Cambodian Children's Orphanage for Living and Training

The children today were very special. All were residents of different orphanages. Our makeshift clinic was located at COLT, the orphanage for living and training. There are 30 residents, pretty evenly split between boys and girls. The orphanage was started 8 years ago by Tina, a Dutch woman. The kids range in age from 4 to 21. They are housed, educated and more importantly loved. These kids would be street kids were it not for these agencies. We also met Rick, from Arizona, who brought kids from his orphanage. In all, we treated over 250 kids today. Some of the kids required extra special care such as the three girls who whose father beat them. The girls were understandably very distrustful. Another was a young girl who nearly perished refusing to leave her mothers side for days after the mother had died. Each child had a very tough past and we therefore worked extra hard to be sure that their treatment was comfortable and not traumatic. I was able to do a little orthodontics today by extracting an extra tooth which caused considerable crowding. I look forward to returning next year to see the result of this treatment. Tomorrow we visit the children of the dump.

In "the Provence"

Today we returned from "the provence," an area near the Mekong River and the border with Vietnam. We had set out 3 days ago in our 3 vans loaded with dentists, support staff and supplies. We travelled on paved and then dirt roads to reach our destination. That evening we slept in a hotel that charged $5 per person. Awaking at 4:30 the next morning, we ate a breakfast of eggs, fried rice and French bread ($2/person) and arrived at our destination by 6am. With the help of the Budhist Monks and a local teacher, we quickly turned the monastery into a dental clinic. Our translators were 17 year old high school students. They had never met foreigners nor had they ever left their town. They helped us to see over 340 patients who ranged in age from 4 (thanks Dr. Jamie) to 14. Most of the kids had badly decayed teeth and therefore required extractions. But we were also able to do fluoride treatments and preventative sealants, and where possible we restored the teeth.On our second day we returned to the same Monastery and saw the children from the previous day who had work too extensive to be done in one sitting as well as children from another village. The Cambodian children are very reserved, but I was able to make them smile when I tried to pronounce their names. Everyone was very appreciative of our work. When we took a break, the temperature was well over 90 degrees, the monks would bring us fresh cut coconuts and we drank the water. At the end of the day, the translators busily collected our email addresses and promised to write. Though their homes lack electricity, the high school has computers and the Internet available. This dental mission is run by Bob, are retired prosthodontist, and Parobi, a retired physicist. Over the past 8 years, they have run missions to Cambodia, Guatamala and the Philipines. Each mission sees over 1000 children. Their energy is boundless.We are all resting now because tomorrow will be a hard day. Though we will see fewer patients, our patients will be children whose parents have died of AIDS. In the following days we will treat the "child of the dump." I will do my best to upload pictures.

I awoke this morning after a quiet night to the sounds of Phenom Penh. There is a constant buzz of motorbikes which is only occasionally broken by the shrill honking of a horn as drivers negotiate their lanes and often the lanes of oncoming traffic. My intention today was to understand Cambodia and to do so meant understanding what happened here at the end of the 70's. During the reign of the Khmer Rouge, 1 out of every 4 citizens were killed either in prisons or forced labor camps. Our visits to the Cambodian genocide museum, in a former high school turned into a prison, and the "killing fields," where the Khmers' atrocities were discovered, revealed the complex time in which countrymen fought each other in a quest to survive over a cause that neither fully believed in..... Sadly, the genocide has never been fully dealt with and few of the Khmer Rouge have ever been brought Returning from the outskirts of the city, our tuc-tuc (scooter towed carriage) driver used his horn to ward off the other drivers as if to say "there are humans among this metal and rubber mess." his driving was more like a rhythmic dance than a taxi ride and we made it safely to lunch. Cambodia is very hot, very humid, and very inexpensive. Our multi-course lunch was only $8 per person. And our full day tuc-tuc was only $20. Tomorrow, we begin seeing patients on the Cambodian border with Vietnam. Time to get some rest.

We're here. Though the trip was long, it was easy. There is a 12 hour time difference. As I write this it's almost 1 in in the morning while it's midday at home. No wonder I'm so wide awake. On the short trip from the airport I noticed the buildings are very low and not very modern. There were some street side restaurants with picnic tables outside and scooters and motorcycles at the curb. For a Friday night there were not many people out and about. It's very hot and humid. I'm looking forward to touring tomorrow. We'll start seeing patients on Sunday.

We're here. Though the trip was long, it was easy. There is a 12 hour time difference. As I write this it's almost 1 in in the morning while it's midday at home. No wonder I'm so wide awake. On the short trip from the airport I noticed the buildings are very low and not very modern. There were some street side restaurants with picnic tables outside and scooters and motorcycles at the curb. For a Friday night there were not many people out and about. It's very hot and humid. I'm looking forward to touring tomorrow. We'll start seeing patients on Sunday.

Ok, all packed, unpacked, repacked, etc.  Jamie and I are ready to go. The volunteers who are there this week tell us that there are a lot of children to be seen and that they have many dental needs.  I can't wait for tomorrow to get started on our jouney.

Having completed a successful dental mission to Jamaica in January, I am excited to pack my bags once again and travel to Cambodia. 

Our patients on this trip will be children, many of whom are ophans.  In Cambodia, 1 out of every 14 persons is an orphan.  I am told that on an average trip the KIDS organization will see 1100 children.  I'm not sure if Jamie and I should rest-up or train harder for this mission? 

We will be treating children in the rural countryside, in Phnom Penh, and at the Stung Meanchey Municipal Dump.  It is estimated that there are about 2000 people who live and work around the dump.  Of this number approximately 600 are children who are rubbish pickers.  While some of these children attend school, most do not.  They earn the equivalent of .50 to .75 cents per day.  Interestingly, a whole family working at the dump can earn more together than they would if they stayed in their rural village.  However, the lack of education perpetuates their poverty.

So, with one week left before our departure, I'm looking forward to the challenge.