Family Impressions of Cambodia (page 2 of 3)
Integral to the CSC’s mission is a program of training local surgeons and health workers to establish sustainable health services. On our visit we saw queues of people seeking eye treatment and as part of our tour were shown the portable equipment that we had recently bought for the CSC for their work in rural communities. Targeted donations make such a difference. We saw surgical facilities that just don’t exist in a developed country and learnt that families must be able to stay and care for their sick as the CSC cannot afford to employ staff to perform this nursing care. NGO’s, like CSC, funded by the International community, provide the majority of medical assistance in Cambodia and if they left I shudder to think what would happen to the people.

Carl said Cambodia had many beautiful sights and that one day we should see the temples that dot the Buddist countryside particularly the World famous Angkor Wat...so after visiting Battambang, the second largest city, which had numerous wonderful temples of its own, we set off by boat for Siem Reap. The journey took us along the Sangker river, where we saw many people living in floating villages or alongside the river. For the river people fishing is their main livelihood and during our 8 hour trip we passed dozens of towering cantilevered fishing net installations. As we leave the river behind we cross the Tonle SAP and arrive on the outskirts of Siem Reap which is then reached by taking a tuk tuk to our hotel.














Our first vision of Angkor Wat was at dawn ....breath takingly serene. We imagined what this majestic place was like during the time of the Khmer Empire, with almost a million people in residence. There are vast waterworks and dozens of temples within the Angkor complex and we visit some of them such as Bayon, Banteay Srey but really I was continually drawn back to Angkor Wat.

In Siem Reap, we visit the Angkor Children’s Hospital, whose mission is to provide free paediatric healthcare to all children and was born from the dream of Kenro Izu founder of ‘Friends Without a Border’. This Hospital which only opened in 1999 has already treated more than 1 million children and in 2011 provided a placement for Andrew, a Scholarship recipient.

Our next stop is the Landmine Museum & Orphanage, a place we have been looking forward to visiting and with whom we have been corresponding. Since Carl visited, the Orphanage has moved 40 km out of Siem Reap to Bantey Srei. This Museum was founded by ex-child soldier Aki Ra as a way to tell the world about the horrors landmines have inflicted on his native Cambodia. Defused landmines are on display with many graphic videos to inform the numerous visitors of the past/present horrors that Landmines bring. Aki Ra uses the proceeds from the museum to clear landmines all over Cambodia as well as caring for wounded and orphaned children, raising them alongside his own. Fortunately he is being ably assisted by Bill and Jill Morse, two Americans who have settled in Cambodia and who gave us a tour over the Facilities.