. However, she needs their help to provide for herself and her youngest child.
Leat lives in a small wooden house on stilts in Trapeang Ruessei village where there is no water source nearby. In order to provide for her needs, Leat purchases water from a vendor and spends the equivalent of about four U.S. dollars per day. In addition, the water she purchases comes from an unprotected pond and is unsafe for drinking. However, it is all she has.
Leat said, “My youngest child often has stomach pain, cold, cough and fever,” illnesses that are often caused by drinking unsafe water.
Leat does not treat or boil her water prior to drinking. Though this could temporarily relieve them of some of their illnesses, it is not a sustainable practice for families.
When you give safe water, you give to women like Leat in Svay Leu, Cambodia. You help mothers make a way out of poverty and you provide them with hope for the future, both for themselves and for their children.
Svay Leu, Cambodia
About the Region
Svay Leu, Cambodia
In the northern low, flat plains of Cambodia sits the region of Svay Leu. Svay Leu is home to an estimated 46,000 people.
71 percent of the population Lifewater serves believes that water scarcity is one of the region’s greatest problems.
A large portion of the population in Svay Leu lives in wood houses, built on large stilts to help protect the homes during the monsoon season. 96 percent of the population relies on agriculture and crop cultivation for their main source of income. Nearly three quarters of the population has less than a primary school education.
Concerningly, 56 percent of children under five years old had diarrhea during the seven days prior to the most recent 2021 survey. Diarrhea is a global leading cause of death in children under the age of five years old, and it’s primarily caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation.
The good news is, this is entirely preventable. Lifewater’s work shows that waterborne illness can be nearly eliminated with basic access to things like safe drinking water, proper sanitation, and washing hands with soap.
Children and families in Svay Leu need your help. Give to Svay Leu today.
FAQ's
No. Your gift will help provide safe drinking water and improved sanitation and hygiene for the Svay Leu region rather than one specific village, making it possible for Lifewater to reach families like this as well as their neighbors.
Yes! You can expect regular updates on progress in Svay Leu. Lifewater is just beginning a “church first” approach, and we’ll update you as milestones and stories of transformation arrive.
Lifewater has local staff that live and serve among the communities and schools where Lifewater works. Our staff know the language and the culture and are best equipped to serve communities. Because we seek to ensure sustainable water projects and community buy in, we do not allow donors to visit the projects they sponsor. However, we do commit to sending real-time updates, photos, and stories from the projects themselves.
With more than 45 years’ experience, LIfewater is the longest-running Christian clean water charity in North America. Over those 45 years, Lifewater has worked in more than 45 different countries. Currently, our work is focused in Sub-Saharan Africa (Ethiopia, Uganda, and Tanzania) and Southeast Asia (Cambodia).
Lifewater identifies countries and regions that are unreached and underserved with basic water access and sanitation, which means we focus on areas where other organizations are not serving.
Although great strides have been made in the past 20 years to solve the global water crisis, remote and rural populations still remain unreached with adequate water and sanitation. These distant regions are difficult and often costly for governments and NGOs to serve well. Many of these communities feel as though they have been forgotten.
Currently, Lifewater has programs in Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, and Cambodia. You can go to lifewater.org/projects to select a specific water project to help. Because our programs are regionalized and made in partnership with the local governments, we are not able to take requests for specific water projects outside of our existing programs.
Lifewater budgets 80% of expenditures for programs. The remaining 20% is split between administrative/management and fundraising expenses. This ratio is best in class for nonprofits and is why Lifewater has received the highest rating from Charity Navigator.
Administrative/management expenses are used to ensure that we are effective in managing the funds entrusted to us and include the following types of expenses: accounting personnel, leadership time, professional development of staff, external auditors, legal counsel, government registration expenses in every U.S. state, credit card fees for processing donations, bank fees, database maintenance, and office expenses.
Fundraising expenses generate the income needed to do the work that we set out to do. These include the cost of direct mail appeals and communication, marketing projects, donor relations personnel, and email communication systems. Last year, every dollar invested into Lifewater fundraising efforts resulted in $10 of donation for the organization.
Over our 45 year history, Lifewater has received the highest accreditations from the most respected rating organization in the industry. Lifewater is recognized as one of the top-rated charities in the United States by independent reporting organizations, including:
Charity Navigator (four stars)
Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA)
Guidestar (Platinum)
Great Nonprofits (five star)
Excellence in Giving
Learn more at https://lifewater.org/top-rated-charity.
Lifewater’s work is founded on the belief that every person is made in the image of God. It is with this conviction that we seek out the globe’s most unreached, marginalized people groups in need of safe water.
Both nationally and internationally, 100 percent of our staff are Christians. These Christian staff help facilitate Lifewater’s Healthy Church strategy in communities. And, where there are no churches, we work with church planting partners to start new churches.
To create Healthy Churches, Lifewater first trains church leaders in foundational theology. These leaders are equipped with the basic story of the Christian faith and the biblical mandate to love others. Leaders learn that stopping the spread of disease and caring for the vulnerable aligns with our responsibility as Christians to love our neighbor.
Second, Lifewater ensures churches have safe bathrooms on their premises, handwashing stations, clean water nearby, and the education to promote health within their congregations. It’s imperative that churches are early adopters of healthy hygiene practices.
Third, Lifewater encourages churches to help vulnerable households become Healthy Homes. Church leaders undergo a training to become WASH (water access, sanitation, and hygiene) advocates in their communities. These advocates are encouraged to identify widows, child-headed households, the elderly, and the disabled to help them meet the health standards of Lifewater’s programs.
Lifewater’s Vision of a Healthy Village strategy is a relationship-first method. This model transforms entire regions house by house, village by village, and school by school. It is among the most intensive household-level work happening in the entire developing world and is closely tracked for progress, sustainability, and overall impact.
We construct custom-engineered safe water sources and teach life-saving health and sanitation practices in local villages and schools in need.
Your gift reflects your trust in Lifewater International. We commit to honor your generosity by using your gift to help further the mission and vision of Lifewater International. Your donation is used by Lifewater International according to the project objectives to provide safe drinking water and improved sanitation and hygiene within the specified program area. Lifewater International is a charitable organization as described in 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, registered in the United States. All donations are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law.
Donations are non-refundable. Lifewater International will honor a donor’s request for any pre-approved program or project whenever possible. In rare occasions where this is not possible, gifts will be used where needed, in accordance with the organization’s charitable purpose. In accordance with this policy, donor’s explicitly release Lifewater International from further restriction on such funds.
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