Wednesday, 15th August 2012: The Last day of Cambodia Relief Mission '12

It was our last day in Cambodia. We woke up early in the morning and checked out from the Faisol Angkor Hostel. We went to Siem Reap Airport by a van and were accompanied by Brother Hassan along the way. Before arriving at the airport, brother Hassan dropped by at a bus station office to take our certificates given and posted by IMAC. Then we departed and brought back to Malaysia by Air Asia Airlines. Alhamdulillah, we all safely arrived at LCCT, Kuala Lumpur and then we headed back to our own destination, home! It was really an unforgettable journey which definitely will enrich our experience and taught us the values of life.

 

 Faisol Angkor Hostel , Siem Reap.

      A white van , which brought us anywhere from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap.

                                                 Patiently waiting for our flight

Heading to home, Malaysia!

by Fatin Liyana

Tuesday, 14th August 2012: The 9th day of Cambodia Relief Mission '12

The day started off at 8am with a greeting from our tour guide, Mr Sakada. Brother Hassan did not accompany us this time as he had some errands to take care of before our team heads back to Malaysia.

We all climbed in to the van once again and drove to our first pit stop, which was the place where we had to get our Angkor Wat day pass printed. The day pass cost us 20 dollars each. We were called one by one, our pictures taken and the pass was ready in 5 minutes.

We hopped back onto the van and made our way to the first temple - Bayon Temple. The moment we climbed out of the van, we were swarmed by street sellers who targeted tourists and sold hats, traditional flutes, keychains, shawls, fridge magnets, you name it! 'One for one dollar, Madame' they would coax us into purchasing the items. Even children were among the sellers, following us all until we made our way into the temple.

A group picture in the Bayon Temple

Sakada giving a history lesson on the intricate carvings inside the temples

Avid street sellers

There were a variety of tourists but according to Sakada, the main tourists that come to visit the Angkor Wat during this season were the Japanese, Korean, and Chinese. And he was absolutely right. It was an interesting sight to see the tourist guides each catering to the language of the tourists from different countries. Some spoke, Korean, Spanish, and even French.

Our next stop was the Angkor Tomb where the filming of one of the scenes in Tomb Raider took part. There was a large tree, which was shaped like an octopus, which looked amazing, SubhanAllah. All of us had a fun time unwinding and taking pictures around the temple as the carvings in stone and the smiley heads of the Buddha were the main cultural attraction. The sun was scorching so many of us decided to purchase hats for comfort from the sun.

A group picture with another scene from the Tomb Raider

After the Angkor Tomb, we headed back to Faisol Angkor Guesthouse for Zohor and Asar prayers, and met again for our next tour at 2pm. This time, we were finally visiting the Angkor Wat!

It was tremendously huge and according to Sakada, needs 3 whole days to fully appreciate the beauty of the Angkor Wat. It is the biggest temple in the world and is part of the UNESCO world heritage site and is maintained in conjunction with various countries such as Japan, France, and India. It was an amazing site, not to mention the abundance of tourists during our visit.

The famous Angkor Wat in all its glory

Children singing to attract tourists

After the amazing Angkor Wat trip, Sakada brought us jewellery shopping at one of the renowned jewellery stores in Phnom Penh.

 Bling blings!

All in all, we had an amazing time, although deeply tiring, added to the fact that we were fasting as well.  We had Iftar at the guest house again and after our tarawikh, we had the chance to visit the night market for the last time.

Monday, 13th August 2012: The 8th day of Cambodia Relief Mission '12

Today is our last day in Phnom Penh. We checked out from Puncak Hotel early in the morning. We departed to Kampung Loung at 7.30am and arrived there around 8.30am and were warmly welcome by the villagers. 

The IMAM and IMAC team was divided to 3 small groups; Khitan, Mobile Clinic and Health Education. 8 tables were set up for the Khitan and Alhamdulillah 57 boys attended and managed to be circumcised. 

Mobile Clinic has managed to provide medical check up and medications for around 200 people from the village with various ages, from children to elderly.

And 36 children have attended the Health Education programme. 

We finished the programme in Kampung Loung and departed to Siem Reap at 12.30 pm. We checked in at Faisol Angkor Guest House and had our iftar there. After tarawikh prayer, we stopped by at Siem Reap's night market to buy some souvenirs to be brought back home for family and friends.

