Oct 3, 2022

Sanofi on a quest for clean water in Gia Lai

On 26 September 2022, in Dak Po, Gia Lai province five more villages gained access to water wells. This is part of the project (titled “Giếng sạch trao buôn” ) to improve access to water through water wells. Sanofi funded 2 out of 5 wells for the local people.

Sanofi-Aventis Vietnam had funded 2 new water wells through the project and 314 specialized Guis (backpack-like baskets for containing and carrying highland ethnic people) to the people of Yang Bac, Dak Po district in Gia Lai. The support from Sanofi to the villagers is worth 250,868,000 VND, with approximately 1,200 direct beneficiaries.

At the Water well and Guis handover ceremony at Yang Bac, Dak Po district

Sanofi Head of Communication Ms. Le Thanh Van stated “Sanofi Vietnam is here in Gia Lai today to deliver 2 water wells and 314 Guis to the people to help increase their access to clean water. As a pharmaceutical company pursuing scientific advancements in healthcare, Sanofi is committed to one of our social responsibility strategies to improve public health through partnerships with NGOs and local organizations.”

Sanofi-Aventis Vietnam representative delivering Guis to villagers

Dak Po is situated on a major traffic route connecting central Vietnam, the highland and Cambodia. However, Dak Po has only been administratively established since 2003. The life of local villagers here has myriad of hardships due to undeveloped infrastructure with only a handful of residents most of whom are minority ethnic.

The mainstay for Dak Po people comes from agriculture which even though seems to get them to live by the day with merely enough, the hardest thing is a stable and clean source of water. Before, one must backpack water 5-7km from home to ensure they had enough water for daily use. Even though the water was potentially taken from sources that were unsafe and contaminated with pesticides used in agriculture.

A borewell funded by Sanofi-Aventis Vietnam

For all the difficulties in their living conditions, the project becomes even more meaningful for the people of Dak Po district. A water well built in the heart of the village would lessen the time and human labor from carrying water back, and each family would be able to contain and bring water home using the newly designed Guis, instead of the old baskets.

The project to provide water wells and the Guis enables the villagers to slowly shift their habits of using water towards safer practices for not only better outcomes for their future generations but also allowing the parents with more time on income-generating activities and in general improving the life quality in the highland.

View more photos from the handover ceremony in Dak Po