Cambodian Development & Empowering Portal

Notice

2010-02-07T21:19:00.001+07:00

We create our CDEP website.

http://www.cdepcambodia.org

Our blog also shift to this page. Please have a look!

Thank you

A Mother Died

2009-12-15T09:14:00.000+07:00

On 8th December, early in the morning, a mother who gave birth in a public health center bled to death, in spite of the staff’s efforts to stop her bleeding. They couldn’t transport her to a better-equipped hospital because, even though they had a vehicle, there was no driver available… They contacted us and we rushed to the health center with our community ambulance. Sadly, it was too late to save her. It was her 3rd or 4th child and she left behind a grieving husband and other children.
This year, we had provided assistance in at least 5 maternity emergency cases, and this was the only case in which we couldn’t save a life.
High maternal mortality in Cambodia’s remote rural areas is a crucial issue that we are trying to tackle. We implemented our mobile maternity clinic in January, after hearing that many expectant women in Cambodia do not receive any antenatal care at all despite the urgings from health centers staff. When complications occur, they are rushed to the public center at the last minute. Often, it is too late to save their lives.
The reasons are varied, from financial barriers or difficult access to health care facilities, to lack of education or reluctance from their family to act promptly.
Once our Health Center is open, we plan to concentrate on this crucial issue, and we will do our utmost to locate expectant mothers in impoverished rural areas and provide the best possible delivery services to these vulnerable women.

Health Center’s Construction Update

2009-12-14T21:27:00.006+07:00

The roof has dried properly and we are now working on water-proofing it.

[The roof top part, photo was taken from the back side]

Are you wondering why our roof is so thick? You would surely understand once you have experienced one of the heavy rains falling in our area. Once it starts raining, you can’t even hear what the person next to you is saying! We have planned our roof to be thick enough so as to minimize the huge noise from the rain.

[Even after putting roof, we still have enough sun light ]

We have also started to extend our road up to the mountain where there is a stream with flowing water year-round. We plan to install a pico hydropower turbine there, with the funds generously provided by Family Care Foundation. We already have a solar power generator and we will soon install some more. Our plan is to use all forms of renewable energy from natural resources, in order to provide enough power to meet the electricity needs of our Health Center. We are also planning to install windmills in the future.

[ The Health Center roof top. We will install more solar panel on it]

[Road construction up to the mountain]

Construction update: roofing is completed

2009-11-20T21:16:00.002+07:00

Finally we have finished pouring cement on the roof. Right now we are waiting for the cement to dry. Next, we will work on waterproofing the roof and then, we will install the glass door.
Slowly but surely we are moving forward…

Stranded in the middle of Phnom Penh!!

2009-10-23T12:55:00.000+07:00

Today, we needed to visit a government office in Phnom Penh. Just before we reached our destination, it started raining heavily. When our car arrived at the office, all the area was flooded! Our driver tried to park the car as close to the entrance as possible, but it was really difficult… Those among us wearing sandals decided to step out of the car, except Sally, our volunteer, who was hesitating as she was wearing sneakers… At the end, she went with us, crouch walking perilously on the narrow protruding edge of the wall…

When we talk in our blog about our Health Center’s construction delay due to heavy rains, it may not be easy to understand, but look at those photos! Even in the center of the capital, we are sometimes pretty much controlled by the weather.

Sally from Taiwan is Volunteering with Us

2009-10-23T12:19:00.002+07:00

Sally is our new volunteer from Taiwan; she joined us on 4th October and is going to stay with us until 2nd November. She has a lot of experience in fund raising and is willing to share her know-how in this crucial field.
She is already planning to come back next year, to work with us in the long term.
She is very active and so helpful that we cannot believe she has been with us for only 3 weeks! What she needs to overcome is how to cope with the nature…. Mice, insects of all kinds, crawling and flying invaders… Sally, we believe you will get used to those things.

