Dear friends and partners,
This past Sunday was a day where I was reminded of why I love Cambodians as I do. Myself and my co-founders; Phavi and Sieng, of the Nokor Tep Foundation went with our partners TYDA on a medical mission in Pursat. On our arrival we were met with 700 plus people which quickly swelled to more than a thousand people and over 200 volunteers of all ages, sexes and skills.
There was an atmosphere of expectation, of receiving medical help but also expectation by volunteers in treating the people. The leader of this mission was Pich Chanmony, a woman of privilege and high rank in Cambodia. Her attitude of compassion erased barriers as she was the model of caring, taking the time to speak with many of the people waiting. With her medical background she was able to comfort, encourage and set up treatment for those with whom she spoke.
As she was talking, I looked around to see a school transformed into a mini mobile hospital; rooms for medical interventions of all types from common illnesses to specialized treatment rooms for teeth, eyes, pregnancy, gynecology, neurology, etc. There were several specialized trucks capable of doing minor surgeries in various illnesses. There was a pharmacy and blood testing areas. I saw a large room with various medical doctors and nurses doing triage and sending patients to the right rooms and doctors for further treatment. I saw all the medical personnel dressed in proper PPE for added protection against the Covid virus; I saw that everyone wore a mask.
I saw village volunteers, young people there to serve others. I saw young men carry the elderly and the infirm with compassion and respect to where the people needed to go. I watched as doctors with degrees in surgery and neurology willing to guide patients to the right areas for treatment. I watched a well-organized, compassionate and passionate group of people become one with the villagers they were serving. I heard from patients who had received life giving surgeries such as open-heart surgery saving a young man’s life. When asked by Pich Chanmony how he felt, he was as one of us when he quipped, I have two more children for that is the natural way of life.
I asked them why, and the answer was consistent. It’s from our hearts that we do this. And I was reminded of our Tabitha volunteers coming to build houses with their compassion and zeal. I was reminded of the many times when equally poor villagers would forgo receiving a house so that another who had no family support could get one. I was reminded of how villagers would ensure that orphans in the village would be fed by donating a cup of rice daily despite suffering from food shortages themselves. I remember how Tabitha staff are seen as members of each family they served.
My heart was filled to the brim when Pich Chanmony made it official that our former hospital would become the National Cancer Hospital of Cambodia. I was deeply humbled when she said that she would be responsible for making this happen. Our dreams for Nokor Tep Hospital became full circle as she could complete what we had envisioned originally. Outreach, compassion, dignity, respect, service to the people of Cambodia.
As Phavi, Sieng and I left, the three of us were filled with an immense sense of gratitude that our God had taken our vision and passed it on to like minded Cambodians, people with the skills, compassion, and passion to fulfill what we had started. We ended our visit with going to a Wat to say prayers of thanks and blessings on our partners, TYDA, each of us in our own way to our God.
I will let you know all our needs in future newsletters. This one is about being one with Cambodians and my deep gratefulness that I serve a God of Grace and Mercy in a land of people whom I love because of their own compassion and grace for each other. How good is that!
Janne
See More Pictures of the Mission on TYDA Facebook page
