Back from Cambodia

I just came back from Cambodia on Tuesday morning. I was quite relieved when the plane touched down and the familiar sight of Changi Airport came into view. There's nothing like a YEP to make one appreciate home more. During this trip, I've learnt to appreciate that simple things like clean drinking water cannot be taken for granted. It has been a unique learning experience, better than my previous project in the Phlippines.

Cambodia is a sad country. The things that I heard, saw and experienced made me feel sorry for this country. It's almost unbelievable how poor and helpless the people in Cambodia are. The healthcare system, in particular, is appalling and most Cambodians don't seek treatment when they are sick. This is because it takes money for them to travel and eat outside and also because they can be made to wait for a few weeks just to see the doctor. I've seen some horrifying injuries that's beyond comprehension.

There's the case of a man who fractured his leg and didn't seek treatment for 3 years and as a result his bones regrew in an abnormal way. We sent him to hospital where he was advised to amputate his leg. He agreed with the assurance that we'll help him but I'm not sure whether our funds will be enough to treat him.

There was also a monk who had rotting flesh on both his legs. It was apparently the result of a leech bite and had been there for 35 years. 35 years! It was a good 10 years before I was born. The injury was gruesome and there were flies swarming around his rotting legs, laying their eggs. Nonetheless, I had to curb my emotions and clean his wound for him. There was nothing much we can do except to send him to the hospital.

There was an old lady who had a wound so deep in her back that the cotton gauze put into her wound by a local doctor seemed to take forever to remove. I think there's no way the wound is going to heal back.

There was a little boy who had an infected wound on his leg and when we attempted to remove the pus on his wound, his cries were so heartwrenching that I felt like crying too.

We have only scratched the surface of Cambodia and I've seen enough to make me feel disturbed and helpless. How many more people are there in Cambodia with horrific injuries like this? Is there anybody who can reach out to them and at least offer them basic medical aid? The villages we went to are the more well-off ones and yet injuries like these seem commonplace. What on earth is the Cambodian government doing? Have they seen how their countrymen are suffering or are they still more concerned with buying more luxury cars?

Cambodia was held up as a model for Singapore to learn from in the 1960s. Our Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew personally said we should learn from them. 40 years on, and we have progressed into a modern metropolis while Cambodia doesn't even have street lighting in their major cities. It's frightening how quickly a country can fall from prosperity.

I'm still trying to adapt back to Singapore and I'm really glad for urbanisation and development. No one should be allowed to live in villages where there is no sanitation and diseases are rampant. Unfortunately, I think it's going to take a miracle for everyone in the world to enjoy a good quality of life.

I will be blogging more on my experiences in Cambodi as well as uploading some of the pictures in the next entry.