Be A cHAMP

WAH’s solution to sustainability explained

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June 2020

In a nutshell, WAH has been in operation for a decade, and continues to thrive, because from the beginning we managed our foundation with passion, a clear mission and a focussed strategy. We work on projects we believe have maximum impact in local communities, with a priority to look after the well being of women and children. Every human being has a right to clean drinking water and good medical services. Added to this, education for the young raises standards of living and brings hope and prosperity to families and communities.

Through our network and perseverance, we have managed to bring together some top global collaborations and partnerships. We are a small foundation, but we continue to listen, learn, adapt and grow with our local team, who are on the ground every day, working with the local communities in Kampong Chhnang province. We continue to expand our volunteer base in Singapore, who have the skills and perspectives we need to help us constantly improve.

- Christopher Wilson, Founder

Commitment, contribution, community empowerment, communication

COMMITMENT

By building a local team, on the ground, where our staff live, we are creating long term employment. We then attract people who are committed to staying with us, growing with us, and helping us. A culture of care and focus on looking after the local communities is then created and nurtured by them and for them. WAH has become a name synonymous with care, hope, openness and action.

The best example of this is our close relationship with Kampong Chnnang Provincial Health Department (KCPHD). Having worked for 10 years with KCPHD, and the director, Dr Prak Vonn, we have become a trusted partner who can be relied upon to give support, and genuinely bring sustainable solutions and overseas collaborations to build on medical education and expertise, resources and talent.

CONTRIBUTION
This is a key part of the process of empowerment. When we interact with local people, we do it as equals, as partners with a common goal. When we contribute together we are on the same level, and respect is automatically created between us. For instance, a school headmaster will feel ownership and responsibility through contribution. The water system becomes the property of the school, and will be looked after and maintained, with the help of WAH. Pride of ownership is created. They have “skin-in-the-game”. Our model is to ask schools to buy the water filter which is around $250. The system in total is around $2,000 (materials only), so their contribution is not a large percentage, but is meaningful. Schools also have to continue buying new filters once they need replacing, between 2-3 years depending on use and water quality.

COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT

This goes hand-in-hand with contribution. The only way we can be successful and create sustainability is through empowerment. Once we have achieved empowerment in the community, we have a winning formula for long term impact and integration of our work into the local ecosystem. KCPHD has become empowered over 10 years of regular interaction, starting from water filters in health centres, followed by midwife and paediatric training and train-the-trainer programs. We then worked on a cataract removal mission, mosquito net distribution, de-worming program, Covid-19 assistance and funding, and on-going work in the field. Through this work and commitment we have built empowerment and trust. This is unique, powerful and it works! The same model has been used with the commitment to schools in the province.

COMMUNICATION
Our standard operating procedures include a very important factor, which is regular communication with the local communities and partners. This includes listening, understanding needs, and being pro-active. We never presume we know what local communities need. We meet with them on the same level, with dignity, and discuss possible ways to collaborate.

Humility dignity equality

This, for WAH, is instilled in the foundation. Everyone has a right to have clean water, and good healthcare. We look at every individual the same, all cultures, races, religions. We treat everyone with dignity, no matter what their situation. By forming deep and caring relationships, we instil dignity, and no one we ever interact with feels unloved. We treat everyone as we would wish to be treated ourselves.

action through our C’s

With our local team and close connection to the Provincial Health Department in Kampong Chhnang, we learn about the different problems that are being faced by the communities. Our priority is the well-being of women and children. And that covers many different areas. We try to go where we are needed, and when we are asked to help. We learn about what is needed through our local partners and team, and we take action together with our global partners, to make a change in a positive way.

Management through local leadership and running WAH like a “business”

WAH is fortunate to have Dr Rany, a female doctor, as the head of the foundation in Cambodia. She brings medical experience and expertise, dedication, a deep sense of caring for both the local communities and the WAH staff, and hard work. Her leadership has inspired the WAH team, and also has helped to grow the strong relationship with PHD and all our collaboration partners. Rany has been saving lives of patients, and passes on her knowledge daily at PHD, in the field, visiting the health centres, and at the hospitals.

partners, local and foreign, who care and add value and their network

WAH sees collaboration from two perspectives. One is our local collaboration partners, and the other is our overseas partners. Local partners include KCPHD doctors and nurses, school headmasters and teachers, orphanage directors, college directors and teachers, village committees, and the Ministry of Education. We interact daily on the ground with our local collaboration partners, and have built close, lasting relationships over the last ten years.

Overseas collaboration partners come from all walks of life, from hospitals, to foundations, individuals, and corporates. Each partner plays a key role in our ecosystem, from funding to skill sets. They see WAH as a local Cambodia platform, deeply entrenched on the ground, in close communication with the local communities. Each partner can plug into the platform, work with us and make a difference in their own way.

Examples of the power of this model are hospitals from overseas, such as KKH, Mount Alvernia (Singapore) and Tilganga in Nepal. Working in collaboration with these hospitals, and with Kampong Chhnang Provincial Health Department, we are able to bring midwife and paediatric training, eye missions (cataract removal), and train-the-trainer programs. Over time communities start to benefit from a much more educated and experienced medical staff. Mortality rates for mothers in birth have been reduced by around 90%. When a young midwife approaches us to say that she saved a mother’s life because of her training, we know we are making progress.