Cambodia- Water wells

Time has come for the digging of the water wells we fundraised for! We are super excited and don’t really know what we are getting into, which makes it even more intriguing!!

To get to this point, there was quite some preparation involved. The Facebook fundraising was quite a success! Family and friends were also generous to this cause. Eloise and Olivier wanted to do their part and so they went around door-to-door selling chocolate.  Our goal was to finance 1 well while giving a personal contribution of at least $1000, we ended up with enough money to finance 2!!! We just have to say a huge thank you to all for your support!!!
Other than the financial aspect, there were numerous correspondences with Syreyra (co-founder of the ONG) to coordinate everything with our arrival in Cambodia.

The first day into this adventure goes something like this

Syreyra arranges for us to be picked up at our accommodation in Siem Reap. We are on our way to the site of the digging of the first well. The ride to get there is both long and bumpy but we get our eyes filled with images of rural life along the way. 

This time is also informative as Syreyra is able to fill us in on the organization, how they proceed in general, the different steps involved in the digging of the wells and soo much information about the life of Cambodians as she points out different things along the way. This certainly puts our expectations into perspective!

Context : 
Her very little team is composed of herself along with 1 head machine operator and his son (that will eventually take over for him) and 1 or 2 other handy men that join sporadically in time.

Syreyra, with her beautiful smile and also taking time to mingle with the elderly women of the village

Above the chief of machinerie, below his son learning the ropes to take over for his dad.

The organization was cofounded with Pierre (a guy from France) who passed away last year. Michel, another French guy living in Switzerland, has also been very involved over the years (especially financially as he was the main source of contributions to this ONG) but he is currently very sick and unable to provide at this time, leaving Syreyra quite by her lonesome to handle it all.
Syreyra is native to Siem Reap and is an incredible woman, to say the least! She is strong and resourceful, resilient and soo passionate about helping her people. She does all the work for the NGO on a voluntary basis as her main job is in the cinema industry. She is married to a French guy and shares her time between France and Cambodia trying to hold everything together. We had the chance to hear much of her life story and what a life story it is!!! We are quite admirative of this woman and that is an understatement. She is unsure at this time how much longer she can hold all this together by herself, so to all of you readers out there, the world is small, if you know of anyone who could be interested in investing their time to partner up with her please let us know and we can make the connections back to her  It’s mostly the business part that she could use help with (finances and fundraising), not that  can’t handle it but more because it’s the part she doesn’t like doing and it’s weighing heavily on her. 

​​Syreyra also explained to us that over the years, they have been digging wells in the province of Siem Reap with a success rate of finding water of 98%! However, after being involved in the making of a documentary, she came across the villages where they are currently digging. She knew bringing water to this area would be very complex but the need here for water is indescribable. She made the decision to take the risks and set out to dig 10 wells .

We arrive at the digging site after about 2h30 of driving. The team is there, the drilling is underway.

It’s day 4 of digging for them, the first 3 sites in this village ended with no water… Our first impression of this small village : it’s so far away! They have very basic living conditions… but they look so happy!

We look around. The adults are gathered around the drilling site, their eyes filled with hope that water will be found (they know the odds are not in their favour).

The children also watch with hopeful eyes… as long as we don't get too close to them as they are genuinely afraid of us and run away and hide when we get too close! 

Syreyra brought along a pot of candy. With that, we were able to get a bit closer to them but never mind the camera.. all pictures of them (except the one up top with Syreyra) were taken quickly without their knowledge .​

1 well is supposed to provide for 50 people. One look around and the question that pops into mind is "how will they choose just 50 people as there are more or less 100 in this small village"? Syreyra reassures us that they will all have access as 50 is a number on paper, in reality it is many more.

We watched for hours as they drilled deeper and deeper. They sample the soil every 2 metres and with one look at the sample they know where things stand. See the pictures lower of the sample trays. Each small compartment holds a sample of soil representing 2 meters. They can tell when its sandy, rocky, etc. Water is usually found when the sample looks somewhat spongy for a few compartments in a row. 

Ideally they want to find water below 8 metres and above 20. Above 8 metres, they can’t be certain that the water isn’t contaminated with surface water. Below 20 meters, the static component makes it harder to pump the water. They have enough piping to dig to 40 metres at the most.

It’s past lunch time, they hit 36 metres and still haven’t found signs that there is much water. They can’t drill any deeper as they have hit a rock slate that they are not able to overcome. They are faced with a dilemma… stop everything here or give it a try anyways?
​These people really need water, this is the 4th attempt, they have found some water but the other 3 attempts found none at all. Normally, they would not consider keeping this site and would not install the PVC tubing and the equipment for the pump… but how can you tell people in such need that there is water just not enough according to the standards they strive for? Syreyra and the chief machine operator discuss with the owner of the house and the chief of the district. If they stop now, only 20% of the fees will have been encountered. If they keep going, with no guarantee at all that it will work, the costs will build up fast. They decide to pursue.

