Study Tour at AHC for Preah Vihear Health Workers
Six staff from Preah Vihear Hospital (located approximately 140 km from Siem
Reap) spent time at AHC this month to learn about AHC's nutrition program.
Preah Vihear Hospital has been working to improve their staff’s general
knowledge on nutrition and treatment of malnutrition in the pediatric ward.
The staff at Preah Vihear mentioned that they would like to teach mothers to
prepare bobor (porridge). The staff observed the preparation of Bobor and the
methods used to teach the parents of patients about nutrition, toured the nutrition
unit, and noted the variety of support services offered to families. The Preah
Vihear staff was excited to take ideas back to their own hospital and see how
they can improve their own practices in a child friendly approach.
AHC Staff Present at International Conference in Malaysia
Recently, the ICU/ER nursing manager at AHC, Mrs. Sinn Chhomrath was awarded
an International Development Grant for Young Women, permitting her to attend
the 13th International Congress in Infectious Diseases. The three-day conference
was held in Kuala Lumpur and was a great opportunity for Chhomrath to learn
about emerging research and medical practice in prevention, control and treatment
of infectious diseases.
Chhomrath also presented a poster at the conference, a very exciting opportunity
for her to share at an international level the hospital’s recent success
in significantly reducing ICU mortality rates by the use of simple, safe, and
inexpensive measures for treating pneumonia called Continuous Positive Airway
Pressure (CPAP).
Refresher Course for Nursing School Instructors and Preceptors
In June, AHC’s Nursing Department conducted two refresher and advance
Courses for nursing schools instructors. The two-week sessions were held for
nursing school instructors and for government nurses working at government hospitals
routinely designated as training sites. A total of 40 participants completed
the training, which included both classroom lectures as well as supervised clinical
practice.
The training of Nursing School Instructors is a component of AHC’s larger
project aimed at improving the training of Cambodian Nursing Students operated
in collaboration with the Ministry of Health. During the next several months,
more than 350 Nursing Students from throughout Cambodia will spend time at AHC
to improve their skills and knowledge of providing effective child health care.
Since the program began six years ago, more than 1,100 Cambodian nursing students have participated in the training.
Dr. Pises and Dr. Phara Complete International Training
Dr. Pises, a senior doctor at AHC who focuses in cardiology, recently returned
to Cambodia from a one-year training at Children's Heart Center and the University
of Nevada School of Medicine in Las Vegas on a Research Scholarship. He is very
inspired to eradicate Rheumatic heart diseases in Cambodia!
Dr. Phara, the opthamologist at AHC, has been working towards becoming the first
eye surgeon in Cambodia. He returned to Cambodia after two months at Riley Children's
Hospital in Indianapolis where he worked with ORBIS, an organization of mentoring
opthamologists. His opportunity for international training was part of being
granted the FedEx Fellowship, designated to two opthamologists per year to complete
one- to three-month fellowships at some of the world's leading eye institutes.
He enjoyed his time and is looking forward to his life-long journey to save
sight in Cambodia.
Kids Helping Kids
On Monday, June 2nd, nine-year-old Parker Grissom, Michigan USA stood up in
front of the entire school at their weekly meeting and spoke about his family's
trip to Siem Reap. He read his speech in front of a large projection screen
showing photos of the Temples and the children he met during visits to a fishing
village and the floating village. Parker spoke from a nine-year-old perspective
about the things that made him laugh (kids without pants on), and the things
that made him sad.
For the rest of that week, Parker and his mother manned a table in the lobby
and collected donations during lunchtime. They received generous donations from
many families, but what they didn't expect were the donations from the kids
themselves. There were so many children that contributed money they had earned
from their own allowances, birthday gifts, lemonade stands, and one little boy
even gave the dollar that the tooth fairy had left under his pillow the night
before! Parker’s initial goal was to raise $500, but by the end of the
week they had collected over $1,700.00.
A big thank you to Parker and everyone else around the world who help make the work at AHC possible each day!
Fundraising Event in Singapore
The fundraising event for AHC, K'aymang; Heartbeat of Cambodia, will be held
on the 30th of August at the Pan Pacific Singapore, Pacific Ballroom at 6.30pm.
A variety of local talents such as Cynthia Yim and Nathan Hartono will be performing
on the night, with the highlight of the night being a charity auction. Profits
from this event will be designated towards the purcashing of equpiment for the
ICU at AHC. Additional information is posted on the Children of Cambodia website
at: www.childrenofcambodia.sg/ or visit
http://www.fwab.org/news.php to view the invitation