Health Center Construction Update

2009-10-22T16:07:00.006+07:00

We have started working on the remaining part of the roof. As the yellow arrows indicate on the picture here below, the slope of the roof on the building front will be angled so as to let in as much natural light as possible, both sunlight and moonlight.

[Can you now visualize our roof design a little better?]

Meanwhile, it is with great gratitude that we received a donation from the Taipei Yunfu Rotary Club, to help cover the costs of the Health Center construction. Thank you from the bottom of our heart for your generosity!

[Rehabilitation Pool is also under construction]

Our House for Visitors

2009-10-14T22:24:00.003+07:00

Our house is built in an energy-efficient way, with all the necessary facilities to ensure that our visitors are as comfortable as possible.

The roof is put in an angle that allows a constant air circulation inside the house, keeping the temperature indoors cool. The roof also has 2 layers, the outside layer is made with locally available grass, that ensure good heat insulation. There is a gap between the layers so that the under layer’ surface is kept dry, in order to prevent humidity build up inside.

The house is still on the way to be developed. We will soon put a mosquito screen at the entrance, in order to keep the bugs out. While the good air circulation keeps us comfortable inside, it also carries in a lot of mosquitoes; luckily, the constant air flow prevents them from feasting on us. For the moment, our open environment is also an open invitation to a wide variety of insects, and we are sleeping inside mosquito nets.

Water is no problem for us, as we are blessed with pure water running from the uphill mountain 8km away. We searched for a long time for an uncontaminated water resource that would be available year-round. Our major problem now is the naughty elephants which destroy our water pipes from time to time, stopping our water supply. This is the ups and downs of a life in the middle of nature.
Building such a house is a kind of experiment as well. We are testing new techniques and see how they work, in order to apply the successful ones for our Health Center under construction.

Pay or Stay Here

2009-10-04T19:12:00.002+07:00

On September 25th at night, there was an accident near Phnom Penh International Airport and 3 people were injured, a couple and their 16 year-old son. The boy was seriously injured and, when a public ambulance arrived on the scene, he had already been taken by a private ambulance to a clinic, even though it is prohibited by the Cambodian government.
According to his parents, they were asked by the clinic to pay money upfront for their son’s treatment otherwise the clinic would not release him. The clinic was not equipped to treat him properly, and the boy risked losing his life if he were not transferred to a national hospital as quickly as possible.
International experts from Side By Side International went to the clinic in order to support the negotiation process. The clinic staff didn’t expect we would intervene, and they finally agreed to release the boy who was then transferred to the national hospital.Though it’s prohibited, there are still many unscrupulous private ambulance operators who try to profit from traffic accidents. This boy was only one of many who are mistreated in such circumstances. Cambodia’s government is making a lot of efforts to put an end to such practices, but it will take time to change people’s behavior.

Ambulance activity in Phnom Penh

2009-10-01T08:36:00.004+07:00

Side-By-Side International (SBSI), one of our donor NGOs from Japan, is involved in the implementation of an effective public Emergency Medical Service (EMS) system in Phnom Penh, under the umbrella of Cambodia’s Ministry of Health. With Cambodia having a high rate of traffic accidents, it is crucial to put in place and develop such system throughout the Kingdom, and this what SBSI is planning to do as the project progresses. CDEP is collaborating with SBSI’s Cambodia office for this project, by providing technical assistance and sharing our expertise and know-how in this field.

Thanks to the strong leadership of the Ministry of Health, a number of agencies and ministries are now cooperating in this undertaking. There are many difficulties to overcome but we are convinced that, with the joint efforts of all, the project will succeed.

Dr. Tsuchiya Visited Us Again

2009-09-30T17:35:00.000+07:00

We were delighted to welcome for the second time this year Dr. Tsuchiya, a Japanese psychiatrist who is supporting us. She arrived in Cambodia on September 21st and spent a full week with us.
She donated a cardiac electronic monitor, splints and lots of medical consumables in June. As our Health Center is not operational yet, these are kept in storage for the time being. We very much hope that, on her next visit, she will see them being in use once our Health Center opens its doors.
Dr. Tsuchiya generously gave us fund donation this time, to help us cover our activities for the Health Center. Thank you so much, Dr Tsuchiya, for your generosity. Hope to see you again soon!!!

