Battambang Sampeouv Loung District, near the Thai border - In this area, most people are farmers and labourers. They mostly stay in the village when it is planting season. The rest of the time, they migrate to other places to find work as labourers. The most common crops here are maize and Cassava.

O’Chamnap is a small village located near the main road. It is a passing point for many families that go to the fields. The location is strategic but also has its share of problems. The biggest issue is the flash floods. They occur three or four times each year. The rain water converges from over 4 small rivers in the upper areas – and because the water culverts are too small to let a large volume of water through, the water gets stuck and floods most parts of the village. This can happen in just a few hours.

Often the flash floods occur during the night, waking people in panic. The people have to find shelters on higher grounds. But there is only a small place to cross the river – it is slippery and dangerous. Crossing this small strip of mud over the river scares people – women and children in particular. Few people know how to swim. Fast flowing waters are a real threat to human life. When the flash floods come, all the families that are stuck on the other side of the river need to find a refuge in the houses in the next village many kilometeres away.

Water comes and leaves very fast but tragedies remain with the memories of local villagers. This passing place was the site of a number of dramatic stories (see video): In 2008, after two days of non-interrupted rainfall, a small boy drowned. He fell in the water while his mother had her back turned. It took only a few seconds. The water flowing in the culverts created a whirlpool and the boy was trapped in the current. His body was found the next day, only after the water receded.

But this was not the only tragedy in that very same place: just a few years later, a farm truck capsized in the river, taking the driver’s life. The path across the river was too small, muddy and slippery.

The problem was a primary concern over the last years, because of the more extreme climate conditions: the floods became stronger and more unpredictable.

So when the opportunity came, the commune decided to make a bridge. This commune was selected among others, following the logic of LoCAL’s Performance Based Climate Resilient Grants. In this process, the commune could benefit from 125% of the local government expenditure. This combination provided a top-up that made it possible to make a bridge - a climate resilient bridge.

The LoCAL facility entered in its second phase in Cambodia. It extended its reach to these more distant areas, working hand in hand with the Ministry of Interior’s NCDDS (National Committee for Sub-National Democratic Development Secretariat). Together, they are putting in place a process whereby the local communities are brought to think and to address their adaptation to climate change. The trick is that all of this is done within existing commune plans. Prioritisation workshops bring representatives of these various communities to agree on a set of most relevant projects. A public bidding process is made when subcontracting is required and the community is able to evaluate the services provided.

With the monsoon rains menacing the skies of O’Chamnap, only one key question still remained: will the bridge be finished before the rainy season? The fiscal system (at international, national and ultimately at sub-national level) allowed the project to be completed only a few weeks before the first heavy rains of the monsoon. Just in time for the villagers to feel relieved.