Sunday, 12th August 2012: The 7th Day of Cambodia Relief Mission '12

We departed at approximately 7 this morning to a village 8km from the center of Phnom Penh city, appropriately (and literally) named the Km8 Village. Unlike the previous villages its short distance from the capital of Cambodia makes it technically inside Phnom Penh. Alas the socioeconomic and lifestyle conditions should not be mistaken for the suburban modern life one would expect from a population so near to the heart of a country. To rephrase the IMAC president's words, this subpopulation may be regarded as being more deprived. In a completely rural area, all villagers can be assumed to possess at least their own piece of land and keep their traditional jobs as farmers, small traders, etc but here the relatively wider economic gaps and competition for lands and job opportunities bring about harder lives for some.

So we brought along all of our supplies of medications and surgical equipments this morning in the cramped space of a van. The aim today was to organize the medical combo of a mobile clinic, circumcision, and health educations/games. (It is probably not worth mentioning, but the writer would like to immortalize the appreciation from the group to Ahmad and Sobri for their marked endurance towards the suffering of using a good old ice box as their seats throughout the 30 minutes journey upon hearing that the driver has removed a whole seat from the van.) Our arrival at the well-kept and nicely built Km8 mosque was greeted with the now usual curious faces and children running towards our van. We started promptly at around 8.30 a.m. after transferring all the equipments to the small building that is the village's school right behind the mosque.

The cheery faces of the children waiting in line for their turns to 

see the doctor in the mobile clinic.

The writer's group was stationed to manage the mobile clinic for the day, and she herself was to undertake the task of measuring the height and weight of the clinic's patients. As we and a few of IMAC volunteers rearranged what at the time could pass as the furnitures of an old dusty classroom for our little temporary clinic, one could not help but to contemplate what one saw. The very setting defies every typical imageries of a clinic; the rising dust, scattered litter in the room, and the lingering musty smell coming from outside through the classroom windows held nothing similar to the sterile, glowing white walls with the cocktail of strong smell of medicine often associated to any healthcare setting. A similar observation can be made from the circumcision site in the next room, even though it is in greater need of sterilized atmosphere considering the surgical procedures we were performing in there. But this sets an important example of how one ultimately have to make do in certain pressing circumstances, even if it means going against our now natural clinical instincts from years of medical school training. A mobile clinic and operating settings for circumcision procedure are direly needed by the villagers, and we these shall be provided using the available sources and infrastructure.

The blood pressure taking station and the measurement of weight and height to obtain the BMI of the local population

One of the window panes of the classroom was ingeniously adapted into a 

drug dispensing area in the pharmacy station

Alhamdulillah we managed a staggering approximately 600 mobile clinic patients and about 80 boys for circumcision that day. By 4 p.m. we were drained out of every ounce of energy left from the day's sahur. The momentary sprinkles of rain that came down while we were packing our stuff back into the van brought about sighs of relief from some of us; it has been too hot of a day. After passing on a small sum of money as donation to the village's imam and exchanging words of appreciation and congratulations for the smooth proceedings of the planned events for the day, we waved our goodbyes to the Km8 Village.

The educational session and colouring contest was held by the village mosque.

We headed to same place as we did for iftar the day before - a city hall used for conferences, formal dinners, and events of the sorts. Seemed like as did yesterday we would be attending a charity dinner, only this time from a different organizer. With our relatively underdressed attire of t shirts and plain pants (most were simply drenched with sweats and clinical waste exposure), we were seated at one of the VIP tables. Seated in the nearby tables were ambassadors from a number of countries, we noticed the US and Pakistani ambassadors chattering away with their respective translators. In all honestly, the experience felt very surreal for me. If I was in any sense my own self at the moment, I would ponder on how this kind of dinners vaguely mirror the high life of American socialites who raise money for charitable purposes through large dinners and balls; the irony of relieving pain and hunger through events of indulgence. But I was too famished and exhausted for those kind of thoughts, and when the time finally came was only able to plunge myself (while maintaining a decent enough manner, of course) into the scrumptious and finely prepared dinner (though it is only fair to include that some local delicacies were a tad too exotic hence remained untouched) and be extremely grateful for the experience today and the pleasure of being with the good company of the CRM '12 team.

Snapshots of the team at the charity dinner at the end of the exhausting day.

Saturday, 11th August 2012 : The 6th Day of Cambodia Relief Mission '12

On the 11th of August we made our way to the second province which was Kampung Chhnang. The journey took about an hour from Phnom Penh and at about 8 o'clock in the morning, we arrived at Kampung Chhnang Friendship Clinic. 

Upon arrival we were surprised to see that the villagers were already flooding the clinic and little children were ready with their parents for the circumcision. We immediately set up the mobile clinic and arranged the setting for the circumcision. 