They proceed to « developing the well ». This consists in installing the perforated 4’’ PVC tubing and then sending down a large boar hose sending compressed air to the bottom of the hole. The idea is to force the water up and out. Keep reading about the second day of drilling and you will find pictures and more info on the setting up and also the development of the well.
This process lasts several hours… it’s past 4pm, the sun goes down just before 6pm. Syreyra informs us that we must leave to make our way back to the main road before it is dark. 

Below, some images of this day spent with these local village people, witnessing their way of life and feeling blessed to have been part of it even if it was just for 1 day. Such an authentic experience, we leave feeling overwhelmed with all sorts of emotions and can't wait to find out if this will all work out for them.

It's now time for day 2!

A few days have gone by since the first day of drilling. We have had some time to visit the Unesco world heritage site of Angkor Wat that we will write about in another blog. We also spent some time with Syreyra and her family as she invited us to lunch with them in their home. Our opinion of her did not change during this time. On the contrary, our astonishment in the face of this amazing women only got stronger!

Before digging into the details of day 2, here are the basic steps to digging a well:
​
1. Finding the right drilling site

• Talking with endless people to get approvals for digging: 
  • the chief of the Siem Reap province
  • the chief of the district in question
  • the chief of the village
  • a community meeting to decide where exactly they should dig
  • the owner of the house where the digging will happen

2. Drilling

• In order to drill they need to set up in a way where they can ensure a supply of water to maintain the drilling equipment cool. You have guessed that in this context that is not a simple task! In this area where water is such a rare thing, they dig up huge ditches that fill with water during the rainy season and that evaporate slowly during the dry season. This is their water supply for the year and it is used for everything: drinking and bathing for both animals and villagers (yes we saw cows and ducks waddling around in there), laundry, cooking, etc. So of coarse they are a bit weary of letting people come in and pump out so many liters of this precious resource. See below a brief video showing the water source and the set up to pump towards the drilling site.

• Once the water supply is set up, the machinery checked for levels the drilling can start. If all goes well water is found within a few hours
• As mention during day 1 description above, every 2 meters they sample the soil. See here the sample trays from day 1 (left) and day 2 (right). They are substantially different!

3. Installing the 4'' perforated PVC tubing (and unperforated for the last 8 meters under the surface to avoid collecting possibly contaminated surface water)

Haven't mentioned yet but cambodians are very handy people, they fix everything with nothing and always have a solution to whatever is thrown their way. Here is an example, the PVC tubing needs to be closed off at the end (the first one to go down the hole) to avoid it gets filled with debris. Since they don't have a special part to do so, they hand make the piece so it works. They first saw out triangular pieces, They than start a small fire and gently melt the tips in order to bring them together giving the result you see here on the left. Not bad!!

4. Adding gravel around the PVC tubing to hold everything up straight and also to help filter the water before it reaches the PVC tubing. 
5. Developing the well

• ​This is a long process that can last several hours. Once the PVC tubing is installed, they need to clean out the piping as it is filled with the dirty water used for drilling. 

• They use a smaller PVC tubing that they insert down the 4" tubing. In this tubing, they send down a large bar hose that will be sending in some compressed air. the idea here is that the air bubbles up forcing the water out the top. Because the 4" PVC tubing is perforated, technically clean water should make it's way into the tubing and with time during this process, clean water replaces the dirty water and clean water makes it's way to the top.. the moment you have been waiting for all day!! 

6. Let everything sit quietly for a few days
7. Pouring a cement slab around the Well and let it sit for a few days
8. Return to finalize installation of the pump and a small gate around the cement slab to prevent the animals from getting to close (hygiene).

We didn't get to witness the last 2 steps as we only had a limited time to stay in the Siem Reap region and with the difficulties faced with the drilling, we were content in seeing the process as we did. Syreyra will keep up posted with a few images of the rest of the process that we can also share with you when we get them.

Finally, once everything is up and running, they ensure that a repair kit is given to a trustworthy person who is also shown how everything works and can make repairs when necessary or minimally is able to identify the faulty part to order them for replacement. 

A glimps at the 2nd digging site

The days starts out similar to the first... 2 hours of bumpy ride in excellent company!
We arrive on site just as they are finishing up with the initial set up. We therefore witness these preparation steps and the excitement of seeing the drill head hit the ground. A quick video of the  gives you an idea of the drilling process lasting several hours.

We decided to bring along some incentives for the local children to want to hang out with our kids... so we packed a watermelon and some lollypops! They were running away at first but then decided it might be ok to stick around and see what was on offer. We giggled when we saw them pop the lollypops, unwrapped, into their mouths before anyone could take it away!

They seemed to appreciate the watermelon in the afternoon just as much!

Below, the owner of the house where the drilling is happening today, watching intently as the day unfolds

Again, a few snap shots of the day...

During the time we spent in this village, we had a chance to watch as an elderly women was hard at work making the necessary to change to roof of one of the houses. Not certain what material she was using but watching her was mesmerizing, serene and impressive. 

Slowly, the day comes to an end. Water has been found! Less that their usual standards, but more that the previous digging site. The well has been developed. They cap it for now and the team packs up getting ready to move to the next digging site. They will return for the last 2 steps in the upcoming weeks and Syreyra will keep us posted.