Mission to Cambodia 2012
from Amelia Brown

Today was our first day working in Sihanouk Hospital Center of Hope. We’ve all been anticipating this day and were excited to get to work in the hospital. After arriving, we split up and went to different wings, including the emergency rooms, surgery, the general medical floor. We were put to work doing anything we could to be useful, such as: taking vitals; drawing blood; starting IV’s; checking blood glucose levels; cleaning wounds; etc.

Collectively, our experiences in the hospital were difficult, yet fulfilling. Health care in Cambodia is much different from the United States and nothing like most of us have ever witnessed before. I came on this trip to work in the physiotherapy department because I plan to pursue occupational therapy.  Today I worked in the general medical floor because the therapist was not in the hospital. I think that because I’m not a nursing major like everyone else, working on the floor was probably more shocking to me than it was for the others. I have never interacted with a patient who was in such a life-threatening state so closely before. The experience really gave me a different perspective on health care. I truly realize now how privileged we are to have such abundant treatment options and facilities in the US.

I found it amazing and completely inspiring how although many of these Cambodians were facing death, they are some of the most cheerful and genuine people I have ever met. Although seeing so many sick people today was difficult for me, I left the hospital feeling more hopeful and full than I have in a long time. I think I can speak for the rest of the group as well in saying that although we all saw things today that made our hearts ache, we left that hospital today fulfilled in a way many of us haven’t been before. We’re all excited to go back tomorrow and do it all over again.

After the hospital, most of us decided to lighten our day by making a trip to Beautiful Shoes. There we were able to order any style, color, and type of shoe you can imagine. It was fun to design our own shoes and then have them fit perfectly to our feet. We ended our day with dinner at a restaurant called Flavours, where we recapped on our highs and lows from today. We are all looking forward to our future experiences in the hospital with the beautiful Cambodians we have the privilege to meet.