Alex is gone, 4 Malaysian volunteers arrived

2009-09-20T21:08:00.002+07:00

On 15th September, Alex, who came from Taiwan to volunteer with us as electronic engineer for four weeks, has returned home. He worked magic with all the electronic devices donated to us that needed to be tuned in order to be operational. We are so grateful to him! It was a worthwhile experience for him as well, and he may come back in January or February next year. We are looking forward to seeing him again!

[Photo 1; Alex working at Phnom Penh Office]

[Photo 2; One of Alex's Products during his volunteer]

On 18th September, 4 Malaysian volunteers, Jazz, Huei, Shiang and Ming Kang arrived at our site. They gave an arts class at the Prey Proseth Primary School, and students enjoyed painting, drawing and watching a movie. It was at the time of Pchum Ben, a Cambodian Buddhist Festival to honor the ancestors, during which most of the students returned to their parents’ hometown to meet with their relatives and celebrate the festival. Some of them however remained here, as their family home is too far away, and it was for them that our Malaysian volunteers organized an arts class. It was a most enjoyable time for these 20 students who couldn’t be with their family. Thank you so much, Jazz, Huei, Shiang and Ming Kang!

[Photo 3&4; Students dancing with 4 volunteers]

[Photo 5,6&7; Students enjoying paintings]

[Photo 8; One of the products from Arts Class]

We also distributed to the students the clothes generously donated by Ariele from the Rotary Club of Taipei Yungfu.

Rain, Rain, Rain!

2009-09-18T20:47:00.005+07:00

Cambodia is now celebrating Pchum Ben, a 15-day long Buddhist festival to honor ancestors. People visit pagodas, offer prayers and prepare meals for the monks. We can hear the monks chanting all day long, from very early in the morning!
These days, we have lots of rain; during heavy precipitations, there is so much water flowing from the mountains that the access bridge to our Health Center is completely submerged one meter deep. When this happens, we have no choice but to use a boat instead of a car to move in and out.
We took this problem into consideration when building our road, by digging ditches along both sides of the road behind the access bridge, for water control and rainwater storage. It was not enough however and right now, we are digging additional ditches before the bridge as well. The ditches will be built at different elevations, each with a gate so as to secure proper water flow and minimize the impact of heavy rainfall. Furthermore, the water retained will be used for agriculture whenever needed, and will be channeled back into the stream, so as to secure a steady water supply throughout the year.

An Electronic Engineer from Taiwan is Volunteering with Us

2009-09-01T20:04:00.001+07:00

Alex, from Taiwan, arrived in Cambodia on 19th August and he is going to stay here for 4 weeks.
He is helping us to test all the donated electronic devices, modify our solar power generation system and install some new techniques that will greatly facilitate our operations in Cambodia.
Alex is also assisting us with the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) Development activities that we are conducting in Phnom Penh, in collaboration with the NGO Side-by-Side International, one of our partner organizations. He is applying his expertise to improve our radio communication system for EMS.

Re-Design on our Blog

2009-08-31T19:49:00.001+07:00

We would like to introduce in this blog not only our innovative health center in Kompong Seila Province, but also all the activities that our organization is conducting in Cambodia.

The Value of a Life

2009-07-29T09:32:00.002+07:00

On 9th July 2009, a villager from nearby Obak Rote Commune was hit by a big truck. Our community ambulance rushed him to a hospital in Phnom Penh but he died on the way.

