Mission to Cambodia 2013
from Taylor Bonds

Today, we woke with a walk by the Vietnam memorial. It is such a wonderful way to start the day. We worked at the Hope Hospital in Phonm Penh that is completely run by donations from Hope. I did not prepare myself for the things that I saw while in the hospital: the brittle patients with bones seeping through their skin, their faces that are sunk in, and the pain that they feel yet do not show in their lifeless facial expressions. It gave me a sense of helplessness as I observed the nurses trying to cool down a girl who had an extremely high fever that was 21 years old yet looked 10 from her illness that has taken over her entire body. How can they cool her down if the hospital does not even have air conditioning to cool down the ninety-eight degree room she is staying in? I couldn’t help but think about when I am helping patients in the hospital who complain and say, “I am so hot please down that thermostat” when it is at 69 degrees instead of their normal 68. In the Phnom Penh hospital they must have a caregiver or family member care for them while they are in the hospital because the nurses have too many patients; therefore, they are there to wash their loved one, and make sure they are the patient’s advocate for care.

At the hospital I had the chance to take blood from a syringe and it was quite different than how we do it in America, so I watched the nurse do it the first time hoping that I would get to try the second time, but there was no second time! Lesson learned: when in Cambodia do EVERY single thing you have an opportunity.