In this article:
- A mother’s struggle to care for her children in rural Cambodia
- The dangers of unsafe water and poor sanitation
- How new opportunities brought hope to one family
- The life-changing impact of clean water and hygiene
- Celebrating the strength and care of mothers this Mother’s Day
“Seeing my children face these problems, I felt helpless. Even as their mother, what could I do?”
This Mother’s Day, we celebrate the quiet strength of mothers like Theakong—women who do everything they can to protect, nurture, and provide for their children, even in the most difficult circumstances.
Theakong’s home in north-west Cambodia is surrounded by tall green grass, puddles of water marking the end of the rainy season, and a dozen cows, their tails flicking to keep the flies at bay. Four children chase each other around the yard, their laughter infectious. But life hasn’t always been this way for Theakong and her family.
“I was living in poor conditions,” Theakong says. “We didn’t have enough money for food or clothes for the kids to wear.” Like many mothers, she carried the weight of ensuring her children were fed, clothed, and safe. “Because we were facing difficulties we decided to migrate for work.”
But work prospects in Thailand were not much brighter. Theakong and her husband were only just earning enough as construction workers to survive day-to-day. After three years, they made the difficult decision to return home, hoping for a better future for their children. Instead, they faced the same hardships.
“When I came back I was still facing the same problem,” says Theakong. She returned to selling cakes, doing everything she could as a mother to support her family, but the income was never enough. Meanwhile, unsafe living conditions put her children’s health at constant risk.
“We didn’t have a toilet; we used the bush around our home,” she explains. “We didn’t have a water filter or clean water to drink. So we would drink any water that we could find.”
As a mother, watching her children fall sick again and again was heartbreaking.
“Sometimes we would see water worms swimming around,” she recalls. “We got sick—vomiting, diarrhea, coughing.” Without money for medical care, she relied on traditional remedies, doing her best to comfort and care for her children through illness.
Despite everything, Theakong never stopped looking for ways to improve her family’s life.
So when an ADRA project, supported by the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP), began in her village, she didn’t hesitate.
“ADRA talked with me about raising chickens, growing vegetables, having good sanitation, and building a latrine,” Theakong recalls. “This made me feel hopeful.”
She faithfully attended workshops, learning new skills in animal raising, gardening, and hygiene—practical ways she could better care for her children and create a stable future for them at home.
Today, Theakong is raising and selling chickens, growing vegetables in her garden using seeds provided by ADRA, and has even built a small business raising cows. Other families now board their cows with her for a small fee, creating an additional source of income.
But for Theakong, the most meaningful change has been her children’s health.
“ADRA helped me get a latrine,” she says with a smile. “No more bad smell!”
Her family also received a water filter, ensuring they no longer drink contaminated water.
“Since we received a latrine and a water filter, our family is better,” Theakong says. “ADRA brought change to my family. Our kids have good health and they are able to go to school. It’s better than before.”
This Mother’s Day, Theakong’s story is a reminder of the powerful role mothers play in shaping their children’s futures—and how access to basic essentials like clean water can transform not just a household, but generations to come.
You can watch Theakong’s full story here.
The Best CHOICES project in Cambodia is supported by the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP).