Today was a day full of new and heart wrenching experiences. We began our day at a support group meeting for HIV patients. I volunteered to be the spokesperson for our group. We stressed the importance of taking their medication and taking it on time. Apparently, it meant more coming from us because we are foreigners, and we were wearing scrubs. The meeting was very eye opening to me to see how devastating the effects of HIV are physically, mentally, and emotionally. For example, this was some patients first time to visit because they were ashamed, and others were completely abandoned by their families. After the meeting we split off to go back to the hospital (Chelsea, Emily, and Victoria) and to HIV home visits (me and Stephanie).
The social worker led us to the “newer” slums that were mostly made of concrete. There was dirt, filth, and graffiti everywhere. The first room we came to was a 10 by 20 single room that had about 13 people living in it. We moved down the hall so we could see an aerial view of the “older”slums. It literally looked like a dump with trash haphazardly thrown everywhere. Stephanie and I wanted to take more pictures, but we were too focused on where we were walking. We stepped over every piece of trash imaginable each in a different state of decomposition. Two things that stuck out in my mind were the smell and the noise. It smelt like a trashcan, sewer, old food, and body odor all at once. It featured the sounds of a busy city, babies crying hysterically, people yelling, and food cooking in grease. The “houses” were small, made out of tin, and had at least one wall missing. Others were made out of concrete four stories high. There was no clean water or electricity, and water and wastes ran off from the floors above us.

Once we reached the two families we had been searching for, I took the opportunity to really take in my surroundings. I saw a group of people playing cards near a pile of trash, a mother nursing her baby in a hammock, young kids in uniforms coming back from school, and younger children running around naked. I asked the social worker what these people do for a living. He said that this particular family digs through the trash to find water bottles to recycle…wow… The family kept telling us that they needed a new water bucket because a gang had recently torn through their home and broke theirs. So Stephanie and I hopped on the back of two motos and made our way to the Cambodian market. (That was an experience all by itself.) We made it back to the family and distributed the buckets (picture). The other picture is one of the family’s sons. The sites and smells of the slums stuck with me all day.
Back at the hospital I made my way to the Chronic Care Facility. This clinic is mostly used for HIV patients who have taken a turn for the worst. Chelsea and I mostly talked to the patients. By talk, I mean smile and pat their hands. I was moved to the room next door to look after a patient who was critically ill. It was tough to sit there and watch her family gathered around praying because there was nothing left for us to do. I know all of us experienced new things today including observing in the OR and drawing blood.
We were all pretty exhausted from our emotional and hot day. It was 41 degrees Celsius which is about 103 degrees Fahrenheit. We had a few hours of rest in the hotel before we went to a traditional Khmer restaurant where we sat on the floor with pillows. Today was a good day with tons of opportunities to grow and learn by serving our Lord. All is well and full with sticky rice and mango 🙂