The case was handled by the local authorities, and the company owner of this truck agreed to pay $500 to the villager’s family as compensation for his death. $500! You may be shocked to know how cheap a life is valued in Cambodia, particularly in the countryside. Most of the time, powerless villagers have no choice but to compromise over the death of a family member with a few hundred dollars. If the deceased was the breadwinner, the household will inevitably fall into extreme poverty. In the case of this accident, we put our weight during the negotiation process and, somehow the company agreed to pay this amount of money. But we heard that the company owner commented that even $100 would have been enough. This is one of the sad facts in Cambodia.

Slowly but Surely

2009-07-27T09:22:00.000+07:00

Sorry for the long silence on this blog. Life sometime brings unpredictable changes, and that’s what happened to us these past months.

Two volunteer experts who had been working with us on the development of the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) system in Phnom Penh needed to leave Cambodia in April, for family reasons. They were key players in our endeavor, and it was a big loss for us. As a result, we had our hands fully occupied in Phnom Penh to keep the operation running while reorganizing it with other collaborators.

We didn’t forget about the ongoing construction of our Health Center however. We needed to slow down the preparations for a while but our work for the Health Center has continued without interruption.

We have just completed the concrete roofing works. As it takes a month for the cement to dry, we were anxious about the process, as Cambodia had entered into the rainy season in May. Heavy rains may cause the cement to loose density before it dries, making it too porous to provide effective insulation.

Thanks God! Rain was kept at bay! One month later, the cement had cured completely without problem. From the photo, you may think: “the roof is only half done!” Well, yes… Now that the concrete has set nicely, we are going to put translucent plastic sheets on the rest of the roof, in addition to solar panels. A key point of our Health Center is that it will be environment friendly and energy efficient, using as many natural resources as possible. The transparent plastic sheets will allow more sunlight inside the Center in daytime, as well as moonlight at nighttime. You cannot imagine it? You will see it soon!

Main Donors Gathered!

2009-04-03T18:14:00.006+07:00

On 23rd March, we had a ceremony with our main donors, GRAPHIS, the Japanese student volunteer group, as well as the Japanese NGO, Side by Side Inernational.

It was supposed to be an "Opening Ceremony" Unfortunately, the construction work couldn’t be completed on time, for various reasons. So... it was rather a "Launching Ceremony".

Anyway, about 20 students from GRAPHIS, Mr. and Mrs. Sasaki, President of Side by Side International visited our site and we also invited 200 villegers to the ceremony.

An Accident on National Road No.4

2009-03-27T14:03:00.004+07:00

On March 22nd, at around 2pm, a severe accident occurred on the National Road No. 4, only 10 minutes drive from our site.

A sedan-type car was smashed by a big truck. We rushed to the scene with our community ambulance and a command car, but it was already too late, the driver of the sedan was crushed to death. There were no other passengers in the car.

What happened? It seems that the sedan first hit a tanker running in front of it, and that the sedan’s bumper was trapped. The sedan probably then detached itself from the back of the tanker but lost control. It was then smashed by a big truck running fast behind the car.

This is not a unique case. Such tragic accidents are happening all the time on National Road No.4. It would have been even worse if the big truck had hit the tanker, as it would have caused a huge explosion.

This is one of the many tragedies occurring on the roads in Cambodia…

Vegetable Garden for the Health Center

2009-03-04T16:34:00.008+07:00

We have started growing vegetables, which will be served at the health center.

In this remote area of Cambodia, people rarely grow vegetables at home. The reason is that either they lack water to grow plants, or they are not aware of the nutritional benefit of vegetables, focusing instead on getting any food to fill their stomach. They mostly eat a lot of rice with a salty fish paste. Since they don’t grow vegetables themselves, they need to buy them at the market, and it is costly. They thus tend to give up eating vegetables.

We grow vegetables not only for the health center meals, but at the same time we want to use our garden as a demonstration farm for the community people. They will see how vegetables are grown, how to take care of them and how they can be cooked.

We are also planning to provide cooking classes for nursing mothers and pregnant women, and to give them a kind of starter package to help them start their own vegetables garden in the near future.

