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Cloverdale businessman funds wells in Cambodia

Revive Washing in Clayton Heights donates three per cent of profits to charity

For David Moerman, doing business is about more than generating profits. It’s also about generating money for charity.

“My company donates three per cent of every job we do to a charity called Hope International,” said Moerman. “They build water projects in a bunch of different countries, but the funds from my company go to build water wells in Cambodia.”

Moerman said he wants to get the word out about water, something people in developed countries take for granted.

“There is a water crisis in the world affecting 663 million people,” noted Moerman. “In Cambodia, it’s pretty remarkable to see that 30 to 40 Canadian dollars can bring one person clean water for their whole life.”

After sponsoring two wells in Pursat, Cambodia in 2017, Moreman visited the region that year to chat with the locals whose lives he’d helped to improve.

SEE ALSO: Passion for clean water drives local businessmen to sponsor wells in Cambodia

Fast-forward two years and Moerman’s donations have now funded 17 water wells. He decided to return to Cambodia at the tail end of 2019, just before Christmas, with his wife Alex to chat with the locals again.

“Hearing the stories from locals about how clean water actually changes peoples’ lives is amazing to hear,” Moerman said. “It’s amazing to be a part of it.”

They travelled around Pursat with a local organizer who showed them the difference the wells are making for Cambodians.

“In 2017, I visited a community that didn’t have any water,” he said. “When I went back with Alex two years later, they had a water well put in in their community. Now they are farming. It’s amazing to see. And now a school is going in there as well.”

Moerman didn’t do any digging on either trip. Hope sources all the well materials locally and partners with locals so the families can donate their labour to dig the wells.

“Each well costs about $1,500 and each well brings water to about six to seven families,” explained Moerman. “Each family has about six to seven people. So each water point serves around 40-or-so.”

In one community Moerman and his wife Alex visited, they met a local couple who showed them the difference one well made in that area.

“They didn’t have water prior to Hope’s involvement and now they have clean water to drink, they can bathe, and they can water crops. They can now sell their crops. They’re becoming entrepreneurs. They couldn’t do that before. They also don’t get sick as much because they aren’t drinking dirty, contaminated water.

Hope plans to dig about 200 water wells in Pursat over the next two years, added Moerman.

“It’s an area that’s growing, but one that’s also in need of funds. It’s not difficult digging the wells, the difficulty for them is accessing funds to buy the materials.”

Based in Clayton Heights, Moerman’s business, Revive Washing, services homes and businesses in Langley, Surrey, and White Rock. Revive Washing has continued to operate during COVID-19 through, what Moerman calls, “100 per cent contactless cleaning services.”



editor@cloverdalereporter.com

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Malin Jordan

About the Author: Malin Jordan

Malin is the editor of the Cloverdale Reporter.
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