Wheels for Hope Community Outreach and Health Fair

Hello folks! The SKMH along with Wheels for Hope, a charitable outreach started by cycling enthusiasts, put together an exciting day for the Kampot community. One of the areas that can make a huge difference in the quality of a family’s life in Cambodia is the ability to get to work and school. For poor families, even the cost of a standard bicycle (about $50 US) is prohibitive. In the morning on the road outside of the hospital we can watch the kids riding to school or the garment workers riding to work. Some of the bikes that they are on are barely holding together, while others you can hear the chains and bearings grind and wonder if they will make it to school or work. A new bike can enable a family to help themselves in wonderful ways. It is difficult for foreigners like us to fully grasp just what this means unless you come to a place like rural Cambodia and see it firsthand.

To understand more, check out this video by our friend acclaimed director ck Chan (www.udconcepts.com) who also organized this giveaway with Roger Singnet (both from Singapore): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Je2QgUBz7M. 

This video was made at a previous bike giveaway in Cambodia in Oudong. Take a look at the amazing stories in the video and you can see how life-changing a new bike can be here.

Here is a picture of the 75 bikes that we gave away arranged in front of the hospital entrance.

We had about 120 children plus parents attend. Here are some of them!

We also had games and workshops as part of our outreach. Here is Tod teaching the kids how to brush their teeth with the head pharmacist Kanel. Tod made up a song that he sang to the kids. Fame and fortune will certainly follow...

------------- The Tooth Brush Song ----------------

(sung to Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star)

Brush your teeth, up and down,

Make your brush go ‘round and ‘round.

In the back is great to start,

Moving forward toward your heart.

If you do this you will see,

You will not get a cavity!

Of course, what do they do when the guy with the homemade coconut ice cream comes? Here they are with the hospital technical director Mr. Kin.

We also had stations where we checked weight, blood pressure, and other vital signs so that every child had a thorough health screening. For this event we did not find any children that had any serious health issues (other than some that were slightly malnourished which is typical in this part of Cambodia). Below are Daniel (nursing director) and Ms. Chenda (financial manager) and the tall good-looking guy is Bob who is an ER nurse and a fellow volunteer from the US. They were part of the group doing the health screening.

Finally, you can get a really good perspective on how many kids were there with this shot of Michelle giving out the take-home treat bags that many of the folks in these photos helped to put together.

Please continue to pray for the people of Cambodia and the great work being done by the SKMH!

Love to all from Tod and Michelle

Sunsets, Critters, and Flora

Hello Folks,

We have been really busy at the hospital, so we are looking forward to compiling photos from our trip to Ream National Park and a couple of trips to the top of Bokor Mountain and the old (haunted?) casino and church. We also supported a children's health day where we had 120 school children at the hospital for health screenings. The hospital also gave away many dozens of bikes for poor families so that their children could better attend school. You will also get a copy of Tod's toothbrush song that he composed to help the kids learn more about brushing. But until then, here are some shots of the amazing sunsets, critters, and flora of the region.

First the sunsets - all from our bungalow:

Critters as they let me capture them. The grasshopper is our favorite shot.

First, a big beetle.

A centipede that is actually poisonous (as many are). These are common sights. They can get quite large (6 - 12 inches) and their bite is very painful and can cause nasty localized swelling.

Leap'n Lizards! This is as close as I got. He bounded away after I tried a closer shot. Not bad for an iPhone 3.

Green Mantis at night by our back door.

We are especially proud of these two of the grasshopper taken with our Nikon Coolpix.

Flowering trees in the hospital courtyard:

Lotus flowers in our pond.

We don't know these, but they bloom from a planted creeping vine

This is an iPhone shot out our front door of a downpour. Notice the amount and velocity of the water leaving the large white downspout in the lower left of the picture!