New toilets and a water supply will improve sanitary conditions for all residents of Cheuteal — nicknamed “Spider Village” because many villagers earn their livelihood by hunting for tarantulas.

From our regional associate, Chhay Mov, Program Services Manager, Cambodia:

At Cheuteal village (“Spider Village”) in Kampong Cham Province, Cambodia, we recently built four bathrooms, two washing basins, and connected two clean water supplies from the highway, which is 2,020 meters away. The village chief with villagers and children are so happy for this project to support their community. They would like to say thank you very much to our company and Grand Circle Foundation for this big support.

They used to go to the bush behind the village for emergencies and had to worry about insects and snakes, but now they have safe and clean toilets, and a place to shower and clean their hands with clean water supply.

We tried to dig for water underground, but we were not successful. The water that came out of the ground was not good water, so we decided to connect a water supply from the highway. The other benefit is other villagers can connect with this water supply because we already put the water pipe along the village in front of their homes.

We could not gather many villagers on our photo day because many of the villagers needed to go to the bush very early to hunt for tarantulas to sell, as their daily lives depend on those profits to support their families. They are so happy for this big project, building the toilets, and washing hand basins for the kids and believe this will help improve the environment and help the children become more hygienic and even avoid disease.

Mrs. Voeun—a widow with three children whose job is hunting tarantulas, crickets, and other insects for money—is always happy to share her life experiences with our travelers. She is so happy. She promised to help maintain these bathrooms for long lasting use for her whole village.