Children malnutrition is a critical problem in this area. We very much anticipate that this kind of programme will contribute to improving the current poor nutritional status of the local people in the long term.

We often obtain seeds from the existing vegetables and fruits. Tomato, paw paw, mango etc.. All grown from the seeds remaining when we eat those things. It works quite well!

Construction Up-Date 2

2009-02-24T15:43:00.004+07:00

The father of one of our workers passed away in the beginning of February. Since all our workers belong to the same community, they all left the construction site, in order to help with the funeral. We had no choice but to leave the building site idle for an entire week.The work has now resumed and we are about to put on the roof.

We are planning to organize an opening ceremony on March 23rd, 2009 with GRAPHIS and SIDE-BY-SIDE INTERNATIONAL, the main donors of the health center. We have only one month left…..

The Road Branch to the Health Center is opened!

2009-02-12T11:12:00.010+07:00

At the end of January 2009, the repair works on the road branching out from Road No. 4 to the Graphis Health Center were completed. It was a very rough rock littered dirt road overgrown with grass, which made access to the Health Center difficult and dangerous.

Thanks to the support from the local authorities and from the main donor, GRAPHIS, a Japanese students group, we could manage to repair this road section in three weeks!

The local authorities contributed heavy machinery and workforce for 3 weeks. GRAPHIS provided the funds needed to cover all the costs, including fuel, food for the works and other costs.

It now takes just 5 minutes to access the health center from National Road No. 4, instead of half an hour.

There is still more work to do in order to keep the road smooth throughout the year. As it is not paved, we are planning to cover it with tiny red stones that will act as gravel to prevent it from becoming slippery when wet.

We dug a ditch on both sides of the road. During the rainy season, the ditch will work as drainage. In the dry season, we will fill the ditches with water, to be used by the villagers.
We also plan to raise fish in the ditches. It will be a valuable source of proteins for the people of this area who rarely have opportunity to obtain it.
The ditches will be connected, to keep water moving and prevent it from becoming a breeding ground for malaria-spreading mosquitoes.

Mobile Antenatal and Mother and Child Clinic

2009-01-28T16:23:00.009+07:00

We conducted a Mobile Clinic around the villages between January 21st and 26th, 2009, for expecting women, nursing mothers and children, in collaboration with a Japanese midwife nurse and medical staff from Kompong Seila District health center.

This project was made possible thanks to the generous funding by OHDAKE Foundation through the NGO Side By Side International.

The mobile clinic toured four villages and provided health check and medical treatment for over 120 outpatients.

There are many villages located very far from any health institute. When we visited these villages, we met many pregnant women who had never attended antenatal clinic before. We did basic check-ups, distributed iron tablets and provided consultation services and medical advice.

Our objectives for this mobile clinic attempt were three-fold:

To provide health care to economically or geographically vulnerable pregnant women
To collect medical data while touring the villages, in order to help Graphis Health Center better assess the situation and needs of the local population.
To establish an effective communication and collaboration network with Kompong Seila District’s Health Center, which is currently the largest public health institute in the district.

The Road to the Health Center

2009-01-06T13:28:00.008+07:00

The Graphis Health Center currently under construction is located 8 km from the National Road No. 4.

Why didn’t we build the health center along the National Road itself?

The main reason is we didn’t want to create additional accidents from more traffic that the health center would inevitably generate. Once the health center opens, it would inevitably attract many people, coming in and out of the center, walking across the road, erecting food stalls around and so on. If the health center were located along the already busy and accident-heavy National Road No. 4, it would become an additional cause of traffic accidents.

We decided therefore to build the center a little bit away from the main road, but not too far so as to be able to drive emergency patients quickly from the main road.

Up till now, the existing road branching out from National Road No. 4 to the health center was quite rough. It took at least 25 minutes to drive from the main road to the health center on this dirt road.

