Cambodia Volunteer Stories
Clio - 'Medical volunteer, on-going since August 2011'
I am a doctor from the UK voluteering with Que Rico from for 4 months (August-December 2011). I have just finished F2 (second year of hospital medicine) and decided to take a year out of hospital medicine to work abroad. I thought the project sounded fantastic and I especially liked the fact that the project works with the Cambodian locals (e.g. I in the health centre, school and building site) with the aim of helping the country become self sufficient again.
I thought I would give you an insight into working at Atvea and hopefully encourage you to join this fantastic project.
Currently the medical project involves working with 8 rural villages who are under Atvea health centre. They are visited 3 times a week by medical volunteers + translator +/- Ratany (overall organization leader), depending on the number of volunteers. We are hoping to work with a second health clinic and its 7 surrounding villages in the next 2 months. Tuesday is spent in the health centre, working with the health centre staff and Thursday is spent in the local hospital on the surgical work and assisting/observing in theatre.
Typically we all meet for breakfast about 7am and then Sorn or Guan drive us in the tuc-tuc to the health clinic. All the staff at the clinic are lovely and eager to learn and improve their English. Lyna then meets us there and we go on a motorbike to the outreach projects. We set up in the centre of the village and depending on the facilities available we may have a table/chairs/shelter – if not we sit on a mat on floor. The villagers then queue to see us with their various problems. We do a set of basic observations and weigh each person first. Lyna then translates their symptoms and we either treat them with supplies from the medical box, or refer them to the health centre or local hospital. It can be difficult at times as malnutrition is rife and often you see people living with disabilities that would be treated in the UK. Frequently you see children whose growth is stunted due to chronic malnutrition e.g. 14yr old girl I saw yesterday only reached my waist. Minor injuries are plentiful and due to the general poverty and frequent flooding cuts and wounds frequently become infected. Common conditions I see include diarrhea, chest infections, hypertension, dizziness, headache and back pain. A lot of the joint pains are related to people’s jobs (e.g. working in rice fields, building or masseuse). We also see a few serious problems and refer these patients to the local hospital (e.g. ?appendicitis, severe dehydration). It can be difficult at times because although you can advise people on what to do, you can’t make patients do things (similar in the UK). E.g. on my first day I saw a lady I thought had appendicitis and she refused to go to the hospital as it is too expensive.
At about 10am we give a workshop to the villagers on health issues e.g. healthy eating/basic first aid or washing your teeth. It is really good fun and the villagers laugh at my hilarious attempts to explain things! We then continue seeing people until about midday before packing up and heading back to Victory Guesthouse. A shower rejuvenates you and all the volunteer from medical/building/teaching usually have lunch together. On Tuesday afternoon I prepare a new outreach workshop for the villagers and on a Thursday afternoon I prepare a teaching session for the nurses at the health centre (given on a Friday afternoon). Monday and Wednesday afternoons are free to explore and relax (but the scheme is flexible so if you want other afternoons off just give a bit of notice). On Thursdays we go to the local hospital to the surgical ward. You can then observe or assist in theatre depending on your training. It is really interesting to see how the hospital is run in Cambodia and compare it to the ÜK. You quickly realize that 50% of patients on the surgical ward have peritonitis from a perforated appendix (appendicitis not treated early enough) or stomach ulcers from over the counter medication (e.g. asprin/ibuprofen etc). In UK most cases of appendicitis are removed before they perforate. Teaching the nurses on a Friday afternoon is also great fun – they are so eager to learn and its puts me to shame at not improving my Khmer as quickly. It is another comical afternoon of pronunciation, impressions and role play as you try to teach the medical topic and improve the nurses English.
Everyone in Cambodia so friendly – the villagers, locals in Siem Reap, other volunteers and people working for Que Rico. Lyna (translator) and Rathany (overall project co-ordinater) has been fantastic at looking after me and making sure everyone is getting on ok. I don’t think I have ever met such nice people as here in Cambodia (and being Irish it is hard to top the Irish nation!). There is a lot to do and see (e.g. famous temples of Angkor Wat, floating villages) and you usually make good friends with the building and teaching volunteers and socialize with them in the evenings.
I would recommend this project to anyone who wants to experience medicine outside of the developed work. It is a fantastic learning experience and you see lots of conditions that you wouldn’t see in the UK. You quickly realize the impact poverty, lack of health knowledge and health funding has on a population. You must be willing to work hard, within you own competencies, but you have lots of fun to. So whether you only have 1-2 weeks or several months off, venture to Cambodia to Atvea and have a fantastic time.
Lindsay – ‘Building volunteer, Jan - Feb 2011’
My name is Lindsay Ockwig and I have just finished volunteering in Siem Reap, Cambodia for the past month. I just wanted to let you know that I had a wonderful time and plan to be back volunteering if not in Siem Reap, definitely with QR, somewhere else around the world in the future.
The staff was amazing! Everybody went out of their way to accommodate my needs. I originally was due to arrive January 8th, but due to work complications, had to reschedule to the 22nd of January. I apologized for my tardiness and Sally just responded no need to apologize, it’s great that you’re even helping out; you'll get here when you get here. Her response really put me at ease. Also, my flight had arrived late and Tom had left a wedding to come and pick me up twice, he never even mentioned the fact that he was at a wedding.
