Healthcare or Lack There Of...
On recent visit to CLCA, I was shocked at the poor medical care and treatment the children of the Center received. During my three week visit, I realized how simple it actually is to get healthcare for poor and orphaned children. There are several options; first Rose Hospital offers 100% free medical care for anything from simple colds to more serious life threatening diseases, and specializes in surgery for children born with cleft palets.
I personally took two children to this hospital and was greeted with friendly, caring, doctors and nurses. One of the children, a little girl called Sreyneit was diagnosed with a very serious case of scabies. Scabies are small, almost microscopic mites that burrow into the skin and blood stream causing extremely painful, itchy sores which if left untreated can become very infected. Treating scabies is a long, tedious process, so upon initial diagnosis at Rose Hospital, I was referred to a dermatologist back across the city. On the follow up visit to the dermatologist, I took Lakana, Sreyneit's "sister" and room mate in the Center along with us because I feared she also had scabies.
The dermatologist, also proved to be a simple and free process. Once I indicated to the check in clerk that I was a volunteer and that the girls were orphans with no money, all of their documents were posted "gratis" which not only got us free medical care, but also got us all of the required medication at no cost. My point in telling this story is that it IS simple to get medical care, it's just a matter of taking the time, and caring about these children, in order to get it done. This leads me back to CLCA and the lack of care provided.
The first step in treating the girls was to boil all of their clothes to kill the mites. Unfortunately, in order for this to be effective, technically, everyone should have followed this procedure. The second step was to shower and wash head to toe in a special chemically treated (but safe) body wash, followed by 10 days of antibiotics (for the infection) and Benedryl type pills for the itch. My first mistake was to assume someone (an adult, a teen ager, Pat Noun, the director of the Center) would take an interest and make sure that the girls took their shower and their medication. Part of my problem was that I did not speak Khmer and the girls did not understand enough English to realize I was asking them every day if they had taken their medication. They were nodding yes, and I was so pleased that I had done some good.
Or so I thought. In reality, one of the girls had lost her body wash and medication, and the other just never took any of it. Of course, this meant the scabies were not healing. Not a single person in the Center, took an interest in these girls and their healthcare. To this day, Sreyneit still suffers from a horrible case of Scabies and recently had her head shaved. Being the brave little trooper that she is, she has taken this all in stride and goes about her daily activities with a shy smile on her face.
This story is only one in the many healthcare neglect tales from CLCA. Many of the children were diagnosed with a pink eye like eye infection. What you have to realize, is that anyone can get medications directly from the pharmacy without a prescription for a doctor. All you need to do is tell the pharmacist your symptoms and they will administer the needed medications. I personally purchased several bottles of eye drops for the kids, and they only cost 1500R ($.37). They were just so grateful to have someone care and take the time and few dollars to get them the needed medicines. Such a simple thing that any adult, foreign or Cambodian can and should do for these kids. however, it doesn't happen and they continue to suffer with illnesses that are simple to cure with a little to no effort. Can these "criminals'' who are in charge really not afford $.37 for medicine when there is a constant flow of backpackers coming there just to make donations?
The irony of this is that right before I left Cambodia, Pat Noun was struck with a very bad flu like illness. I watched in disgust as several of the adults and teen aged girls fanned him and brought him food and medicine and slept by his side nursing him back to health. Where were these people when Sreyneit and Lakana needed them. Such a double standard.
When I left Cambodia, my four year old niece became very distraught. My sister was finally able to get her to explain what was wrong. In the way only a child can express herself, she said, "If Aunt "Chele" leaves Cambodia, who will take care of the kids?" That's a question, I asked myself as I left. There are a few volunteers that try to help, however, I have to ask, where are the adults and what exactly are Pat Noun and the other "staff" doing for these children?
I personally took two children to this hospital and was greeted with friendly, caring, doctors and nurses. One of the children, a little girl called Sreyneit was diagnosed with a very serious case of scabies. Scabies are small, almost microscopic mites that burrow into the skin and blood stream causing extremely painful, itchy sores which if left untreated can become very infected. Treating scabies is a long, tedious process, so upon initial diagnosis at Rose Hospital, I was referred to a dermatologist back across the city. On the follow up visit to the dermatologist, I took Lakana, Sreyneit's "sister" and room mate in the Center along with us because I feared she also had scabies.
The dermatologist, also proved to be a simple and free process. Once I indicated to the check in clerk that I was a volunteer and that the girls were orphans with no money, all of their documents were posted "gratis" which not only got us free medical care, but also got us all of the required medication at no cost. My point in telling this story is that it IS simple to get medical care, it's just a matter of taking the time, and caring about these children, in order to get it done. This leads me back to CLCA and the lack of care provided.
The first step in treating the girls was to boil all of their clothes to kill the mites. Unfortunately, in order for this to be effective, technically, everyone should have followed this procedure. The second step was to shower and wash head to toe in a special chemically treated (but safe) body wash, followed by 10 days of antibiotics (for the infection) and Benedryl type pills for the itch. My first mistake was to assume someone (an adult, a teen ager, Pat Noun, the director of the Center) would take an interest and make sure that the girls took their shower and their medication. Part of my problem was that I did not speak Khmer and the girls did not understand enough English to realize I was asking them every day if they had taken their medication. They were nodding yes, and I was so pleased that I had done some good.
Or so I thought. In reality, one of the girls had lost her body wash and medication, and the other just never took any of it. Of course, this meant the scabies were not healing. Not a single person in the Center, took an interest in these girls and their healthcare. To this day, Sreyneit still suffers from a horrible case of Scabies and recently had her head shaved. Being the brave little trooper that she is, she has taken this all in stride and goes about her daily activities with a shy smile on her face.
This story is only one in the many healthcare neglect tales from CLCA. Many of the children were diagnosed with a pink eye like eye infection. What you have to realize, is that anyone can get medications directly from the pharmacy without a prescription for a doctor. All you need to do is tell the pharmacist your symptoms and they will administer the needed medications. I personally purchased several bottles of eye drops for the kids, and they only cost 1500R ($.37). They were just so grateful to have someone care and take the time and few dollars to get them the needed medicines. Such a simple thing that any adult, foreign or Cambodian can and should do for these kids. however, it doesn't happen and they continue to suffer with illnesses that are simple to cure with a little to no effort. Can these "criminals'' who are in charge really not afford $.37 for medicine when there is a constant flow of backpackers coming there just to make donations?
The irony of this is that right before I left Cambodia, Pat Noun was struck with a very bad flu like illness. I watched in disgust as several of the adults and teen aged girls fanned him and brought him food and medicine and slept by his side nursing him back to health. Where were these people when Sreyneit and Lakana needed them. Such a double standard.
When I left Cambodia, my four year old niece became very distraught. My sister was finally able to get her to explain what was wrong. In the way only a child can express herself, she said, "If Aunt "Chele" leaves Cambodia, who will take care of the kids?" That's a question, I asked myself as I left. There are a few volunteers that try to help, however, I have to ask, where are the adults and what exactly are Pat Noun and the other "staff" doing for these children?
posted by Cambodia Truth @ 17:36 5 comments 
