Cambodian Hospitals and Health Centers
“All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else”.
—BuddhaDr. Chou Channa, pediatrician, waited for 3 years, 8 month and 20 days before the reopening of NPH, the Cambodian National Pediatric Hospital. In 1975 NPH was torn apart during the Cambodian communist revolution which purpose was the eradication and erasure of any social and intellectual differentiation. As of 1980 only one building and one doctor were still operative. The goal was pursued so meticulously that only 30 of 4000 Cambodian medics survived in the whole country.
The fall of the Red Khmer regime marked the beginning of a significant motion of solidarity, especially from those countries who first understood the importance of the consequences suffered by the Cambodians.Health care system was reorganized and rebuilt with private and governmental funds: new pavilions were built, doctors received education. While these aids could cover the reconstruction and basic equipment of the children’s hospitals, they were not enough for the elderly which have been left in fairly poor conditions. Being the half of the Cambodian population under 18, means that they will be soon left on their own, without a proper health care system.Outstanding philanthropy, abnegation and self-denial were made available in the name of the affected children and the future generation, who will be in charge to piece together the fragments of their homeland from the ground up.Phnom Penh, Koh Ker and Seam Reap, Cambodia, September 2011.
—BuddhaDr. Chou Channa, pediatrician, waited for 3 years, 8 month and 20 days before the reopening of NPH, the Cambodian National Pediatric Hospital. In 1975 NPH was torn apart during the Cambodian communist revolution which purpose was the eradication and erasure of any social and intellectual differentiation. As of 1980 only one building and one doctor were still operative. The goal was pursued so meticulously that only 30 of 4000 Cambodian medics survived in the whole country.
The fall of the Red Khmer regime marked the beginning of a significant motion of solidarity, especially from those countries who first understood the importance of the consequences suffered by the Cambodians.Health care system was reorganized and rebuilt with private and governmental funds: new pavilions were built, doctors received education. While these aids could cover the reconstruction and basic equipment of the children’s hospitals, they were not enough for the elderly which have been left in fairly poor conditions. Being the half of the Cambodian population under 18, means that they will be soon left on their own, without a proper health care system.Outstanding philanthropy, abnegation and self-denial were made available in the name of the affected children and the future generation, who will be in charge to piece together the fragments of their homeland from the ground up.Phnom Penh, Koh Ker and Seam Reap, Cambodia, September 2011.
Mstyslav was based Southeast Asia throughout 2012, where he worked on health care and cultural projects.
All Photographs and text by Mstyslav Chernov
