Project Compassion

From Monday November 7, to Thursday November 10, thirteen volunteers from the US came to serve Poipet by offering a free medical clinic.

A Cambodian asked if we have these kinds of clinics in Australia? Not exactly. If the did, would I go? Would I get up early and give up half a day's work? Would I line up for hours outside to speak to a foreign doctor through a translator? Would I be happy with a written diagnosis in a language I didn't understand? Be content with some free medications that would last me a month or so? Probably not. But this isn't Australia. I'm convinced that a short medical clinic meets a felt need in Poipet.

In four days, the Project Compassion team saw over 1200 medical patients. Almost 1000 people received free glasses and 60 people had free dental treatment.

One of the highlights in translating was being the first person to tell a young woman that she and her husband are having a baby! She was pleased and I was delighted to be the messenger.

Part of the time I spent working in the pharmacy department. We gave out hundreds of packets of labeled antibiotics, ibuprofen, Tylenol, cough syrup, multivitamins, iron tablets, de-worming tablets and other less common forms of medication. Next to the 'tick-a-box' list of medications for the doctors to fill in was also a space marked 'other'. On day 2 I read the words 'flip-flops' scribbled in this section. I asked one of the Project Compassion volunteers and found a huge bag of 'other' goods such as shoes of all sizes, toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, stickers and other small, useful gifts. As I gave the rubber flip-flops to the woman in her seventies, I pointed out to her that the pink matched perfectly with the floral blouse she was wearing that day! The woman's face lit up like she'd just won first prize in a Melbourne Cup sweep! She said, "Are those for me?! But I already have a pair of shoes!" (Nevermind that they looked Pol Pot 1970s vintage...) I replied, "Yes, aunty, the doctor says these are for you. Now you have two pair of shoes!"

There were some more serious cases too... accidents, injuries and chronic illness. Lynn posted on her blog about meeting a woman who complained of exhaustion. She had fifteen children! Lynn reflected that there wasn't much she could do for the family. We gave iron tablets, vitamins and a bit of love.

One day the doctors simply didn't have enough time to meet with everyone who showed up. In the afternoon I was asked to help with a triage system. Our task was to talk with everyone, give most one of several kinds of simple medications that were taken from the pharmacy and refer a maximum of twenty patients to the doctors. It was hard to help people feel heard when our conversations were only about a minute long. I felt a bit helpless so I just told them: Thank you for coming today. Thank you for waiting. I'm sorry that this is all I can give you today. God bless you and your family. Surprisingly, the patients weren't angry or disappointed. They were thankful. For them, it was worth coming.

I was also involved in the prayer and counseling station. There were a few phrases that I repeated a hundred times: Let me tell you about the purpose of this team's visit. They are volunteers. They came because they love the Cambodian people. They came because they are Christians. The medicine and glasses we are giving out today are all free. They are a gift from the team and a gift from God. Sometimes I was compelled to stop my stream of words and pray for the people: May God bless you with healing and health. May God bless your family and your community. Again, it wasn't much. But the people seemed to be thankful to receive a bit of medical attention and a little bit of love.