For David Moerman, doing business is about more than generating profits. It鈥檚 also about generating money for charity.
鈥淢y company donates three per cent of every job we do to a charity called Hope International,鈥� said Moerman. 鈥淭hey build water projects in a bunch of different countries, but the funds from my company go to build water wells in Cambodia.鈥�
Moerman said he wants to get the word out about water, something people in developed countries take for granted.
鈥淭here is a water crisis in the world affecting 663 million people,鈥� noted Moerman. 鈥淚n Cambodia, it鈥檚 pretty remarkable to see that 30 to 40 Canadian dollars can bring one person clean water for their whole life.鈥�
After sponsoring two wells in Pursat, Cambodia in 2017, Moreman visited the region that year to chat with the locals whose lives he鈥檇 helped to improve.
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Fast-forward two years and Moerman鈥檚 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.
鈥淗earing the stories from locals about how clean water actually changes peoples鈥� lives is amazing to hear,鈥� Moerman said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 amazing to be a part of it.鈥�
They travelled around Pursat with a local organizer who showed them the difference the wells are making for Cambodians.
鈥淚n 2017, I visited a community that didn鈥檛 have any water,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hen I went back with Alex two years later, they had a water well put in in their community. Now they are farming. It鈥檚 amazing to see. And now a school is going in there as well.鈥�
Moerman didn鈥檛 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.
鈥淓ach well costs about $1,500 and each well brings water to about six to seven families,鈥� explained Moerman. 鈥淓ach family has about six to seven people. So each water point serves around 40-or-so.鈥�
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.
鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 have water prior to Hope鈥檚 involvement and now they have clean water to drink, they can bathe, and they can water crops. They can now sell their crops. They鈥檙e becoming entrepreneurs. They couldn鈥檛 do that before. They also don鈥檛 get sick as much because they aren鈥檛 drinking dirty, contaminated water.
Hope plans to dig about 200 water wells in Pursat over the next two years, added Moerman.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an area that鈥檚 growing, but one that鈥檚 also in need of funds. It鈥檚 not difficult digging the wells, the difficulty for them is accessing funds to buy the materials.鈥�
Based in Clayton Heights, Moerman鈥檚 business, , services homes and businesses in 黑马磁力, Surrey, and White Rock. Revive Washing has continued to operate during COVID-19 through, what Moerman calls, 鈥�100 per cent contactless cleaning services.鈥�
editor@cloverdalereporter.com
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