In Cambodia some major health care issues are HIV/AIDS, TB, and diabetes. Today students of nursing and pharmacy left the hospital to go on home visits for HIV patients. Just a few blocks away, we walked to the areas where the lowest income people live. Our job was to oversee the self-maintenance of each patient’s disease state. Without the semester 2 course, Health Assessment, I would have been unaware of the questions to ask and signs to look for in each particular case. Next we broke for lunch to enjoy a bite of homemade Khmer cuisine.
After lunch, we left the medical world to learn more about culture and history in Cambodia. During the reign of the Khmer Rouge, genocide camps were spread all over the country. The one we had visited was called Office S.21, today known as Tuol Sleng. Formerly a high school (a place for learning and growth), the Khmer Rouge overtook the facility and held over 5,000 prisoners here by 1978. All but 7 of these prisoners were killed. Taking this historical era made me realize this event affected people just a generation ahead of my own.
It was a fulfilling day incorporating both health care and history. From today’s experience I have made it a promise to serve the people of Cambodia to the fullest until it is time to depart.