Thank you so much to everyone who donated medications for us to take in our luggage to Cambodia. The supplies you gave went to this missionary run medical clinic called CSI Clinic. They keep things moving with donations from short term groups like ours, so thank you again for your generosity, it will be well used. As anyone who has traveled to the developing world will tell you, medical care is an absolute joke. Until 3 years ago there was no ambulances in the entire country, and trauma care is basically unheard of.
Like many other things, the medical system is very corrupt, so no matter what your injury or illness, if you walk into a clinic or hospital you have to pay in cash up front before they will even see you. This was the case in Guatemala as well when we traveled there. It is not unusual for family members to have someone in an “ER” while they are running around looking for money to treat their relative. Oftentimes, if they cannot afford the care… i.e.- food for the rest of my kids or medical care for this one, people are allowed to live with a serious injury, or in some cases even die. People make choices like this on a regular basis. Speaking of medical care, this brings to mind the land mine situation. We will soon be in Taipei, and I have to admit that I look forward to it, not just b/c I miss my kids, but b/c I am weary of seeing people whose limbs have been blown off. Land mines are still a huge problem, and have been left in Cambodia by the US, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Khmer Rouge, you cannot walk more than a few blocks without seeing someone injured by a land mine. There have been great advances in cleaning up the mines, and there’s a lot of NGO’s doing good work with it but it takes time.
One of the missionaries here to the Chom (Cambodian Muslim’s) was traveling in the rural areas and witnessed a severe car accident, where a van full of people flipped over. They pulled over to assist, and immediately noticed that two women were near death. They could only fit one woman in their vehicle to get her to a hospital, and were begging and trying to pay bystanders to take the other in their vehicle’s. Everyone refused because in Animistic Buddhism to be with a body that has died due to trauma (it is assumed their death was due to bad karma which could then be transferred to you) means you could get a curse or a “hex.” They raced to take the one woman to a hospital, but the second woman died in the road by the time they came back to get her b/c no one would drive her in their car, due to their fear of bad spirits.
We witnessed this lack of order and resources a few days ago while traveling from Siem Reap through the countryside back to the main city, Phnom Penh. A man was in a moto accident and died on the side of the road. He was just laying there under a bloody sheet, but there were no police, no EMT’s, no ambulance, or any presence of order or authority. That was a very strange experience.
Here is where the CSI clinic comes in. In a sea of chaos, they are a free clinic providing top of the line medical care. It looks shabby, and it’s hot and uncomfortable, but it is professional and staffed with great medical folks. Tim, the guy in the red shirt, was an ER doc living the rich life in a dream home in the US, when some friends seriously challenged he and his wife on their priorities and how they spent their money. A year after buying a big piece of property and building a huge house, they sold it and headed to Cambodia to learn the language and help develop the fledging medical system.
The CSI clinic has been using a portion of a military bases’ hospital for a small clinic, including dental care, and some minor surgeries, for several years. Recently, the government decided to take back the property b/c they feel they can make more money from it, even though they see patients for free, which actually benefits the govt. They have to be out of the space by June 30th, and have no place to go as of yet. On Tuesday, there is a meeting at 2 p.m. Cambodian time (11 hrs. ahead of Phila), to negotiate a new (literally brand new building) piece of property that they could build on and lease for 99 years. This is a huge prayer item, and could mean adding another layer of things like primary care in the province’s, where it’s needed the most. Another piece of the new property is training Dr.’s properly and sending professional’s to the province’s to treat dengue fever, malaria, and dysentery. Improving those three illnesses alone could raise the life expectancy up 20 years, from the current age of 57.
If the land goes through, and you are interested in helping financially support the clinic through World Team Missions, we will post the info. on this site in the near future. Many people have been reached and a church has been planted through the medical care you see here at CSI. Meeting the physical needs of people in conjunction with a holistic approach to the gospel and evangelism is key in building trust and developing disciples no matter your cultural setting. It was exciting to see a ray of hope in a place that, at times, is very dark.
Tags: Biblical seminary, Cambodia, Land mines, medical clinic, moto