Now, with the support from GRAPHIS, a Japanese students group, as well as from local authorities, we have started to repair the road section to the health center, to ensure quicker and safe access.

Local authorities are providing heavy machinery such as excavators, shovel car and trucks, as well as workers. GRAPHIS provided the funds to cover all the costs, including fuel, workers’ food and other expenses.

Thanks to their generous contribution, we have started the repair work of the road section on December 23, 2008.

Once the road repair is completed, travel time from National Road No. 4 to the health center will be reduced from 25 minutes to only 5 minutes!

Introduction: Handmade Back Board

2008-12-19T16:06:00.006+07:00

When you are injured in an accident, it is crucial if your neck is fixed while you are rescued from the scene of accident. If you get damage on your neck and people move you without fixing your neck, you may get additional damage or, in the worst case, it kills you.

The back board is one of the rescue tools which can make a patient's body be fixed and stable during evacuation and transferring by an ambulance.

The back board is currently not available in Cambodia; we need to import it from outside. It costs around few hundred dollars if you purchase a back board in some countries like USA, Japan etc. We decided to produce handmade back boards in collaboration with TICO Cambodia. We provide piece of woods and TICO Cambodia make back board from them.

[Handmade back board (Left); photo taken at TICO Cambodia Office]

It cannot last long compare to the plasitic commercially produced ones. But our handmade back boards already saved many victims from accidents.

Introduction: Community Ambulance

2008-12-11T13:01:00.009+07:00

Today, we would like to introduce Medic 42, our community ambulance.

There was a so-called "Ambulance" in the community. We heard it was a donation from a Rotary Club. Unfortunately, community didn't have proper management system to maintain this ambulance.

When this ambulance was seriously broken and nobody in the community could cover the cost for repair, we suggested that we can pay for the cost but we would like to supervise the management of this ambulance. Since then, we have been keeping our eyes on this ambulance so that the ambulance is properly maintained and used as "Ambulance" but not for any other purpose. We have also been paying for ambulance driver's salary.

[Community Ambulance; Before TICO's modification]

It used to equip a stretcher only. We could transfer patients but could not do much to keep patients stable. TICO, a Japanese NGO, our good partner in Cambodia, modified and equipped this community ambulance with necessary Basic Life Suport equipment in this year. Now we can provide at least basic prehospital care before and during transferring patient to a hospital.

[It used to be like this; had only stretcher]

[Now our community ambulance can provide Basic Life Support]

Our Health Center has not yet started operation, but we have been transferring number of patients from our area to Phnom Penh.

Since we started cooperation with TICO, we have been working together on patients' transfer from National Road No.4, where our site locates, to Phnom Penh. It takes at least 1 hour in emergency drive from our area to Phnom Penh. If we transfer a patient to Phnom Penh by our ambulance, we cannot respond to any other case for next 2 hours. There is no other ambulance available in 30 km radious of our area. Also, fuel cost for 2 hours round trip was a big burden.

In order to minimize those negative factors, TICO and we established link-up system. When we receive a patient, we communicate with TICO and TICO arrange a public ambulance in Phnom Penh and it comes along the National Road No.4 towards our area. We meet in the halfway point and pass the patient to the ambulance from Phnom Penh.

[Working together with TICO "Life Saving Project" team]

In this way, we can share the travel distance and travel cost. We can return to the base within an hour and can prepare for the next response. Cooperation with public ambulances through TICO "Life Saving Project" significantly ameliorate Emergency Medical Response along National Road No.4.

Emergency Medical Response System in Phnom Penh City is currently dramatically improved with the effort of Cambodian Government and also guidance from TICO. Now we can communicate with Phnom Penh City Emergency Call Center and they dispatch appropriate public ambulance from Phnom Penh.

After our Health Center starts operation, we will be able to improve our emergency medical response system more.

Construction up-date

2008-12-04T15:37:00.007+07:00

From May till November, Cambodia is rainy season. We could not do much on the construction of the Health Center.

