In many parts of the world, turning on a tap to receive a glass of safe drinking water is so routine it is often taken for granted. However, for the families we support in Siem Reap, access to this basic necessity remains a daily, uphill battle. At REACH, we believe that while education is a powerful tool for change, it must be supported by grassroots action to ensure our community’s most fundamental needs are met. 

Learning the Value of Every Drop 

Our commitment to water security begins with educating the next generation. Earlier this year, during their second semester, students from the REACH Role Models Club took part in an educational excursion to West Baray. 

West Baray is a massive water reservoir dating back to the Khmer Empire. While it is a popular recreation area for locals, the water found there is not drinkable and must undergo a rigorous treatment process before it can be used. This outing was designed to allow students to step outside their daily routine and deepen their knowledge beyond the classroom walls with several clear objectives: 

• Understanding the dangers of drinking untreated water. 

• Discovering how a water treatment system works on a industrial scale. 

• Encouraging responsibility for water usage. 

• Empowering students to share knowledge with their families and friends to raise awareness. 

During the visit, students witnessed the journey of water—from rain or river collection to purification. They saw the machinery involved and learned about the essential use of chemicals like chlorine to eliminate bacteria. The excursion linked classroom theory with real-life application; by seeing, touching, and asking questions, the children were highly engaged. 

Sreyang, one of the students, shared: “It was very interesting, and I now understand better how dirty water can make us sick.” Another student added: “I have ridden past this place every day by bike and never thought it was so big or that there were so many machines.” 

As our teacher, Srey Orn, noted: “It is essential that children understand how we get clean water. If they realize how long and costly the process is, they will learn to respect it.” 

One of REACH’s primary goals is to ensure that learning doesn’t stop at the school gate but spreads into the community. In a region where many adults receive limited health education, children act as vital messengers. 

Our students during the visit to the Water and Sanitation Plant.

 From Day 1: The Evolution of Our Grassroots Support 

Providing clean drinking water has been a pillar of REACH’s mission since our very first day. For years, we relied on Bio-sand filters to service our site. While these were a vital starting point, they came with significant challenges: 

• Limited Capacity: They could only produce a restricted amount of liters per day, which barely covered our internal needs. 

• High Maintenance: They require constant, manual upkeep to remain effective. 

• Limited Reach: While we could service our students’ needs within the school, we didn’t have the volume to extend that support to the wider community. 

To fully combat the health issues facing our families, we needed a sustainable, high-volume solution that reached beyond our front gates. 

A Strategic Collaboration: The New Filtration System 

This vision became a reality through a formal collaboration between Disaster Aid Australia (DAA), Heartprint, and REACH Siem Reap. Disaster Aid Australia is a project of the Rotary Club of Greater Dandenong & Endeavour Hills, committed to providing “Safe Water for Every Child.” 

Following a Memorandum of Agreement, we transitioned to a state-of-the-art water filtration system. This partnership defined clear roles to ensure long-term success: 

• Disaster Aid Australia provided the water filter unit and funding for tanks, pipes, and manuals. 
• Heartprint managed the delivery, installation, and technical training for our team. 
• REACH Siem Reap is committed to the daily maintenance, backwashing, and security of the unit to ensure its longevity. 

REACH team standing in front of the new water filter with the Heartprint team.

Scaling Impact for the Community 

The impact of this system has been transformative. Capable of pumping out over 20,000 liters a day, it has allowed us to finally scale our outreach. We have positioned the filtration system right by our front gate to ensure it is visible and accessible to the local population. 

We prioritize access for those who need it most, including children, women, the elderly, and persons with disabilities.  Today, this system supports: 

• 405 students with high-quality water throughout their school day. 

• 45 staff members working on-site. 

• More than 180 families now can access clean water for their homes. 

Every day, REACH families refill their “blue bottles” for their households entirely free of charge. This ensures that the health benefits of clean water extend directly into the homes of our community, providing a fundamental pillar of resilience. 

Tracking Our Progress 

We continuously monitor our water output to ensure we are meeting the dire needs of our community. Since the installation in October, we have provided: 

• 534 bottles to support our school and students. 

• 195 bottles to the surrounding community and families. 

• 14,580 total liters of water consumption.

We are expecting that the families’ consumption is only continuing to grow month on month. 

REACH family member refilling their water through the new water filter.

Looking Ahead to 2026: A New Era of Exploration 

As we look toward 2026, we are incredibly excited to build upon this foundation of health and education. While the Heartprint water filter has secured our students’ health, we are now ready to expand their horizons. 

We are thrilled to share that our partners at the Southeast Asia Foundation (SEAFund) have funded a second Remork (Cambodian trailer) for our organisation. This is a game-changer for REACH. Previously, we only had one Remork that didn’t fit an entire class of students, which meant every time we hosted an excursion, we have had to rent a bus. Our ability to take students on excursions was severely limited by the prohibitive costs of renting private buses. 

With this new Remork, we can now transport an entire class to various locations around Siem Reap cost-effectively. This means more trips to the water treatment plant, local libraries, and cultural sites. These experiential excursions are vital; they allow our students to step out of their insular surroundings and into the “outside world,” sparking curiosity and critical thinking through hands-on learning. 

We would like to extend a massive thank you to SEAFund for responding to this call and providing us with the means to open so many doors for our students in the coming year. We look forward to hosting many more excursions for all of our kids at REACH. 

By combining the gift of clean water with the gift of mobility and exploration, we are ensuring our students have every opportunity to REACH their full potential. 

Our team member sitting on the REACH remork.