In many remote rural villages in Cambodia, access to clean water remains a daily struggle. Despite national progress in water and sanitation, entire communities still rely on unsafe sources such as ponds or shallow wells, and many face health challenges linked directly to poor water quality. Families often live in precarious housing conditions, where limited access to clean water contributes to preventable health issues – especially among children.

It is within this landscape that the Daughters of Charity have embarked on a meaningful project: to install a water purification system in Ponleu Phkay Primary School; reinforce classroom infrastructure by cementing floors; and equip the school with chairs for students.

This 13 Houses Jubilee Project is deeply connected to a parallel housing project by the Daughters of Charity, aimed at improving living conditions and water access for 10 families in three remote and impoverished villages. This includes Sway Village, where the primary school is located. By addressing education, access to clean water and living conditions simultaneously, the project seeks to benefit the children directly and extend its positive impact to their families and the wider community.

The motivation behind this initiative is deeply rooted in the lived experiences of the local people.

“We visit homes of the children we are supporting with supplemental feeding who are studying at the Ponleu Phkay Primary School,” Sister Eulalia, the Project Coordinator, explains. “In the hours sitting down with the families, listening, it surfaced that one of the priority needs is potable water during the whole year or at least clean water.”

Families in the village often collect water from a nearby pond, let it settle, and then use it for drinking and daily needs. Others rely on bottled water or rainwater when available. Years ago, an organisation installed a manual water pump, but it was soon discovered that the well water was highly contaminated with arsenic. This water was so toxic that even plants withered.

The consequences of unsafe water ripple far beyond health. Waterborne illnesses and hygiene issues continue to rise, agricultural productivity suffers, and without crops, families must buy nearly everything.

“Since they don’t have stable sources of income, they resort to loans for even their basic needs, including medicines and hospitalization,” Sister Eulalia says.

It is this multi-layered poverty that inspired the Sisters to act.

“This complicated situation motivated us to find ways to make potable water accessible for all households.”

The connection between water and education is direct and unavoidable. Although the village has a functioning primary school, the lack of clean water within and around it undermines educational success.

“Right now, they only have a plastic jar filled with water from the pond for drinking. Children come with dirty clothes, without meals and will get sick. It will repeat the same cycle of poverty,” Sister Eulalia notes.

In this context, the right to water becomes inseparable from the right to education.

Cambodia has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, affirming the human right to safe drinking water. Yet, as of 2024, around 30% of rural residents in Cambodia still lack access to basic or safely managed drinking water services. While 87% of the population has access to at least basic drinking water, only 21% have access to water considered safely managed – meaning it is clean, available when needed, and accessible on premises. (Human Progress, UNICEF Cambodia, World Bank)

Sister Eulalia believes that while the government is striving to address these issues, communities must also play an active role in shaping their own futures.

“The government is trying its best, but multifaceted concerns seem overwhelming. We need to support and partner with the government. The little support we can do is to influence positive changes in the life of each individual, enabling families to design and decide for their own life and not be overwhelmed by situations beyond their control.”

Part of this support also includes improved housing conditions and education – especially in hygiene. Hygiene education is a gateway to health, self-worth, and resilience.

While the water purification system for the school is still in progress, tangible steps have already been taken. The flooring of five classrooms has been completed, and a community meeting involving 45 families marked the beginning of the second phase: bringing clean water into homes and the school.

“We do the project one at a time, depending on the responses of the community,” she says. During the harvest season, many families have promised to contribute labor for the next stage after paying their existing loans. “Again, the parents are so happy to use the classroom for the meeting,” she adds.

Sister Eulalia sees the project not just as a technical solution but as a moment of jubilee – a time of hope, renewal, and restoration.

“Installation of water is a fulfillment of their hope… it means life, dignified life. Access to clean water solves multiple problems; it’s a relief to the poor. Even without a house, as long as there is water, there is life.”

This effort to provide dignified living conditions for the families and clean water, stable flooring, and basic facilities in Ponleu Phkay Primary School is more than a development project. It is a step toward breaking the cycle of poverty that binds many rural Cambodian families. Through compassion, dialogue, and collaboration, the seeds of a dignified life are being planted – one classroom, one family, and one water jar at a time.