We have finished columns and connected them on the ground.

We made columns 1.5 times thicker than Cambodian current standard. In Phnom Penh, lots of construction work is going on (now slow down because of global economic crisis) but many of them are poor quality.

We don't want our Health Center having crack in the walls or any other inevitable damage within few years.

We are monitoring progress in every stage carefully.

Unfortunately, we had too much rain in October / November and it washed cement away from the last two columns before it dried. We needed to demolish those two columns because it's too sandy and not solid enough. After this, we decided to stop construction until rain stops.

Now, we enter dry season and we are ready to catch up with construction schedule!

Community is looking forward to seeing the Health Center starts operataion. Also, GRAPHIS, the donor of the Health Center is coming to celebrate the Health Center Opening Ceremony. We need to complete the construction by March 2009!!!

Having pain for about 20 years

2008-11-28T16:54:00.005+07:00

He is a victim of a landmine and had to cut his right leg off about 20 years ago.
Since then, the part has been festered and has never cured. He has pain all the time and has difficulty walking smoothly.

He needs proper surgery.
We seek for an opportunity to receive a doctor who specializes in surgical operations after our Health Center opens.

Not only him but tere are many people who used to get inaccurate treatment and have been suffering from disability or sequela. Some of them could recover if they can get proper treatment once more.

Water Related Problems and Reservoir

2008-11-22T09:42:00.015+07:00

Some families don't have access to clean water.

They use dirty water for daily life.

It can be easily imagined that this is the cause for water-borne diseases such as diarrhea, cholera etc. Additionally, it causes skin problems as well.

We are making a reservoir which can provide clean water to at least 150 families.

[Photo; Reservoir under construction]

It will be an incentive for some villagers to move into our area.

Lots of villagers built their houses illegally (i.e. not official land-owner). It can happen anytime that they will be evicted from their houses. Furthermore, these people tend to live near the roadside and which creates a number of traffic accidents.

We want those vulnerable villagers to move into our site and have a safe living environment. At the moment, we are yet to accommodate them sustainably. This reservoir construction is just one of the steps.

Donors and Supporters of Graphis Health Center

2008-11-10T11:50:00.006+07:00

The health center was funded by "GRAPHIS", a Japanese Students Group. They raised 2,000,000 Japanese Yen. This fund made it possible to start the Health Center construction in 2008.

"Side by Side International", a Japanese NGO, coordinated GRAPHIS with us. Side by Side Inernational also donated medical equipments such as X-ray machines and echo machines etc.
Additionally, Side by Side International provided solar panels and other energy generation systems through the Family Care Foundation grant.

"TICO", a Japanese NGO, has rennovated our ambulance with Basic Life Support equipments, and also have been cooperating on emergency medical response along the National Road No.4.

Medical Volunteers are Welcomed!!

2008-11-03T15:08:00.007+07:00

Any medical personnel interested in our activity is welcomed as a volunteer.
You will be able to learn a lot about health issues in Cambodia, especially ones in rural area.

We’d like to request you to stay with us for at least 3 months, but we can discuss about the possibility if you wish to stay for less than 3 months.
We can provide you the followings with reasonable price.

- Bed and board
- Local transport (Between Phnom Penh and the site)
- Internet access etc.

Please contact to
graphis.health.center#gmail.com (please change # with @)
if you want to know more.

Concept of Graphis Health Center

2008-11-03T14:43:00.023+07:00

Operates strictly on humanitarian purposes but not for profit
The first priority is to save the lives and improve the health situation of the people, especially those who are socially and economically vulnerable. We will charge only a minimum fee of 5,000 Riels ($1.25 dollars) for all visiting patients. Those who cannot afford will not be charged more than this.

