On World Water Day, Planet Water Foundation successfully completed its Project 24 challenge – 24 AquaTowers were built in 24 locations across Cambodia in just 24 hours to provide clean, safe drinking water for 24,000 people.
The Tatum Primary School in Roveang Tatum Village, in the Banteay Srei Region, was just one of the chosen communities, and as a sponsor of Project 24, Inmarsat was proud to be invited to have its logo displayed on the village’s AquaTower.
A sustainable source of clean water means that over 1,000 villagers no longer have to use water from contaminated wells for all of their daily needs, including drinking, which will significantly reduce water-borne illnesses in the community.
Approximately 4,000 children die every day from water-related illness. And one in eight people do not have access to clean drinking water – that’s almost one billion people.
“I need clean water more than electricity because my students really long for it. When they drink and wash their hands with clean water it will improve their health and learning activities,” said Mrs. Tim Phall, a Tatum Primary school teacher.
And sixth grade student Yat Pheak said: “My friends and I pump water from the well to drink when we are thirsty. The water is not good and has trash surrounding the well.”
Building of their AquaTower began on 22 March (World Water Day) at 05:00 local time and within one hour, fresh clean water was flowing in the community for the first time – see how here.
Planet Water Foundation has set its sights high with a mission to provide clean safe drinking water for five billion communities by 2020. Increasing awareness is crucial to help achieve this goal.
Inmarsat teamed up with partners Cobham SATCOM and AST to stream live footage of the towers being built throughout the day in Cambodia over Inmarsat’s BGAN X-Stream network, in an effort to help highlight this life-saving initiative to a worldwide audience.
