My friend returned home to Cambodia a few months ago. For three years he experienced severe abuse at the hands of employers in a rich nation paying an extremely low wage, providing slum living conditions and treating my intelligent, kind, funny and impressive friend as though he was a lesser human than themselves. That’s the … More The Privilege of Health Promotion
Cambodian Health Professionals Association of America (CHPAA) are about to embark on their tenth mission from USA to Cambodia where they are setting up shop for a week, offering free medical, surgical and dental treatment to people who otherwise cannot access care. Earlier this year I wrote about my experience traveling to a province outside … More Humility in Service
Dr Paul Farmer, co-founder of Partners In Health, talks about “oops” health care leading to “stupid deaths”. I have often referred to the destitution seen in Cambodia, caused by people needing to pay from their pockets for all health care costs – that’s “Out Of Pocket Spending”, or “oops”. Health care in Cambodia, and across … More Oops and Stupid Deaths
Baby Mary was commenced on anti-TB medications sourced from the Black Market in the past couple of days. That’s an underground drug deal I never thought I would support. After festering in misery for 4 months of her 6 months on earth I expect to hear only good news from now on. This however, is … More Underground Drug Deal
Before leaving Cambodia I did some training with my local colleague on how to correctly weigh babies. She has since trained one of our village volunteers. Last night they sent me some weights from the past few weeks to interpret and advise on. Before I even analyse the results properly, I can see a range … More Baby Bears and Coffee Creamers
Sometimes whilst blogging I go searching for the right quote to fit my reflections. This quote seemed perfect for today’s story relating to the small Islamic community I am currently working with. I had never heard of Ali ibn Abi Talib, who according to Wikipedia “…. was the cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad, the last … More Sometimes The Battle …
This cartoon derives from a 2015 article about an anti-corruption exhibition organised by Transparency International Bangladesh. TIB arranges 10th Anti-Corruption Cartoon exhibition at Drik Gallery. It illustrates the user-pays health care system prevailing across the poor world in which health professionals are enriched on the backs of an already impoverished general public. “Without money you … More Catastrophic Cycles
She lives in a tin hut in a back alley filled with makeshift shacks stacked beside and atop of each other. Roosters crow, ducks, chooks and skinny kittens peck around for morsels in the same muddy piles of trash, dogs laze in shaded patches, and pigeons coo from a cage. A neighbour is crouched over … More Trash To Treasure
Kung Future is a tiny NGO working in Phnom Penh off the smell of an oily rag, with landless Cham people who live on their boats at the conflux of the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers. This week Kung Future reported the death of a two year old boy who fell off the boat he … More Every Time I Go On A Plane
Fundraising for the 20yo woman with (probable?) Rheumatic Heart Disease needing urgent heart surgery continues. A friend asked me to prepare a Powerpoint presentation for a fundraiser she is organising and I thought I would share it here as it summarises some of the stories I’ve spoken about disjointedly. Story One: An Inconceivable Connection In … More Unconnected Connections
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