Our fundamental concept is a sustainable development with appropriate technology
Our energy resource is solar and hydropower energy. We have already installed solar panels. A small scale hydropower system which has a minimum impact on nature has been experimented and ready to be installed. Those methods of natural energy generation will realize 24hours trauma care service for traffic accident victims as well as normal health service with electronic devices. We will install an X-ray machine, an echo machine and other basic medical facilities which are essential to provide proper medical service. We don’t blindly insist to adopt “locally available resources only”. We need these machines in order to keep the quality of the service. However, how to maintain and operate these machines should be considered from a sustainability point of view.

[Photo; Solar panels installed at the site]

Harmonization with nature
The Health Center locates in the middle of nature. We are aiming the Health Center to coexist with the surrounding nature. We cleared only a minimum range of area. We utilize existing trees as part of the Health Center garden. We planted variety of fruits and herbs along the foot path. People will enjoy walking along the path as they pick some fruits such as banana, papaya, mango and passion fruits. Those plants will also provide shade and keep the walking path cool.

[Photo; Health center construction site]

Adoption of Micro Credit Scheme
Since the Health Center is operated on humanitarian purposes, we cannot fully generate the operation costs from its revenue. In order to operate the Health Center sustainably, we developed a micro credit scheme on the Health Center basis. Capital is the investment from people who understand the concept of our activity and are willing to support the Health Center with their investments. From this micro credit scheme, a certain % of revenue (=interest) is utilized as the Health Center operation cost.

Introduction; Issue of Health Care

2008-11-01T13:20:00.008+07:00

People in the area have been struggling because of the absence of proper health facility.
Some villagers have never been treated by medical personnel in their life.

People have limited knowledge about hygiene, sanitation, nutrition and health. Many people die from curable diseases such as malaria, typhoid, diarrhea or flu. If they are treated in the primary stage, they could survive but people tend to ignore the disease until it reaches a very critical stage.

Lots of children suffer from malnutrition. Data shows that out of children under-5, 37% are stunted and 7% are wasted. When you look at detailed data, children among 18 to 23 months, 49% are stunted and 45% are wasted (Data from Cambodia Demographic Health Survey 2005). Mothers and pregnant women also suffer from under nutrition. Anemia is one of the serious health problems of pregnant women in Cambodia.

We are planning to do comprehensive health and hygiene education in the community at the same time providing basic health service.

Introduction; Issue of Traffic Accident

2008-11-01T11:43:00.019+07:00

Graphis Health Center locates at Kompong Seila District Koh Kong Province in Cambodia. It's a quite rural area, 150 km away from Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia.

However, since the area locates along the National Road No.4, which connects Phnom Penh and Sehanouk Ville, the international sea port and tourist area, a number of cars and big trucks are travelling everyday and consequently lots of traffic accidents happen.

As Cambodian economy grows, the number of vehicles increase day by day. People's behaviour have not caught up with this change. Cambodia has currently the highest road traffic fatality rate (number of fatalities / 10,000 vehicles) in the ASEAN Region.

[Photo; National Road No.4]

Many accidents happened within a 30km radius of the Health Center Site. The area is mountainous and the road has many curved sections. It is also equal distance to Koh Kong, Kompong Som and Kampot. These provincial capitals do not have proper facilities to handle serious trauma patients. As a result, all trauma victims need to be transported to Phnom Penh.

Often, trauma patients are transported by normal cars, motorbikes or tuk tuk (motorbike with a carriage) but not by ambulances with proper pre-hospital care. It takes 3 to 8 hours in the worst case to reach a hospital in Phnom Penh.

We have been providing ambulance services whenever we receive information of accidents in the area and transported victims to Phnom Penh by an ambulance which has a Basic Life Support facility. However, because of this long distance drive, we cannot always save lives. A trauma victim has a better chance of survival if we can stabilize them before being transported to Phnom Penh or Provincial Hospital.

The Health Center will operate as a 24 hours trauma care center and trauma victims who require stabilization before being transferred to Phnom Penh will be able to be treated here. Of course, if injury level is treatable, victims don't need to be transferred to Phnom Penh but are treated at the Health Center.