Healthcare Division
PRESENTS
Cambodia 2013
Abstract. Two years into the official establishment of Project Little Dream Heatlhcare Division (Project C), Cambodia 2013 was a milestone for the team. If Cambodia 2012 was a soul-searching journey, Cambodia 2013 would be a leap of faith, the beginning of a commitment after a series of trial-and-error. This document consists of a summary of our achievements in Cambodia 2013, and a brief outline of the team’s future direction.
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Acknowledgements This project would not have been possible without the support and assisstance of our sponsors, our Khmer friends, our volunteers, and our colleagues at Project Little Dream, and of course, the endless backing from friends and family. Thank you for helping us realize our little dreams.
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Table of Contents
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Thon Mun Village: Development SHIELD Health Campaign
Pg 5
Thnouh Village: Research Needs Assessment
Pg 9
Volunteers’ Development
Pg 15
Working with Local Volunteers
Pg 17
Contact Us
Pg 19
Thon Mun Village: Development SHIELD Health Campaign
Objective: SHIELD stands to promote health awareness with the vision to “deflect and protect� a community where the lacking of such knowledge has resulted in preventable medical consequences. 5
Children’s Health Workshop What.
A year-long workshop for children with curriculum designed by PLD
When.
January - December, 2014 Weekly classes
Where.
PLD School, Thon Mun Village, Takeo Province
Why.
To educate children on healthcare, hygiene, and health conditions
Chapters: Basic Sanitation Dental Health Common Health Conditions Food and Nutrition Lifestyle Wound Management
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Health Awareness Day What.
A village event with games, prizes, and eye screening
When.
January 2, 2014 0930 - 1530
Where.
Thon Mun Village, Takeo Province
Why.
To introduce SHIELD and help the community realize the benefits of proper healthcare
Turnout: > 400 Number of ophthalmic surgeries: 69
Games
Prizes
Eye Screening
5 stations with interactive games on various health and hygiene messages
Hygiene products such as toothbrushes and soap given out as reward.
Collaboration with CTEH* to provide free screening and follow-up surgeries+.
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*CTEH = Caritas Takeo Eye Hospital Screening and surgeries were fully subsidized by CTEH, while transportation was provided by PLD.
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Future Direction: Thon Mun Village
Impact assessments will be conducted in the 2014 survey and voluntary trip to evaluate the progress and outcome of the SHIELD Health Campaign. As sustainability is an essential aspect of healthcare promotion in a community, we will continue to explore ways to sustain and improve our support. A curriculum with higher levels of health-related knowledge as well as the possibility of extending the workshop targets to adults will also be considered.
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Thnouh Village: Research Needs Assessment
Objective: To obtain information on village culture and current condition as guidelines for future development planning. 9
What.
A qualitative assessment of the current health conditions and needs of the village
How.
Focus group - an in-depth, open-ended group discussion exploring a set of specific issues - was used. The answers, group dynamics, and attitudes of villagers were analyzed for information.
When.
December 29-30, 2014
Where.
Thnouh Village, Takeo Province
Why.
To obtain data for planning of future projects
57 villagers 7 focus groups Age range: 11-69
1.5-hr discussion on health, medical care and sanitation 10
“ Sometimes I tell father smoking is bad for health. Then he will go outside and continue to smoke. Most fathers smoke.” “Most of us use dirty cloth to cover (the wound). Bandages are so hard to find.”
“Rarely see doctors because need to spend so much time and money to see them. We just buy medicine from shops.”
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“Always have toothache and cannot sleep. Sometimes it is so painful it makes me cry.”
“ Have leukorrhea, pain and fever. And we buy medicine from shops as we don’t have enough money to travel to the hospital.”
“ The food and water are not clean. Then we get diarrhea.” 12
Thnouh Village is a one-hour drive from Takeo Referral Hospital and Takeo Market. A round-trip on the motorcycle would cost USD$5 of petrol. In a country where cigarettes cost 20 cents a pack, the transportation fees are amounts villagers cannot afford to pay, especially those with chronic illnesses who need regular follow-up consultations and medicine.
General observations from the focus group dynamics: • Villagers are self-motivated • There is a tendency to identify the more educated person as the leader, and answer based on the leader’s response.
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Future Direction: Thnouh Village
There are many areas of potential development in terms of health promotion. The team will explore the possibilities of working on education, and facilitate the distribution of healthcare resources and clean water sources. As the team is neither specialized nor qualified, many of these projects would be achieved in collaboration with the Education Division of PLD and other NGO organizaitons.
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Volunteers’ Development
Objective: To enrich volunteers’ experience, and allow them to gain a personal understanding of the influence of history, bureaucracy and culture on the general health situation. 15
Volunteers this year came from various educational background, and each contributed to the projects in different ways. A total of 9 volunteers were recruited in early September, 2013.
Apart from the projects, the volunteers participated in: • • • 16
Visits to historical museums Visits to local hospitals and healthcare NGOs Inter-project volunteer development program
Working with Local Volunteers
Objective: To facilitate efficient communication with local villagers, and to better incorporate cultural considerations into the executioni of the projects. 17
Having met some local friends who are university students in Phnom Penh, we invited them to join our projects in Takeo Province this year. While the initial intention was for them to assist as interpreters, they soon proved to have much more to contribute and aided our projects in unexpected ways. Official recruitment of local volunteers may be a new item for Cambodia 2014.
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Contact Us. Website
http://www.littledream.org
http://www.facebook.com/projectlittledream
For further inquiry, please contact: Joyce Ming, Head of Healthcare Division joyce.ming@littledream.org
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Thank you for your support And interest in our projects.