Angkor Children's Hospital - 18 December

The group visited the Angkor Children's Hospital in Siem Reap. The hospital is funded by Rotary Clubs in Japan, Singapore and Canada and provides much needed emergency and health care to over 450 patients every day.

We were taken on a tour of the hospital by the Director's secretary, Seng Siupheng. She showed us the various wards including the maternity ward, emergency, dental clinic, low activity ward and intensive care. Many of the areas are outdoors, such as the emergency waiting area and the play area for siblings. The quality of care is as good as can be with the limited resources available to administer care. The hospital accepts various volunteer doctors from around the world.

There is a vegetable patch in the middle of the hospital aimed at teaching families about growing nutritional vegetables and adding them to their diet which predominantly consists of rice and meat. The hospital sees many cases of children who have fallen sick from malnutrition. Pollution, dust and cooking with wood stoves is also a cause of respiratory problems in children. Asthma and bronchitis are common in Cambodian children. The cities are extremely dusty and smoky.

Whilst touring the hospital, we met Dr Lyda, a radiologist who is also a member of the Siem Reap Rotary Club. He was delighted when he spotted the familiar Rotary logo of our caps and wanted to know all about our program. He will be a good contact for future programs in Siem Reap.

Our tour concluded with a meeting with the Director of the hospital, Dr William Housworth. He is an ex-pat American who has taken on the directorship of the hospital for two years. The ways in which Eyes Wide Open groups will be able to contribute in the future are:

• Providing donations of blood. Blood is desperately needed at the hospital and it does not exist in Cambodian culture to give blood on a regular basis.
• Organising play activities for the siblings. At present, the siblings of sick children watch TV in a basic outdoor area. There day could be brightened with stories and art activities with EWO groups.
• Special projects as directed by the hospital - for example - painting or landscaping.

Group sizes would have to be managed as the hallways, already full with crying babies and anxious mothers, are very narrow and could not accommodate large groups.

Dr Housworth is very keen to introduce the hospital to more people from across the globe.He is even keener to collect our blood! Don't worry, sterile needles are the norm and the hospital is considered the best in the country. Again, the Angkor Children's Hospital is an outstanding example of how Rotary funds are providing a vital service for the people of Siem Reap. Our group members witnessed the work of Rotary first hand and yes, their eyes are starting to open as to the ways we can all make a difference.