Sunday, July 22, 2007

More Cambodia Week 1

More Cambodia Week 1

We arrived at night. Our United Planet coordinators, Dr. Jon Ryder (a dentist from Iowa) and Sophanit Prin ( a young Khmer woman), were there waiting for us, along with two other American questors who were wrapping up their dental mission.

Our first night was spent unpacking. We’re in a new hotel, the Soma Devi, in an air conditioned room that gets too cold when it’s on and too hot when it’s off. No in-between. But it’s clean, modern, with all the comforts of home and the most warm and accommodating staff. And in a nod to environmental consciousness, the room key must be inserted in a wall panel inside the room in order for the power to turn on. When we leave and take the key with us, the power turns off. Ingenious!

The other questors here now are 4 dental interns from Ireland and the US, along with one other dentist in practice from the Bay area. They are all finishing their stints this week. Makara and I accompanied them on their final day, when they travelled with Dr. Jon and local dental nurses from Angkor Children’s Hospital to a primary school in the countryside. There they converted an empty classroom into a makeshift dental clinic and performed extractions and fillings on about 40 young patients. My job was comforting (read holding down) the children as their decayed teeth were pulled. For the most part they were quite stoic, and fortunately, there was novocaine. It was heartbreaking to see the effects of malnutrition and lack of care on their teeth, especially for those who were losing permanent teeth so early in life. But it was gratifying to see these volunteers performing such a valuable service…one that so many of us take for granted at home.


Life and Hope
There are several ongoing UP projects in Cambodia. Actually, in each country UP partners with a local NGO (non-governmental organization) to coordinate the in-country volunteer activities. The one here is the Life and Hope Association, LHA. It was founded by a young monk at Wat Damnak named Venerable Somneing and Dr.Jon Ryder, with the support of various donors and friends. Wat means temple or pagoda, and Buddhism provides the guiding principles for the organization.

LHA has 5 on-going projects. It runs two orphanages; a Food for Education program which gives rice to poor families, helps them build new homes or provides a micro-loan to start a business in exchange for them allowing their children to go to school; a Sewing Center, which teaches young women how to sew in a six month program that includes room and board near the Wat grounds; and an under-construction junior high school, set to open in the fall.

Jon and Ven (an accepted abbreviation for Venerable; he’s about 20 minutes old, after all) have given multi-tasking a whole new meaning. As I watched Jon on his ever-present cell phone, he reminded me of a record label executive. With his many talents operating on all cylinders (dentist, university professor, former musician, professional photographer, husband, father and volunteer extraordinaire), he is an inspiration. Then when I met Ven, someone mentioned his nickname was Hollywood Monk because of his inexhaustible energy, depth-defying passion, enormous charisma and, yes, ever present cell phone. The two comprise a formidable transcontinental brotherhood that is a wonder to behold.

We also joined the dentists on their cultural days which are the wrap-up activities of the UP curriculum. The group of us visited the ruins of Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom and spent a couple of days with the children at the two orphanages. The children are a delight, every single one of them. Makara has been spending time playing with the children and teaching them American games. They took to her immediately, holding her hand and sitting on her lap. I will begin today teaching English to the young women at the Sewing Center.

Since our arrival, we have been joined by several other questors who are accompanying Dr. Jon on a photographic quest. There will be about 14 of them in all. Makara and I will travel with them for a couple of days as we explore other parts of the country, cameras at the ready.

To be continued...

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