Pu Trom Cha Community Well Project Complete!

On Saturday 14th August our little VSO team (Jeltje, Chak and I) set about helping the community of Pu Trom Cha to finish the school’s well. It was dug by members of the local community after a community meeting where the School Director identified the lack of water at the school as a major issue preventing the children from attending. Many children would walk home as they were thirsty and then not return to classes as it was too far. Now the school has a well and a water filter they no longer need to do this so can stay in class for longer and have a more conducive learning atmosphere. The well has also enabled the school to set about creating a garden for growing vegetables and medicinal plants. These will be used to help support the students either by giving them additional food or by using the proceeds from any sales to buy resources for the school.
When we arrived at the school the first thing I noticed was the new fence built around the well and an area soon to be a garden, the wood and labour for which were donated by the community and school director. This was great as the school and community had worked together, without my direct involvement, in order to achieve this after it was suggested in a previous meeting. This fence will keep the buffalo and cows out of the garden area, which is always good when you’re trying to grown plants!

The well was hand dug to a depth of 35 meters, a meter wide. Looking down to the reflective water at the bottom is a vertigo inducing experience and I can’t think of anything worse than being at the bottom!

So, what was now necessary was building a low circular wall around the well to prevent unsuspecting animals and children from falling down a 35m hole and contaminating the water. With the money raised from home I was able to purchase 300 bricks, concrete, sand and tools in order to build this structure. As there was to be a blessing ceremony I also provided food for the community members and the eponymous ‘jar wine’. This is fermented rice mixed with leaves and herbs and is the traditional celebration drink for the local indigenous Bunong people. It is also very, very strong.
Once we had completed the first foundation level and a ring of bricks a break was taken to eat the food and begin the ceremony. A chicken had been killed (somewhere in the village fortunately) and its cooked body was brought and it’s liver mixed with rice and given as an offering to the spirits of the well. They also gave fruit and some of the wine along with small pieces of charcoal wrapped in wool. The air was thick with incense sticks and chanting during the ceremony to wish luck on the well and the school, urging bad spirits to stay away. The religion of the Bunong is one of worshipping the spirits of the forest and is not Buddhism, although the incense, chanting and offerings make it seem similar.

After the ceremony we were asked to join in the rice wine drinking, which I tried and failed to get out of with the excuse of having to ride my motorbike back across the dodgy roads. Jeltje and I were plonked in front of the communal straws sticking out of the jars with the wine made from rain water. There was no way out other than to drink the required cup full, after which I stood up and immediately felt the alcohol go straight to my head!

So after some more wine drinking the work resumed on the wall building and we now had a ring of bricks started. At this point Jeltje and I decided to chip in and help with the brick laying and although it is definitely seen as ‘mans work’ we were allowed to join and after a while the men accepted us into the team and we all worked together to complete it. It was also at this point that the rain began, causing all us brick layers to get soaked to the skin while the rest of the community wisely retreated back into the school!
It took around 5 hours to complete the structure and cover it in concrete. When the concrete has dried out in a couple of weeks, the children and school director will paint the names of all those who contributed to the well building project onto the outside of the well.

This project has been a great success for this tiny school in rural Cambodia. The community have supported and worked with the school in order to improve the learning environment for their children, which will in turn enable them to access better education.

Now the Community and School Director are completely on board they are keen to get going on the next project here which is the community garden and hopefully a library too!

So thank you again to those who gave funds to this great cause, your help has really improved the lives of the children attending this school and given them an increased opportunity to stay in education.