TPRF Aids Water, Sanitation Program in Cambodian Province

As many as 25,000 expected to benefit

LOS ANGELES, March 8, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Up to 25,000 people in a remote and impoverished area of Cambodia are expected to gain access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation thanks to a grant from The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF).

TPRF is contributing US$6,800 to fund the purchase of three portable water-purification systems by All Ears Cambodia (AEC), an organization that has expanded its services in Cambodia's Battambang province in an effort to meet a wide range of needs in the population it serves.

"Clean water is essential for health and well-being for everyone," says Linda Pascotto, President of TPRF. "The water provided for these Cambodian communities through AEC and TPRF will protect people from disease as well as satisfy their thirst. The impact will be wide-ranging, ongoing, and life sustaining for people who haven't been able to enjoy this basic necessity that so many take for granted."

AEC is installing one of the three systems at its clinic in Rokhakiri and the remaining two at schools in Toul Koki and Roung villages, said Glyn Vaughan, AEC's Director and Secretary for the nonprofit's Board of Directors.

"These systems," he said, "will be used on a daily basis by the schoolchildren and teachers, and by the wider community, benefiting 25,000 people."

Rokhakiri is a small district in the southeast region of Battambang that has been devastated by years of war. Severely delayed in its development because it was occupied by Khmer Rouge troops until the late 1990s, the region was only recently officially reintegrated into Cambodia.

The people of Rokhakiri, Vaughan said, are "terribly poor and have almost no access to quality healthcare services."

In 2009, AEC completed construction of a community ear clinic in Prey Tralach commune in Rokhakiri following a donation of land. It has since been developing its services well beyond its initial mission of targeting hearing disorders to also include issues of hygiene, sanitation, nutrition and preventative measures against malaria and dengue fever.

Vaughn said tests conducted in 2009 showed that none of the water sources that the population uses were potable.

TPRF funding, Vaughn said, will cover the installation of low-cost community water-treatment technology that removes microbiological contamination at the point of use.

About The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF)

The Prem Rawat Foundation promotes Prem Rawat's message of peace and his vision of addressing fundamental human needs so that people everywhere can live with dignity, peace and prosperity. For more information, visit: www.tprf.org.

SOURCE The Prem Rawat Foundation