Let's Help This Cambodian Family
NOTE: This campaign is complete.
We've surpassed our goal, and collected over $300 for the family's neighbors as well. Phearun and I are thinking through how to use the extra money to give something like chickens or tools that will help people have more sustainable lives.
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Hi, I'm Lauren "Zehara" Haas, a nomadic freelance writer (and former dancer) currently staying in Cambodia.
I'm raising money to build a toilet for a family in the Cambodian countryside. This family lives in a wooden house without a toilet or any furnishings at all. They sleep on the floor. 
This is the grandmother of the family.
No one has ever greeted me more warmly than she did. She hugged me, held my hand, touched my face, smiled into my eyes. I wonder what she endured during the Khmer Rouge years. I can't stand the thought of her sleeping on boards or not having access to a toilet.
The family cooks outdoors.
Their 18-year-old son was killed recently in a traffic accident. This is not only a personal tragedy but a financial crisis because he was earning some income.
The oldest daughter supported herself with work in nearby Siem Reap while she went to school. She will begin working as a teacher next year. In the meantime, the family is able to earn money only during the rice planting and harvest seasons, when they labor for about $2/day, but that work is only available for a total of about 40 days a year. The rest of the year they have no income, and they can only grow food during the rainy season.
This is their water supply. It comes out a bit murky, but they boil it and drink it. 
It will cost less than $300 to build an outhouse and put in a toilet for them. I'm hoping to raise $500 so I can also bring them some mattresses, hammocks, seeds for their garden, and some chickens.
I'll be personally buying the building materials, and I'll be staying with the family overnight while the toilet is constructed, so I have no doubt about where the money is going. I'll post pictures of everything so you can share in the joy of it all.
Please visit my Facebook album to see more photos of the house and family.
Any help at all is appreciated. Even a very small donation will make a huge difference to this family's comfort and security.
