2011 Mission Trip to Cambodia
from Candice Rose, Nursing Student
Up at 5 am. . . . It is amazing how busy the streets are with the Cambodian people at 5 in the morning! It seems to be a normal part of the culture to get up and exercise. There were people walking, jogging, practicing martial arts, and my favorite – jazzercising! It is refreshing to see a culture in which exercise is a daily norm and people seem to enjoy it thoroughly. I wish we saw more of that in the States.
The day of arrival is like some strange fog out of a dream that you can’t quite remember. Ms. Taplin walked us down half of her running path and it almost killed me. I am embarrassed to say that I could not keep up if I tried. It was beautiful and exotic all at the same time. The smell of spice was thick in the humidity and the stream of people rushing around on every side of me felt quite overwhelming at times. I have no words really that can describe how surreal it all seemed. No sleep + power walk with Taplin = sleep deprivation and hallucination!
Now to the important and gruesome stuff. The second day we were off to the hospital for a “tour”, well that turned into a full day’s work in the clinics and Post-op – and thank God for that because I got to do some awesome wound care!!

There is nothing that can prepare a person to deal with human suffering. I don’t think we ever become immune to it and if we do then it is time to reevaluate ourselves. I have been witness to great extents and examples of human suffering but the experience at the hospital the second day forced me to look at suffering in a whole new way.
The skin on one of our patients foot had completely separated from the layers of muscle. It was something to see. You could see every part of the muscle and then there was just a hallow hole between it and the entire dermal layer. Diana had the rare privilege of changing this dressing and packing that hole to increase the tissue granulation and promote healing (they use sugar in the wounds – like antibiotics, btw). This procedure had to be agonizing and unimaginable, yet the patient never cried out in pain, she made small sounds, but never anything substantial. She suffered in silence, her eyes cried out enough for her whole body, abut her voice never betrayed her. She pleaded for relief and the dressing change Diana did provided her with some of that. It is hard to inflict pain in order to heal a patient. When Abby saw her yesterday, her wound had looked considerably better. This woman suffered in a way that we can not even pretend to understand and yet she was so thankful and appreciative of what we were doing for her. The gratitude was all over her face every time she folded her hands and bowed her head for us. It is amazing the difference in coping styles amongst our cultures.
I know tomorrow will bring something totally new and I look forward to it.
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“Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that all was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, and make it possible.” – T.E. Lawrence