Drought and soaring heat leave Cambodian schoolchildren without enough drinking water

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Absenteeism from classes is also on the rise as some parents force children to collect water for the family from distant sources

In Cambodia, riverbeds are dry and cracked and the wind feels like a gust from an oven. An extreme heatwave has followed a poor rainy season drying wells, killing cattle and causing water shortages.

Schoolchildren have been hit hard. Many schools have no drinking water, and no sanitation. The ponds and reservoirs that remain are turning into boiling, algae-ridden swamps and poor families are having to pay for bottled water. Where children suffer from poor nutrition the shortage is making things worse.

“Children are often the most vulnerable in situations of water shortages,” said Iman Morooka, Chief of Communication for Unicef Cambodia.

“Undernutrition among children is already prominent in Cambodia: 32 per cent of children under-5 are stunted, 24 per cent underweight, and 10 per cent have acute malnutrition.”

A record-breaking high of 42.6°C was recorded in Preah Vihear Province on April 15, according to data collected by independent meteorologist, Maximiliano Herrera.

“Day after day, the heat wave has been an endless surprise after surprise,” he said.

“Temperature records are falling like stones.”

Cambodia has been affected by a region-wide heatwave that has broken records in Thailand, Laos and Singapore.

It has been caused by the El Nino weather cycle, a warming of sea-surface temperatures in the Pacific that has been tied to crop damage, fires and flash floods

“El Nino has potentially dramatic effects [causing] extreme weather [like] drought, floods and heat waves,” Herrara said.

Last month, Malaysia had to close 250 schools when water reserves dropped below the “danger mark,” according to a report in Asia Correspondent. Vietnam and Thailand predict a bad rice crop this year spreading food insecurity in the Philippines and Indonesia, which import millions of tonnes of the staple.

Animals have suffered too, with freshwater fish dying in Malaysia and elephants perishing in Vietnam. Nine orangutans died in Indonesian Borneo after a fire engulfed a parched forest.

In Cambodia, over a third of schools have been impacted and 50 per cent of children are lacking sufficient water, according to Cha Sophea, Director of Primary Education at the Ministry of Education.

Absenteeism is on the rise, while the Ministry of Education had no statistics available, on the ground the situation is clear.water

“30-40 per cent of my children haven’t come to school,” said Pim Bun Leap a school principal from Tboung Khmum Province.

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