The People of Cambodia

We will all remember someone we met on this mission trip, whether it's the translator that worked at our table or the local child running around the site. It would be impossible to leave Cambodia without being touched by someone we came in contact with. Here are the faces of just a few of these special people:




This child at the hospital put a smile on our faces by blowing kisses and waving to us


A few familiar faces at the first clinic site


Nara, a translator, and his beautiful wife


Phnom Penh translators


Irene and Katherine on the far right are missionaries who dedicated their lives and talents to the mission CHAD


Our excellent tour guide in Siem Reap


I just had to include a naked baby picture somewhere


Pastor Lun, his wife and children. They helped us the entire time with anything and everything. More importantly, they spent time getting to know us and allowing us to get to know them.


A local girl at the second clinic site, recycling water bottles


School children with morning energy


These bus drivers sent us on a few mystery excursions, but by the end of the trip we learned to appreciate their driving skills in a place with few traffic laws.


School children at the dump site

Clinic Pictures

These are pictures from the site of our medical clinics. We worked at two locations in 5 days.



The bus ride we took each day to the clinics


The first clinic site; a church in a small village


Thankful for glasses


Jerrice taking temperature


Women and children making bracelets


Two orphan girls that came


This boy fell about 30 feet out of a palm tree. Dr. Sam and Nurse Corrine patched him up as best they could. These volunteers are carrying him to a truck where he was taken to the local hospital.


Pa taking the blood pressure of a Buddhist monk

Monday

Monday was a rough day for most of us physically and mentally. We took a tour of the local hospital here, in Kampong Chhnang. We saw conditions that made us appreciate what we have, while at the same time acknowledging that this was a relatively nice facility. At this hospital, family members hung all around the premises if they were not beside their loved ones. Many patients share an open room with five other beds; there was no privacy.

(family members congregated outside of the hospital rooms)

( Patients and family members crowded in a room)



(A pregnant woman laying on her side, breathing heavy)

We headed out to the village where we organized our supplies and set up our clinic at a church. We saw about 200 patients with problems ranging from vision to asthma. The process was a smooth one with few bumps. Our dentist set up an operation in the back of the building while the eyeglasses table, Dr. Marvin, Dr. Sylvia and Dr. Sam each had a station in the main room. Our bus doubled as the pharmacy. It was hot and tiring but we were back on the bus to head home by 4:30. Four more days of this.

Sunday

The last few days have been busy busy busy. Sunday began with a warm welcome from the people of the United Methodist church in Phnom Penh. The church made a strong attempt to include us in the service by putting english words behind each line in the program and having english lyrics to "Shout to the Lord" written underneath the khmer words. With the help of Pa Nous Pan translating, our own Clifton Conrad shared his message about "connections" to the audience.



(Rev. Clifton Conrad on the right, Rev. Pa Nous Pan on the left)


From there, we drove to the mission house where we did last minute sorting of our supplies and medicines before leaving for heading to Kampong Chhnang where the "Hilton"of Cambodia awaited our arrival. We met our local help that night- local pastors, dentists, translators, etc.- at dinner.


On our way home from dinner, our busdriver (who did not speak much english) left the restaurant area and brought us home...or atleast he tried. We ended up down a dirt road with house/hut/shacks all lined up along the Mekong river. Locals were mostly hanging outside their homes, living their lives and watching our bus drive through. Obviously not where we were supposed to be, but it was an adventure to observe how some people live.

We've Arrived!

We made it to Phnom Penh. Finally. The flight was long and we arrived at our hotel about midnight on Friday. Well most of us did....Sam and Corinne (our Canadians) had been in the city for about a day, and Beverly made it in the next morning.
(The Golden Gate Hotel)



We spent the first day in the city touring historical sites. By "historical" I mean the depressing recent history of the 70's and 80's that Cambodia experienced under the Khmer Rouge. During this time an estimated 3 million people were murdered in an effort to create an agrarian society, and one without western influence. Professionals and intellectuals were targets. Pa Nous Pan, a missionary on this trip and our guide, Joseph were both survivors of the Pol Pot regime.

(Our guide, Joseph on the left; fellow missionary and first Cambodian methodist minister, Pa Nous Pan on the right)







Saturday, we began the day at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum where Cambodians were brought to be tortured before either being killed or taken to the killing fields. Even members of the Khmer Rouge were killed here; some because they knew "too much." We walked through the cells of prisoners and witnessed some graphic photos of torture. Other photos we saw were the faces of those camped out at this prison. An estimated 20,000 people had come through Tuol Sleng and only 7 survived.





















After the prison we rode about 15 minutes south of Phnom Penh to the actual killing fields of Choeung Ek. These were murder sites and mass graves excavated after the Vietnamese invasion. In the ground below our feet, clothing and bones could be seen in the sand, untouched.

In the evening we visited the Royal Palace, a lighter scene than the killing fields. The architecture was ornate and the gardens were neatly manicured.














We ended the day meeting at dinner with professional missionaries Romeo, Catherine, and Esther who gave us a run down of what to expect at the Methodist Mission site. Till then.....

-Cambodia Mission Team 09'

Meet Us

We are a unique team made of 13 people from various places. Some team members met for the first time at a gathering in Baton Rouge a month earlier but others met the team at different stops on the way to Cambodia. (Marvin is missing in the photo...someone had to take it)







Ann Sutton-Louisiana
Archie Corder- Louisiana
Beverly Dinnels- Louisiana
Marvin Reimer- New York
Maryanna Broussard- Louisiana
Charles Cox- Texas
Clifton Conrad-Louisiana
Corrine- Canada
Elizabeth Rienhardt-Louisiana
Jerrice Prince- Louisiana
Pa Nous Pan- Texas
Sam Chow- Canada
Sylvia Reimer-New York

-Cambodia Mission Team 09'

Welcome to the Blogspot of the Louisiana Volunteers in Mission Cambodia '09 team! On February 12, a group of about 10+ volunteers is heading to Phnom Penh, Cambodia for a medical mission. The group consists of nurses and other medical practitioners, spiritual leaders and enthusiastic volunteers. This is the site where we will be posting stories, pictures and blogs to stay connected to the family and friends and anyone else who cares what we are doing for the two weeks we are away. We look forward to sharing our experiences with you!



-LaVIM Cambodia Team '09

**The banner photograph of the flower was taken by fellow La VIM missionary David Howell (www.davescenicphotos.com). The photo was captured December of 2008 in Cambodia.