Quantcast
Channel: The Province » Pam Stevens
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 3

Dispatches From Cambodia (#5): Last Call At The Hospital

0
0

Pam Stevens radio personality from Vancouver is travelling through South-East Asia. She is currently volunteering at Ankor Hospital in Cambodia. The country is winding down its rainy season which has been exceptionally wet this year.  Flooding has been responsible for many deaths this year. There is also the increased threat of a new drug resistant malaria. This could affect people world-wide if it is not controlled in Cambodia as it is ground zero for finding a weapon against it.  The city of Siem Reap, where Pam is,  has flooded five times in as many weeks and much of the countryside has been underwater that whole time .

 Readers of these stories have donated to help Pam buy three much-needed beds for the hospital. 

 Here are her stories:

sign1 Dispatches From Cambodia (#5): Last Call At The Hospital

 The tears were quick to come on my last day.  From the moment I walked by the security guards at the front gate with their regular greeting of “Arunsus’dei!” I realized that I wouldn’t be doing this again come Monday.

I wouldn’t be walking through the inpatient department greeted by the stares of children who may not have even seen a westerner before.  You feel a little like a rock star in that heads turn at your approach and the stares are not shy.  There was often a child crying on a parent’s lap and a quick grin from the barang with big curly red hair would be enough to snap them out of their focus and at least quiet them as you walked past, maybe you’d even get a smile back.

But alas, I’m not a rock star, just someone with lots of free time and a severance package to back them and my time volunteering at the Angkor Hospital for Children has come to an end. To be fair, I cry at sappy commercials and Hallmark cards but this last day made me realize how much I would miss being a part of something so positive.  I was leaving to continue my travels through Southeast Asia knowing these families were staying behind to continue their battles.  The doctors would still be here on Monday doing what they could to save lives and ease the pain for children of all ages.  Gheeta would still be smiling at the door to the dental clinic ready for another day of calming her patients as they climbed up into the very unfamiliar dentist’s chair unsure of what was about to happen. 

baby2 Dispatches From Cambodia (#5): Last Call At The Hospital

 I know a little bit of me will stay behind at AHC because I could feel it being ripped from heart on a daily basis.   I can also take great solace in knowing that somewhere in the near future, two new shiny hospital beds would arrive with small plaques on each to say “with love from Canada”.  In taking the minutes at the executive meeting each day I would be privy to the many wishes of each department.  I knew that the $25,000 required to back up the hospital’s server was a little rich for my blood but when I heard $1300 would buy one of the three hospital beds urgently needed in the ER, I had my challenge.  Thank you to the many friends, family members, colleagues and complete strangers that heard my call and helped me raise the money to leave a bed behind.

childbed1 Dispatches From Cambodia (#5): Last Call At The Hospital

A New Bed

Extra special thanks goes out to a former co-worker from my CKNW days in the early 90’s.  Sherry Cooper drove the Community Cruiser around the lower mainland back then and had just given birth to her baby girl Chelsea.  Somehow – too many years have passed and Chelsea is now an adult herself and with a seed planted by her mom on Thanksgiving weekend, used her connections as a fundraiser at BC Children’s Hospital raising the money to buy a second bed!  Thank you so much to Sherry, Chelsea and all the kindhearted people who didn’t hesitate to consider giving outside of their circle. 

Yes, we have our own issues – but this experience has shown me how truly blessed we are as Canadians and how lucky I am to have the loving circle of people around me that I do.  I hope that as we approach the holiday season you too, find some awareness of the good things around you.

My blogs sign up on twitter @copsfire, Facebook Rudy Pospisil, or RSS feed here.



Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 3

Latest Images

Trending Articles





Latest Images