The villagers are waiting for their turn for consultation with IMAC doctors.

Setting up the dispensary.

Weight and height measurement station at mobile clinic.

With the help from IMAC doctors and medical students, we managed to cater for 411 villagers who came to seek medical help at the mobile clinic and circumcised 52 boys on that day. 

CRM members and IMAC medical students performing circumcision.

Despite the lack of proper facility, everyone was trying their best.

We had to pump the water from the nearest well to get water supply.

Other activities included were colouring contest and health hygiene practicals like teeth brushing and hand washing. Later on that day, we visited the well that has been built in that kampung with the donation money that we had collected earlier prior to the departure to Cambodia.

Teaching the children on how to brush their teeth.

Ketua kampung and IMAC leaders testing the newly built well donated by CRM'12

Happy villagers.

At about 4 in the afternoon, we packed up and set off for Phnom Penh for our next agenda which was a charity iftar organised by Cambodian Muslim Association at Modern Centre 5 and gave our donation for the waqaf land to support the education for Cambodian Muslim. The scrumptious local food served was so delightful and after the iftar we made our way to the mosque for tarawikh and later returned to our hotel at about 9.30 in the evening.

           

Can still managed a smile after a tiring day :)

Sumptuous iftar that really made our day.

Although it was a very hectic day, there were a lot of new things that we learnt on that that. It was a very valuable experience for all of us and for most of us, it was our first time using water from the well that we had to pump the water out manually by ourselves for cleaning purposes. Despite the blazing sun, everyone was still motivated till the very end with the spirit of Ramadhan. Hopefully everything that we learnt in this relief mission will make us a better person in the future, insyaAllah.

Thursday, 9th of August 2012: The 4th day of Cambodia Relief Mission ‘12

We departed as early as 6.30 this morning, heading first to the nearby mosque to meet up with other 15 IMAC volunteers as today was really our first day of carrying out the ‘3 combo’ i.e mobile clinics, khitan and health education/games simultaneously. Alhamdulillah, we were really grateful for the extra helping hands from the IMAC.

After almost an hour finalising and arranging things, 2 vans-full with volunteers and medicines left the mosque to head down to Krahom kor village. The journey which took about one and a half hour  brought us deep into a small village and as we went deeper, the road was no longer tarred and unpaved while the air was filled with dust whenever our vans and other motorcyclists passed by. The houses at the roadside were also very basic-yet looked peaceful while some were already a bit shattered. We knew that IMAC had chosen the right village.

We arrived at the village’s main mosque called Sultan Ashaibani Mosque at 9am and were welcomed by the villagers, eagerly waiting for us and we could also see some boys already wearing their ‘kain pelikat’ , getting ready for khitan. 

More and more villagers came from all walks of life

About 40 boys prepared for khitan. 1 somehow managed to escape at the end!Huhu

We quickly set up the place according to the 3 groups that we had been initially assigned to which were the mobile clinic, khitan and health education/games teams.  For khitan, we were given a room but with no electricity-no working fan and no lights. Still we managed to open 4 tables and there were mainly a total of 2 IMAM and IMAC volunteers for each table while others organized themselves into preparing the surgical equipments, ready-to-go local anaesthetic injections, preparing medicines and a lollipop to be given away to each boy.

                           THE bed.                         

Packaging painkillers & antibiotics

IMAM & IMAC volunteers working hand in hand as Tok (and Mak) Mudin ;)

As for mobile clinic, we opened 3 stations i.e registration & taking blood pressure, consultation with doctors and drugs dispensation counters.  Alhamdulillah as many as 235 villagers came for it. 

Chim lo’o: blood normal

Capet: doctor

Aw-kuhn: thank u :)

These were some of the basic Khmer words that we used to communicate with the Cambodians-along with other possible body languages we could think of just to get the message across.hehe

Paracetamol & multivitamin were the ‘hot stuffs’ at the drugs dispensation counter 

 

By noon, we had a short break to perform our Zohor prayer and a local family was very nice to allow the girls to perform the prayer at their own house. We also used the opportunity to go to a nearby village to buy some medicines as we ran out of them.

Getting to know the locals during our afternoon break

Some were intrigued by the iphone games.hehe

The other team had also managed to educate and cheer up the kids by teaching them how to brush their teeth and demonstrate proper hand wash.

Time for some games! :)

And colouring contest too

Not forgetting, some donations to the mosque and to the villagers

We hope that the visit had benefited all who came and what was given, taught and shared would go a long way. We were also honoured to have such a warm welcomed by the villagers and we sincerely apologized for any shortcomings. Wallahualam.