Students help a Cambodian village

 via CAAI

17th October 2010

USC students Laura Willoughby, Tynan Narywonczyk and Meah Paans in Cambodia tackling a problematic village water supply

THREE students from the University of the Sunshine Coast have made their mark in Cambodia, where they have been working to reduce illness among people living in a village with an arsenic-tainted water supply.

USC Health Promotion students Laura Willoughby of Twin Waters, Meah Paans of Minyama, and Tynan Narywonczyk of Narangba, spent almost three weeks in Cambodia on work placement.

The self-funded trip is being assessed as part of their degrees.

Laura, 24, described the trip as a cultural learning experience that had opened opportunities, such as connections in Cambodia.

“I want a career working in rural and Third World settings,” she said.

“The placement helped me understand the practical components of my USC course and gave me a headstart in subjects such as Implementation and Evaluation.”

The USC students chose A-Loch, a village of 400 people in the Kratie province in northern Cambodia, because of Tynan’s previous voluntary work with the not-for-profit foundation that aims to relieve poverty around the world.

“In A-Loch village our needs assessment helped determine three priority health issues – arsenic in the drinking water, malaria and malnutrition,” 27-year-old Tynan said.

“Based on research I’d already done at USC, we determined with local experts and the Newlife Foundation that the contaminated tube well had to be dealt with first.

“We then engaged the community to develop three public health strategies based around water filtration, partnership and water education,”

The students said cultural differences and translations proved interesting in the focus groups.

“It’s challenging but I have a personal passion for this now,” Tynan said.

“Since returning to Australia, I’m advocating for a totally new water source for the village, possibly a hand-dug well.”

Tynan said he intended to finish his degree and start a Masters and said he aimed to work in Third World community development the United Nations or World Health Organisation.