So there we were,on the morning of November 25, the seven of us (2 medical specialists, 3 young nurses, puan SN & husband) were in cambodia. From the airport we rented a van and travelled north to kompong thom some 200 km away from phomn phen. On arrival, we were greeted by the local imam who also offer us his house for us to sleep.It's a far cry from what we're used to ....but then we're here not on holiday.
I couldn't help feeling so sorry for them. many children were just malnourished and running around without a shirt and slipper.(a typical scenario in our own kampongs way back in the 60's or early 70's) One could see the grateful glisters in their eyes whenever puan SN handed them a small token of candy she bought from mydin.Sometimes it's just unimaginable ... the sarongs they wore were so worn out that one would not even think of using it to wash his car!
The imam was kind enough to allow us to use the masjid annexe as our clinic base. The patients were endless and the crowd kept growing.Despite working on a very basic and limited resources, we could feel how grateful they were. We felt so sorry for those who had to walk several kilometers away only to be told that we're running out of medications !!! (oppss, thank you to some of our GP friends who were kind enough to donate some of the medications)
Lining up were young boys eagerly waiting to be circumcised.It was tiring but thanks God, using the clamp technique, between us we managed to circumcised 105 children in 2 days. I could sense the tears of happiness in their parents knowing that their children underwent a relatively short and painless procedure. Even on the morning of our departure, there were parents who were begging us to circumcise their children.
Insyaallah we'll be in cambodia again in a near future (hopefully in kompong cinnang).Hope to bring more circumcision clamps (costing rm 35.00 each, ... sponsors are most welcome). Self sponsored volunteers are also welcome to joint us !
