Brooklyn Bridge to Cambodia (BB2C), a U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, grew out of our efforts to assist one family in Cambodia — the birth family of our founder’s adopted son. By giving his birth family a motor scooter, we helped the family start a small business selling in the local market because we believe the support of entrepreneurship can spur positive, sustainable change.

With the same goal of promoting entrepreneurship – inexpensive, manually powered pumps that increases access to water for poor farmers have been introduced for the first time in Cambodia by a remarkable team of young volunteers and staff.

The team has managed on a minuscule budget to demonstrate and market the pumps, which have been extensively field-tested in Africa, by Kickstart, Int. (www.kickstart.org) We are a global network (Italy, United States, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, Egypt, Australia and Vietnam) of passionate volunteers and a dedicated staff in Cambodia.  We are pragmatic idealists.

For the rural poor to escape poverty they must have access to water.  It’s that simple.  Yet we are the only non-profit in Cambodia to focus on selling low-cost, highly efficient water pumps to farmers so they can irrigate their crops.

Dowser.org recently interviewed BB2C founder Paula Shirk, calling her a “change agent.” Read the interview here, as reposted on the Christian Science Monitor website.