Sineth and Khvan both work as farmers to support their two children. They live in Kratie province, Cambodia. Sineth and Khvan’s livelihood depends on their ability to farm rice in the fields every day. When we spoke to Sineth they had just experienced a very tough time.
“It has been a difficult year this year… I didn’t get much rice because there was a drought… I couldn’t sell labour because they didn’t need labour as much as before so we had a lack of food this year.”
On top of her difficulty finding work Sineth was fighting cholera.
“Before, when I didn’t have a toilet or a water filter and me or my family would go to defecate it was dirty because the flies can spread the disease, and through food also… I suffered from diarrhoea when I went to sell labour and when I was rice farming, and drank the canal water. And after that I would get diarrhoea. In one year I would get it 3-4 times.”
You can imagine the struggle of earning money when there is little work added to the difficulty of attempting work when you are so ill. And it wasn’t just Sineth’s frequent illness that made life difficult – her children were also suffering. They needed care, medicine, and food just when it was scarce.
“First I don’t have enough food to support my family, I would need to borrow from someone… When me and my children were sick, over 2-3 months my income would be reduced from 100,000 [riel] to 10,000 to 20,000.”
But Sineth and her family were fortunate because people like you have supported them to turn their lives around.
Khvan and Sineth’s daughter can now attend secondary school. They have bought a pig for their farm, and intend to breed and sell piglets. They have also bought a buffalo cart that they can now rent to others in their village.
“I am so happy that I see Oxfam can teach me and other people in my village for practicing the hygiene… I am so happy.”
You can help more families by providing life saving clean water and sanitation.