I built houses with Josh, Wullie and our Cambodian builders, I had never used a drill or even a saw before and he took a lot of time showing me how to use these items and was really patient. Wullie knew I was going to China afterwards and he spent a lot of time telling me what cities to go to and what cities to avoid, I also needed my computer charged one day and he offered to let me charge it in his room. Moy met every demanding need that I had, whether it was a ride somewhere, or a bus ticket, and was a fabulous cook. Ghan and Sorn were so much fun to work with at the building site; I might even come back someday just to visit with them.
There were so many volunteers at Victory Guesthouse, yet all of the staff took the time to help me feel welcome, and for that I am appreciative. I will go home and tell everyone I know that if they are volunteering, they should consider doing it with QR. Thank you for organizing such a great program!
Carly - 'A day in the life of a medical volunteer'
An average day starts approximately 7am when everybody meets downstairs at victory for breakfast. Moy, the lady who runs the guesthouse is lovely and is incredibly dedicated to her job, anything you need Moy will do her upmost to help. All her staff are very courteous and polite and the food is very yummy! The tuk tuk's leave to take us to site at 7.30, we have the same drivers everyday; Sorn and Guan both work on the building site too. And so we set off- 4 to a tuk tukmeandering through the early morning Siem reap traffic, which mostly consists of moto's (mopeds) Anna other tuk tuks with the occasional car/4x4/ truck. As we drive towards our destination, about 15mins away, I am still surprised by the sights, Siem reap usually gets up with the sun so by this time most people have already been at work for a few hours. School runs are completed via motowith whole families crammed on to one moto! It still makes me smile as I count them mum dad baby and 3 young siblings- amazing!
As we pull into Wat Atvea going through an ornate archway ( which was just 2 brick pillars when I arrived 3 months ago) and drive through some of trek village you can often hear chanting or prayers from the pagoda. At my stop off point, pomeanchey health centre I am greeted warmly by the staff as I take my shoes off to enter the humble little clinic that serves so many terribly poor people. Clinic started an hour ago but we generally work from 08.00 to 11.00 when morning clinic ends and have the rest of the day to ourselves. This doesn't include the out of hour’s work I completed due to births in the evening, afternoon night or weekend. Outreach clinic happens most Wednesday's and is generally longer morning hours due to travelling out to villages to administerhealthcare there.
During an average clinic morning I mostly work in the main reception area acting as a triage nurse, carrying out health checks, basic observations and administering immunisations. The patients then go to see the nurse and are then prescribed appropriate medications. I am also used to complete dressings, administer medications and as a general advisory for difficult cases and as a second pair of hands to help during delivery. The clinic does lack the organisational aspects of westernhealthcare, it's a bit chaotic, there are no orderly queues or individual consults.
Approximately 10am the women will all sit together and eat breakfast, they always share and I tend to try anything offered to be polite it does help with the bonding. Although beware of Cambodian cheese it is fermented and smells a bit like rotten moldy fish! It doesn't usually agree with western bellies, or tongues!
There is a lot to learn culturally here, Cambodia is very different, and I spent most of my first week observing and gaining trust. Also taking a step back and reflecting on my experience has really helped me.
When the patients stop coming and the team start packing up it's my cue to go locate my tuk tuk. Sometimes it comes to pick up nursery and medical volunteers at 11am if not you are free to join the builders for an hour or wander around the temple at your leisure.
The tuk tuk brings you back to victory and most people congregate to have lunch together and split off to do their own things for the afternoon. Evenings and weekends are your own but the volunteers usually meet up and go for dinner as a group. Afternoons usually include a nap, as case of when in Rome do as the Romans do! A good friend once told me go native or go home- fantastic advice to enhance your Cambodian adventure!
Alisa – ‘December 2010’
After spending almost a year planning my trip I thought it is best to share my experience..
I spent soooo long debating which organisation to go with, how much to pay and then after booking worrying if I had made the right decision!
In the end I choose Que Rico as the were mid range price, the team in the UK were well informed about each project and most importantly they are a registered charity.
I spent one month working in Cambodia on project Atvea. The project was unique as it had several componenents supporting one village.
- Rebuilding and construction of classrooms
- Rebuilding of homes for the poorest
- Free English classes for childen and adults
- Preschool classes for 3-6 year olds
- Medical clinic/Child birth and family planning centre
The ment that almost all of the volunteers spent their time on the one site which was great fun.
Having all the projects on one site enabled volunteers to try different things...often the teaching staff would help with some painting, the medical staff tried teaching and some got involved in everything! There is even an option for volunteers with no medical background to assist at the local clinic.
This project was run by VPO themselves so they were in control (many organisations will be working in partnership with other organsations which makes it difficult if you have problems). I was surprised by the number of local people VPO employed - teachers, midwives, nursary nurses, cleaners and an education director! Volunteers workalongside the locals which is great for the community.
The kids are just amazing! Teaching was such a pleasure as they were just so keen to learn. The nursery was lots of fun too!
The working day tended to finish around mid afternoon which allowed plenty time to explore, sunbath, swim or just relax, and of course the weekends are free so i managed to fit in plenty of cheap travel around Cambodia and still be back for my 8am class each Monday morning.
Accomodation was clean, comfortable and spacious with plenty of hot water. Each volunteer has their own en suite room and the staff at the guesthouse are on hand and will do anything they can to help you. Breakfast is included in your volunteer fee and it is lovely!
http://www.victoryguesthouse.com/
I have written more than I planned but I really did have a great time - so much so that I have been back already!
Que Rico is really doing a great job!