Siem Reap - Disneyland does Cambodia

After spending a few days in Siem Reap, we've come to realize that this city is not typical. The staff at the hospital likes to call it "Disneyland does Cambodia". The town itself is fantastic... there's a good mix of local restaurants and places for tourists, so if we are really tired of rice we can always head somewhere for a goat cheese salad. My new favourite restaurant name... "Burgers Without Borders". There are some lavish hotels on the way into town, one which runs at $750/night has been host to many exclusive notables including Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones.

The unfortunate reality is that many tourists believe they have seen Cambodia despite having never left town... and this town is not Cambodia. On our first day at the Angkor Hospital for Children, Nerai (an administrator I am working with) took us out in a tuk-tuk to give us a better idea of where the patients at the hospital come from. Barely 10km out of town, the overdecorated hotels disappeared to show a road lined with small grass huts. The pavement turned to dirt, with motorcycles and trucks trying to crawl through the thick mud, nearly 2 feet deep in many places. Rice fields grew as far as the eye could see, and the fancy restaurants of Siem Reap were replaced with old ladies selling roasted frog sausage and crickets. Nerai took us out into a rice field so we could see how it was planted... stalk by stalk, each one by hand until the field was full. Rice is not just a staple food here. It is a necessity of life. When the crop has a bad year, people die. Over 35% of the Cambodian population is moderately to severely malnourished. Stories of patients and their arduous journies to get care at AHC are commonplace... many travel days to get here. One child died because his family could not borrow the one dollar they needed to get a ride into town.

But despite all of their hardship, the Cambodian population are the kindest most sincere people I have ever met. Expat David from the hospital says that after so many years of strife, Cambodians finally have something to be proud of. They want to tell you more about their country and want to learn more about yours. We've had lots of fun telling stories of Canadian winter to Cambodians and foreigners alike.

Ryan has gotten started with his shadowing on the patient wards. Because many rural patients have to travel so far to get here, their condition is often extremely severe when they arrive. Ry's been treating lots of dengue fever, malnutrition and meningitis, and is planning on watching some surgeries next week. I've been up in the admin offices working with Nerai to revamp their monthly donor reports. I've been learning a lot about the different programs offered in the hospital, and the two of us have been taking Khmer language lessons. All in all, we are both having an incredible time. We can't rave enough about the people here, and there are lots of fun tourist activities to keep us busy on the weekends.

Hope everyone is well at home!