Well of goodwill in Cambodia

Jim Grafas was able to visit Cambodia in 2013 and took this image after one of the fresh water wells was established in a rural village in Kampong Chhnang. Photo / Jim Grafas

Coffee lovers in the Bay have helped provide fresh water wells to 2000 people in Cambodia.

Good.trust got together with Excelso Coffee Roasters, and through a number of projects, have been able to raise $30,000 to provide people in rural Cambodia with fresh water for life.

Coffee sold through Good.coffee, royalties through the song Water written by Luke Thompson, funds from Agoge and donations have all contributed to the success of the cause.

Good.trust founder Jim Grafas, of Tauranga, said through each avenue they were able to fund $30,000 into Kratie Province this month, which would bring water to around 2000 people.

"There are about 54,000 people in the five districts of Kratie Province and about 60 per cent of them don't have safe water. So there are at least 32,000 people needing water. There is a lot more to do," he said.

Mr Grafas said he had been blown away by the popularity of the water well project, with one Mount couple funding a whole fresh water well over the Christmas period.

Mr Grafas, who was able to visit Cambodia in 2013, said when he got to the Third World country he was surprised by the hard-working ethic of the Cambodian people.

"I realised over there that it's not that these people need a handout. They work hard for their food, they build their own houses, they look after their families. They just don't have clean water, and even when they sell rice for maybe a couple of thousand riel, it's never going to be enough to pay for a well that costs about $3000 or 9.5 million Cambodian riel.

"Photos and words fail to communicate the intensity of Cambodia. A woman told me before she had a well her children and grandchildren used to get sick, they couldn't afford medical treatment and they would die. Her family would die from easily preventable illnesses like diarrhoea. She didn't even know it was the water which she told them to drink that was making them sick ... That's the difference it makes, that's what people do when they decide to engage in projects like these, and I wish they could fully understand the difference they've made."