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Koreans have access to clean drinking water whenever they want. They are among the fortunate ones on a continent where many still get their water from muddy ponds, where communities of hundreds share a single well, where they must dig hundreds of meters down for access to new water sources.
That is why Korea Green Foundation on Thursday, the UN World Water Day, started a fundraiser to support projects to dig wells in Cambodia and Mongolia, where lack of clean drinking water is making people sick and killing them. The event, titled ¡°Let¡¯s Sprinkle a Welcome Rain in Asia,¡± is sponsored by the Chosun Ilbo. Cambodia and Mongolia urgently need better access to clean water, which is critical for their survival.
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A Cambodian child drinks rainwater./Courtesy of the Korea Green Foundation.
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Cambodian people in farming villages drink rainwater during the rainy season, and they keep water in jars for the dry season, which is muddy so the pollutants and sediments can settle in it," says the organization¡¯s director Lee Mi-kyung. In one village in Mongolia which will get help from the foundation, annual rainfall is a mere 230 mm, and people there share their wells with domestic animals.
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A well in Gujarat, India.
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¡°Children drink water so contaminated that South Koreans wouldn¡¯t even soak their feet in it, and they come down with chronic colitis and often die without access to proper medication,¡± says an official with Good Hands for Global, which carries out the well-digging projects in Cambodia. ¡°Just helping them dig a well can save lots of young children.¡±
The auspiciously named K-pop star Rain will take part in the event. Readers who would like to offer their help can go to the website of the Korea Green Foundation (www.greefund.org), which will raise funds by selling mugs and notes with the singer¡¯s autograph. The event continues until World Environment Day on June 5, and voluntary workers will go to Mongolia and Cambodia during the summer vacation.
Relay-style charity events will be started by some 100 prominent citizens, including Yuhan Kimberly CEO Moon Kook-hyun, Director of the Cultural Heritage Administration Yoo Hong-jun, Samsung Electronics vice chairman Yoon Jong-yong of, novelist Eun Hee-kyung and singer Jang Sa-ik.
For further inquiries, call the Korea Green Foundation at 02-725-4884.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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