Siem Reap, Cambodia

As defined by the World Bank, 13.5% of Cambodians live at or below the extreme poverty line and often reside in dense informal settlements that leave them vulnerable to infectious diseases and climate‑related natural disasters such as flooding, pollution and environmental degradation. For example, flooding is associated with many localized health risks, including mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue, typhoid, cholera and hepatitis. This, combined with poor housing and city infrastructure, limited social support networks and extreme poverty, has led to substandard living conditions.

Habitat for Humanity Cambodia is working to address the housing needs of vulnerable families, especially those experiencing extreme poverty, older adults, people with disabilities and women‑led households. Habitat work focuses on multiple housing solutions such as land tenure, housing security and disaster risk reduction, among others. Volunteers will travel up to 2 hours each day to reach the build site where they will help a building contractor and local volunteers construct new homes.

Some of the construction tasks include:  

• Mixing concrete and mortar.
• Erecting walls.
• Digging and pouring foundations.

Volunteers will stay in double-occupancy rooms at a hotel. Single-occupancy rooms are available by request for an additional charge. Please contact your team leader to request a single-occupancy room. Meals will vary slightly from day to day. Breakfast will be provided at the hotel. Lunches will be served on the build site on workdays and dinner will be at the hotel, local restaurant or arranged by the country program.

Kate Ristroph leads Global Village builds to connect with people around a common goal, learn about their worlds and have fun along the way. She has led teams in Jordan, Romania and Argentina. To learn more about this build, please contact Kate at [email protected].