Leaderboard Banner

Well-Building: NGO Improves Lives of Cambodian Youth

by Piper Stull-Lane

Spa professional Jenni Lipa was inspired by what “spa” really means: “salus per aqua” or “health through water.”
giving back_inline1
While on vacation in Cambodia, Jenni Lipa, president of Spa Trek Travel, visited the historic Angkor Wat, “a city 10 times the size of London in the 12th century.” Angkor Wat boasts the largest religious monument in the world, and, given its impressive history, Lipa was particularly affected by the area’s state of apparent disrepair.
Considering how much Cambodia suffered in recent history under the Khmer Rouge, a genocidal regime that resulted in the loss of 1.7 million lives, it was not a surprise. The tragedy also decimated much of the country’s infrastructure. And it further contributed to a distinct demographic shift: over 50 percent of the Cambodian population is under 22 years old.
Lipa decided to create Cambodian Child’s Dream Organization (CCDO), an NGO dedicated to offering quality education, community involvement and environmental improvements to Cambodian youth. With offices in the U.S., Cambodia and the UK, CCDO endeavors to work with Cambodians to help improve living conditions among village youth.
Since its inception in 2003, the organization has worked “village by village,” to implement health-related projects in the country. As a long-time spa professional, Lipa knew well how access to clean water is critical to health and well-being. After all, the word “spa” itself is an acronym for the Latin “salus per aqua” or “health through water.”
Through its Water Wells initiative, CCDO is responsible for the creation of over 970 wells that serve 20,400 people. They rely on ceramic water filters for purification, which conserve precious fuel that would otherwise be used to boil the water. Villagers are engaged in workshops that teach proper maintenance and repair methods for the wells.
And as education is central in the CCDO mission, village schools are provided with full-time English teachers, and CCDO has additionally built libraries, sports fields, vegetable gardens and more to improve access to diverse educational programming. Lipa adds, “We have started two preschools that allow older siblings to go to school instead of staying home to watch the younger ones.”
Cambodian Child’s Dream Organization guarantees that over 96 percent of donations fund projects directly, fulfilling the grassroots operation’s mission “to promote sustainable village development in partnership with Cambodian people.” cambodianchildsdream.org

You may also like