In all my life I have never seen people, especially those so recently oppressed, smile as much as the people in Cambodia. Being here, it is impossible to keep from smiling back at them. These are truly among the friendliest people I have ever met. Along with that, they seem to have something that a lot of people in America are missing, strong families. I think that most people in the US, including myself, get so wrapped up in our own personal lives or things we have going on, that family somehow gets left behind.
Being in the hospital really shows that great side of Cambodians. I have seen family members care for patients in much the same way that nurses do in the US. Family members constantly watch over the patient, change bedsheets, feed the patient, assist with ambulation, assist with manual respirators, and provide continual emotional support. One of the supervising nurses at the hospital asked me one day while I was in the ED (Emergency Department) how many people were allowed to go into the ED in the US. He was so suprised when I told him that for the most part no one is allowed in the ED because if the injury is bad enough then the patient will be taken to the “medical ward” and the family can visit them there. That sort of suprised him, because in Cambodia the ED is chaos filled with doctors, nurses, patients, and all the family members that accompanied the patient to the hospital. The nurse then asked me how many family members usually visited patients’ in the US once they are moved to the long-term care. I told him that it really just depended on how far away the family members were or how close the family was; I told him that sometimes no one visits the patient. After I told him this, he just stared at me blankly trying to comprehend what I had just said. Then I gave him the best response I could. I told him that “most families just aren’t as strong or important to people like they are in Cambodia. Families in the US don’t depend on each other the way they do in Cambodia, so most families tend to drift apart”.
Thinking about that made me wonder how a country with so little materialistically can have so much more than us overall. We replace love with presents and toys. We reduce communcation between family members to emails and sticky notes. And we replace quality time with TV and movies. Something is just not right with this picture…