Geraldine (front, second from left), with some members of her team at Dan Run

It was an opportunity that presented itself, and Geraldine D’Cotta did not let it pass her by.

The investment advisor at Deutsche Bank had been considering volunteer work, so when her employer asked  for staff volunteers for the Water for Life project in Cambodia, she did not hesitate to sign up.
The bank put up the call through its Corporate Social Responsibility website.

“I had never been to Siem Reap, and I did not just want to be another tourist. I wanted to make it a purposeful trip,” says Geraldine.

And purposeful it was. An initiative of the Singapore International Foundation (SIF), the Water for Life project — started in July last year — aims to provide convenient access to clean drinking water, and to improve the life and health of over 9,000 villagers in Dan Run and Dam Diek, two rural communes about 50km away from the city of Siem Reap.

Sponsored by Deutsche Bank and Ngee Ann Development Pte Ltd, it is SIF’s first direct service project. The project aims to provide 2,000 bio-sand filters to the villagers over the next three years.
During her trip to the Dan Run commune, which is part of the Soney Kum District and located about an hour’s drive from downtown Siem Reap, Geraldine and her fellow volunteers learnt how to build th filters and set them up in the villagers’ homes.

Away from the cushy air-conditioned environments they were used to, they toiled under the blazing sun, barely fighting off exhaustion and dehydration.

Culture shock

Geraldine had known that Cambodia has the lowest access to clean drinking water in East Asia, and one of the lowest in the world. She also read up on research about local customs, safety and security, and health issues prior to the trip. But the culture shock was inevitable.

“Nothing prepared me for the some of the living conditions in the commune,” recalls the 30-something.

“The first house that we worked in to set up the bio filter was more like a large hut, with just a roof and three straw walls.

“It was located right next to the family’s duck pond. Their little boy was scooping water right out of the pond to drink. That really shocked and dismayed me. I also did not realise that most Cambodians still rely on ground water and rainwater collection for their  water needs.”

The trip lasted four days in July, but Geraldine stayed on for an additional two days.

Deutsche Bank volunteers also brought gift bags filled with notebooks, pencils and colouring pencils for the children. “It was great to see the light in their eyes, as they went through the contents of their  heavily-laden bags,” says Geraldine.

The trip opened her eyes to “the fact that [Singaporeans] take a lot of the conveniences of our lives for granted. We have clean water at the turn of a tap and hygienically prepared food, even at the most basic level.”

She came home with a new appreciation of “what we have” in Singapore, and has endeavoured to  simplify her life, “cutting out trivial excesses in favour of simpler pleasures”.

Her experience has also inspired her to be more involved in volunteer work. She says: “[Deutsche Bank staff] are very fortunate that staff volunteerism is strongly encouraged.

“I’ve most recently helped with the planting of herb plants in the Hope Garden of the All Saints Home, in Tampines, alongside members of my investment advisory team.

“I would like to volunteer more regionally and locally in the year ahead. It’s a great way to invest your time and effort to give back to society. To know that you made that little difference in someone’s life – it’s a wonderful feeling.”

* This article was written by Tina Wong and first published in Singapore Magazine (Jan-March 2011 issue).