September 2019 | Vol. 13 Iss. 09
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DRAPER FAMILY STARTS NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION TO HELP CAMBODIANS LIVING IN POVERTY
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By Stephanie Yrungaray | s.yrungaray@mycityjournals.com
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bucket list vacation to see Buddhist temples became a life-changing cause for a Draper family. While on vacation to Cambodia, Rob and Erin Brunt were paired with a tour guide named Chantha South. South told them how he had escaped horrific living conditions as a child slave. Through his courage and tenacity, South was able to receive an education and make a life for himself. The Brunts learned that South was using the extra money he earned as a tour guide to drill wells and provide fresh water for children living in rural villages. They immediately offered to pay for a well to be drilled and were able to see it completed while they were on their vacation. “When the well was finished the whole village was there and they were so grateful,” Rob Brunt said. “They had a big celebration and my wife and I looked at each other and said, ‘What are we doing? We should be doing more of this and less of other things that just aren’t as important.’” After returning home to the United States, the Brunts got right to work, and their nonprofit, Vision Cambodia, was born. Together with Rob’s business partner Troy Peterson, South in Cambodia and the entire Brunt family, Vision Cambodia continues to offer relief to Cambodians and has expanded beyond well drilling to include funding safe baby births, building schools, sponsoring students and building farms and greenhouses. “Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in the world,” Rob Brunt said. “The vast majority of villages are rural and they live in a situation that we can’t even fathom. Lots of the people don’t have electricity or even access to clean drinking
The Brunt family has started a nonprofit that is helping hundreds of people in Cambodia. (Photo courtesy of Rob Brunt)
water. They literally live like pre-historic people.” Since their first trip to Cambodia four years ago, the Brunts have returned 10 times to the country, sometimes bringing others with them on humanitarian trips. With help and donations from the volunteers, hundreds of wells have been drilled and six schools are now built and operating. “A lot of what we started doing happened organically,”
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Rob Brunt said. “When we were there in villages working on wells we saw other problems that needed resolutions and we started brainstorming.” The Brunts’ neighbor, Todd Skousen, got involved after hearing about Vision Cambodia. His family donated money to build a well and he was also able to travel to Cambodia with Continued page 15 his 18-year-old son. He said
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