How local tradies can travel to change lives

A Geelong plumber has travelled to Cambodia to help change lives, as tradies are urged to volunteer for transformative projects.

A Geelong plumber has travelled to Cambodia to help change lives, as tradies are urged to volunteer for transformative projects.

Kale McCainwas among six volunteer tradies who recently helped provide cleanwater and basic sanitation to two communities in the rural Kampong Chhnang province, supported by the Reece Foundation.

Reece Foundation volunteers Kale McCain and Carl Bushby testing the water flow rate of one of the new BioSand filters to ensure it is working correctly. Picture: Supplied

The volunteers worked alongside locals, swapping skills and sharing knowledge.

They installed filters for clean drinking water, toilet blocks, handwashing stations at local schools, rainwater tanks and irrigation systems for community gardens to create sustainable food sources.

The volunteers also spent time teaching local community members and school teachers basic plumbing and irrigation practices to ensure the systems could be maintained.

Mr McCain, 32, said he spent July in Cambodia and described the experience as amazing and humbling.

“It was extremely eye-opening,” the owner of KLM Plumbing and Gasfitting said.

The Reece Foundation said the new infrastructure would help more than 2000 community members access clean water and hygienic sanitation for the first time.

Geelong local and Reece Foundation adviser Ashleigh Sheridan said the key to long-term poverty solutions was to work closely with communities to pass knowledge along to the locals in a way that was in line with the local culture and sustainable.

The Reece Foundation is recruiting local tradies to volunteer for future ventures, including its next project set to kick off in coming months that will support the rebuild of homes damaged by floods in Lismore.

Tradies are encouraged to either inquire at their local Reece branch or register their interest to volunteer on the Reece Foundation website.

Originally published as How local tradies can travel to change lives