Fixing Clinics and Saving Lives

 Dear Friends,

We hope that all of you are doing well and staying safe wherever you are.

During these times when health is on everyone minds, we are grateful that together we are able to support health services in Cambodia. Many of you have heard us talk about The Lake Clinic, which serves thousands of people living in isolated areas of the Tonle Sap Lake and the Stung Sen River. We have known the director of The Lake Clinic, Jon Morgan, for many years and together we designed the first floating clinic that provides a place for the team of doctors, nurses, midwives, dental hygienist and other support staff to see patients and to stay when serving the underserved.

Thanks to the Compassionate Eye Foundation (CEF) of Vancouver, we were able to fund the first floating clinic for TLC and since then other funders have come forward to fund three more similar clinics that work in different areas.

People travel by their boats to come to the clinics where they can get help. Pregnant women gain access to ultrasounds and prenatal care, people with conditions such as diabetes receive free medication and mothers who cannot nurse receive formula. Without The Lake Clinic, the death rate would be much higher in these areas. K.I.D.S. is grateful for the generosity of others so that we can provide two nurse/midwife salaries each year, an enormous benefit to these communities.

 

This past year, the K.I.D.S./CEF clinic, which is now ten years old and has seen better days, needed renovations. Thanks to Nina and John Cassils from CWAsia in Vancouver, a TV reality show called The Fixers was contacted and chose to renovate the KIDS/CEF clinic from top to bottom. They asked us to be a part of the team as we had been a part of the building of the clinic ten years ago. We joined them on the river and set to work. The result was impressive. The Fixers paid for all the costs for the material and hiring of local labour, and their goal - to do a project in one week - was accomplished with the help of a Cambodian team. The actors, film and sound crews did an amazing job and If you would like to watch the episode (in which we actually appear) and see life in Cambodia as well as the accomplishments of TLC, here the link to the episode - The Fixers - The Lake Clinic, Cambodia

In these challenging times, we are grateful to have medical services. Working in countries where people cannot afford treatment or medication and sometimes lose everything in the attempt to save a loved one’s life is painful to watch and reminds us once again how fortunate we are.

Until Next Time,
Adrianne and Rick