Cambodia is so poor that it doesn't even have toilet papers

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2008122323337/National-news/Cambodian-comedian-takes-rural-sanitation-to-the-Kingdom-s-TVs.html
Cambodian comedian takes rural sanitation to the Kingdom's TVs
Written by Khoun Leakhana
Tuesday, 23 December 2008

TV personality Chab Chean has been chosen as the government's
spokesperson in a push to promote sanitation throughout the
countryside

THE government is hoping a little toilet humour will go a long ways in
bringing its pro-sanitation message to the countryside, where millions
live without access to running water and the nearest rice field often
passes for the bathroom.

Well-known television personality and comedian Chab Chean has been
enlisted as the Kingdom's pointman on hygiene to work with the
government on this particular aspect of rural health, officials said
last week.

"He is a star who knows a lot about sanitation," Chea Samnang,
director of the Department of Rural Health at the Ministry of Rural
Development, told the Post.

Only about 16 percent of rural Cambodians have access to toilets,
according to the World Bank-sponsored Water and Sanitation Program.

In some parts of the country, that figure can drop below five percent.

Diseases caused by poor sanitation account for more than 10,000
deaths each year, the program said in a recently-released report.

Old habits
"In the village, old habits die hard, so many Cambodian people prefer
not to use toilets.
But Chab Chean has done a good job changing that mindset and getting
people interested in proper sanitation," said Rural Development
Minister Chea Sophara during a national sanitation workshop last week.


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[local comedian chab chean] is a star who knows a lot about
sanitation.

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"Many people in the countryside come around when they see Chab Chean
educating them about the program, which is different from being told
by local authorities," he said.

Chea Samnang said that the comedian's previous experience makes him
the perfect face of rural development.

"As a local TV comedian and presenter, Chab Chean has been considered
an excellent model in encouraging Cambodian people to cooperate with
local authorities so that they know how to live in a clean environment
and how to use toilets," he said.

"We have many methods of encouraging people in the countryside to help
spread knowledge about rural sanitation. We show them through our
jokes so that they are interested and happy, and they will never get
bored," Chab Chean said.
.