NARRATOR: Every day during their six-month dry season,

13-year-old Ratana walked five miles to a pond

beside a Buddhist temple.

There, he collected two buckets of water for his family.

He sometimes said a quick prayer before leaving.

Part of the year, Ratana's parents

work on a sugar cane farm in Cambodia.

Other months, they work in their rice field.

They were able to save a few extra dollars each year,

and, with it, they invested in a vegetable garden and chickens.

But when the dry season hit, their garden and their chickens

died from a lack of water.

With no money for fees from selling the chickens,

Ratana was forced to drop out of school.

[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

INTERPRETER: My parents always told me

without an education it would be hard to find a job.

I wanted to go back to school.

NARRATOR: To help Ratana's family and others

in the village solve their water problem,

CBN dug a well for them.

Now everyone has fresh, clean water to drink.

INTERPRETER: I am so happy and excited about the new well.

NARRATOR: Then, to help Ratana's family recover what they lost,

we gave them vegetable seeds, a few chickens, ducks,

and a couple of pigs.

The unending supply of water from the new well

is helping their little farm to flourish.

Now there's enough money for Ratana to head back to school.

Meanwhile, the family was so grateful

for the help we gave them that they all

decided to go to church, where they

heard the message of the gospel presented by the pastor.

INTERPRETER: We prayed to become Christians.

I felt so peaceful inside.

Now our whole family goes to church together.

I am so overwhelmed.

Thank you, CBN, for everything.