OUR WORK

Polin's (10) school was in need of renovation - there were only classrooms for Grade 1 and 2, which meant Polin would need to move school for Grade 3. With support from Save the Children, Polin's school received an extra classroom and new WASH facilities, which has made a positive impact to his daily life and education. Ratha Yous/ Save the Children

Kanha is an 11-year-old girl who lives with her family in a floating house in a community on Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia. The family of seven includes the parents, Kanha, her three sisters and a brother, and they live in a small house that consists of one bedroom, a kitchen, and a storage area. Every day, Kanha and her sister Lyza, 9, take the boat to go to the local floating school, where she attends grade 5. The children love the local floating community and Kanha is happy to see the community getting bigger and more people living on the lake. She, however, is very concerned about the pollution in the Tonle Sap Lake where she sees litter and trash floating, and numbers of flooded forests in constant decline. Kanha is aware that flooded forests serve as a habitat for fish, and that their decline affects her parents’ fishing activity, which serves as the main source of income for the family. She is also troubled by the impact of trash on the health and wellbeing of the community, and its effect on the prospects of making Tonle Sap Lake a tourist destination. Powered with these concerns and knowledge of the importance of environmental conservation, Kanha joined other children in her school to build biobars; a barrier made of used bottles and nets to trap trash in the waterways, which is then collected and disposed of outside of the lake. She and other children in the community collect empty bottles, drop them off at school, and join working groups to build the biobars. Kanha believes that she is making a change in her community and the world by spreading awareness about the dangers of pollution and picking up trash. She describes herself as gentle, calm and caring, and wants to be a doctor when she grows up to save patients and help her country. Sacha Myers / Save the Children

Linh Pham / Save the Children

Kanha sits on her floating garden, behind her floating house, in a floating village on Tonle Sap Lake. As motorboats buzz by, she talks us through the amazing array on her aquatic allotment. “The vegetables I help plant in the garden for my aunty are sponge gourde, lemongrass, lettuce, black cabbage, white cabbage, eggplant, bitter melon, chillies, papaya, water spinach, mimosa plant…” It’s Kanha’s little oasis. Her auntie and main caregiver, Kem Rai, built it almost entirely from waste. “I created my garden by collecting old bottles people throw away, to make floating rafts with old fishing nets that people throw away.” It’s an ingenious way of solving a big pollution problem here on Tonle Sap. And Kanha knows better than anyone. “There is a lot of trash and it has an impact on the environment,” says Kanha. “There are plastic cups, plastic plates, plastic bags, pots, wood…” Encouraging the planting of these floating gardens is just one of many initiatives that form Save the Children’s GREEN project. Families on Tonle Sap have always been reliant on fishing. But pollution, along with rising water temperatures due to climate change, have made it risky. “In the past, fish stock was much larger, but now it's going down because the water is really hot during the dry season,” says Kem Rai. “Hot water makes it difficult for fish to live in.” That’s why Kem Rai’s diversifying her income through our GREEN incubator. We trained and funded her to start a ‘green livelihood’ making and selling non-polluting hand soap. “Normally, I sell about five to seven bottles a day. I sell most of my dish soap at a market, and I sell a small amount in the village. And I keep some for domestic use.” She’s making a fair and consistent profit too. Now other villagers are coming to her for advice. Supporting a new generation of green businesses is one thing, but ensuring this green movement has a legacy is vital. We’ve introduced eco lessons to Kanha’s school curriculum where she learns about the environment and climate change, and participates in activities like collecting rubbish from the lake and raising awareness about the environment. It's a big effort to protect the environment and the community here on Tonle Sap. But it’s made up of little gems, like Kanha and her auntie’s floating garden. Linh Pham / Save the Children