Trailblazer Foundation is developing ripples of sustainability

through community water projects.

Our community development work takes place

in Cambodia’s Siem Reap Province.

We work with poor, rural communities

in the shadow of Angkor Wat,

the largest religious monument in the world.

During the past eleven years,

Trailblazer Foundation has supported

more than fifty villages in the province..

The great irony about life in Siem Reap Province

is that, while almost two million tourists visit

Angkor Wat each year, very little of that economic influx

makes its way to the nearby villages.

In fact, Trailblazer Foundation got its name because

it was blazing a trail as the first non-government organization to

work with these villages.

Our first

project,

at the start of

2005, was

building

a primary

school in the

village of Sras.

However, as co-founder Chris

Coats has explained...

“We began with a school

project, but quickly learned

that water was the first

priority. A person must have

access to clean, potable

water to improve health and

sanitation. People must also

have a water resource for

growing their crops, livestock,

and fish—the source of their

food and commerce.”

Eleven years later,

Trailblazer remains focused on improving

health, food security, education,

and economic development

in rural Cambodia,

in ways that are self-sustaining

by the individuals and communities we serve.

The Buddha once said that “Without health, life is not

life; it is only a state of languor and suffering.” This

truth explains why Trailblazer Foundation’s first priority

is the health of our partner communities.

Health Program

In Cambodia’s Siem Reap province, water-borne diseases

are the greatest threat to health. Trailblazer’s Health

program initially focuses on providing clean water to

families and villages.

This includes digging wells

to access water,

and constructing bio-sand

filters to purify it.

We also work with our partner

villages to build latrines,

as part of our commitment

to a worldwide health strategy

known as WASH (Water,

Sanitation,

and Hygiene).

Finally, as part of our Health program, we reduce

diseases associated with insect bites and hook worms,

by distributing mosquito netting for a family’s beds,

and flip flops for their feet.

Along with having clean

water and reducing

diseases, food security is

one of the highest

priorities

for any human.

Trailblazer Foundation

works with our villages

to provide access to

abundant water,

as well as trainings

in growing abundant and

healthy crops.

Food Security Program

First, we build wells

that villagers can use

for their agricultural

pursuits.

Without a nearby

well, most villagers

need to transport

water long distances

for their crops.

Our goal is to establish a

well for every

three to five families in

these rural villages.

A well gives villagers the

ability to irrigate gardens

or create

fish ponds,

thereby improving their

own food supply.

Next, Trailblazer trains villagers

on best agricultural and

aquaculture practices,

knowledge we gain from

our own test plots, where

we research how to grow which

crops for the best yield.

One way to break the cycle of poverty is

to give children the opportunity to go to school.

Building new schools is one of

Trailblazer Foundation’s top priorities.

Education Program

Once completed, Trailblazer signs the deed over to

the appropriate government agency, which is then responsible for

providing the staff, salaries, and curriculum.

This process is critical to ensuring the school is sustained over time.

Trailblazer Foundation

reduces another barrier

to education:

transportation.

We provide hundreds

of bicycles to our

partner villages,

so students can travel

to school.

Since our inception in 2004, we have built six schools and

two libraries.

Even before 2016 starts, we have secured most of the

funding for a new school next year.

The last piece of Trailblazer’s rural community

development strategy is economic development.

Here, one of the greatest challenges is access to capital, where

even small amounts of funding can help

start a new business, or turn a craft into an income.

Trailblazer has

helped create

a Village Fund

process, which

enables villagers

to get the capital

they need to

start or grow

a business,

through a

village-owned

and managed

microfinance

program.

And we require villagers to make a small

contribution to the Fund whenever they receive our

assistance in other program areas.

This ensures that our program work

helps provide capital for their Village Fund.

Finally, Trailblazer provides technical training to the

Village Finance Committees, and to villagers who

want to establish farmer cooperatives for selling

their excess crops.

Trailblazer Foundation

chooses our community

projects based on an

annual local government

assessment of village

needs. We are honored

to be one of only a

handful of NGOs invited

to this annual meeting.

Our four program areas—health, food security, education, and

economic development—represent a well-rounded strategy

for not just giving our partner communities a proverbial fish,

but helping them

learn how to live in ways that are self-sustaining.

Through this bottom-up process, the villages

themselves identify their needs. Their requests,

in turn, direct our annual activities -- which are

“developing ripples of sustainability through

community water projects.”

Please consider supporting our efforts.

The more than fifty villages we work with

will be far better off because of your generosity.

http://thetrailblazerfoundation.org/donate

Trailblazer Foundation is committed to the sustainable

success of all our projects and programs. With your

support, we will help hundreds of additional families

overcome the effects

of poverty, starvation and disease.