Having already travelled to some of the poorer parts of the country, the pair are preparing to depart again this month and are asking the community for a little help to buy much needed goods.

Mr and Mrs Holbert have already personally committed to supply 30 bikes to one village and they hope residents might be able to assist in donating 70 bio-sand filters for another.

"There is much sickness in this village caused by drinking contaminated water," Mrs Holbert said.

"Here we would love to supply each of the seventy families with a bio-sand filter so they can safely drink the water. This presents a real challenge to us as each filter costs $60 supplied, delivered and installed."

Each filter is numbered and can carry "donated by" or "in memory of" on it and will be photographed once installed.

Anyone interested in assisting is welcome to ring Jan and Owen Holbert on 4997 0532.

When asked why the pair spent their retirement helping others, Mrs Holbert said she saw it as a productive way to spend their spare time.

"After a life of being involved day to day with young people, then spending a couple of days each week with our grandchildren . . . we found we had the time and energy and not a great deal to do," she said.

"We knew that Cambodia was a very poor country, and despite the genocide which took place in our children's lifetime, we were attracted to these quietly spoken, happy people."