Today’s
Good People, Good Works
will be presented in
Khmer and English,
with subtitles in Arabic,
Aulacese (Vietnamese),
Chinese, English,
French, German,
Indonesian, Japanese,
Korean, Malay,
Mongolian, Persian,
Portuguese, Russian,
Spanish and Thai.
Hallo, friendly viewers,
and welcome to
Good People, Good Works
on Supreme Master
Television.
Today’s program
features the first of
a two-part series that
profiles Angkor Hospital
for Children,
a full-service pediatric
hospital based in
Siem Reap, Cambodia
that provides
compassionate charity
medical care
to the youngsters of
the local community and
neighboring provinces.
The hospital was
established in 1999 by
internationally acclaimed
photographer Kenro Izu
who travels the world
taking images of
sacred sites – from
the pyramids of Egypt
to the Caves of
the 10,000 Buddhas
in western China.
Besides providing
quality pediatric care,
the facility also serves as
a clinical training center
for Cambodian
medical professionals.
Ms. Sinketh Arun,
Angkor Hospital for
Children’s Director of
Public Relations now
speaks about Mr. Izu
and why he founded
the facility.
First I would like to
thank
Supreme Master TV
for giving us
the opportunity to give
information
about the hospital.
Angkor Hospital for
Children was started by
a Japanese photographer;
his name is Kenro Izu.
He first came to
Cambodia during 1993.
And the first time
he came, he spent time
doing his photography at
the Angkor Wat Temple
and then he met with
many children
at that time.
And some children
were sick and it seemed
like the children didn’t
have very good care or
any medical care from
any medical facility
in Siem Reap
during that time.
When Mr. Izu returned to
Cambodia to take
photographs a year later,
he went to
the provincial hospital in
Siem Reap to learn more
about the health services
available
to the local children.
And then
he spent time visiting
the provincial hospital.
And then he found
a child with her father
from the countryside,
and the child was sick
with a serious condition.
The child was brought
by the father to
the provincial hospital,
but at that time
the medical facility
was not so good.
And then one day later,
the child died
during his visit.
He heard the story
about the child dying
and he was moved by
the story of that child,
and he decided to
do something
for the Cambodians.
The child’s death
had a great impact
on Mr. Izu,
who truly understood
the father’s deep sorrow
because the girl was
about the same age
as his own daughter.
And then he decided to
start the organization,
“Friends Without a Border,”
which was
established in 1996.
After that he started
raising money and
the whole organization
started doing work,
and then they got
enough funds to build
Angkor Hospital
for Children.
By building
a worldwide coalition of
like-minded individuals,
Mr. Izu made his dream
a reality and
Angkor Hospital
for Children began
serving patients in 1999.
The facility provides
outpatient, inpatient,
acute, emergency,
surgical, low-acuity,
dental and
ophthalmologic care,
and has treated over
500,000 children
since its establishment.
The hospital provides
full service
to the children here,
we have consultations
during which we see
about 400 children
on average that come to
our hospital every day.
Also, we have
inpatient service;
there are 50 beds including
the emergency room,
which has four beds.
And we have
an operating theater,
there is about six
or seven patients that we
do surgery on every day.
There is a dental clinic;
there is an eye clinic,
there is an outreach
program and HIV/AIDS
and a Home Care
Program that we provide
to the children in our area
here in Cambodia.
The hospital takes
all boys and girls that
come through its doors,
with care given
free of charge.
The facility tries to
make the experience as
comfortable as possible
for both the patient
and the family.
We ask the parents who
bring the children here
to make
a small contribution to
the hospital, about
500 riel, 1,000 riel,
which is about 25 cents
in US dollars.
Some of the parents,
they do not even have
this amount of money.
We do not turn them
away even if they
don’t have any money
to contribute.
So we still keep them
with us and then
we try to see them.
We try to accommodate
them or whatever else
we can do.
Usually, they come here,
and then sometimes
we have to provide them
transportation
for free or food while
they’re staying with us,
if they don’t have
the ability to take care
on their own.
What are some of
the health conditions that
the hospital staff treat
on a daily basis?
Mostly the children who
come to our hospital,
they have very, very
common problems.
And the most common
problem they have is
respiratory infection.
Another problem,
the second most common
problem is diarrhea, and
the third is malnutrition.
Malnutrition is
the third one that we see
the most in our hospital.
So the reason for children
having a lot of problems
with respiratory
infections is because of
malnutrition
and not good hygiene.
When we come back,
we’ll learn more about
the services and
health care programs
provided by Angkor
Hospital for Children.
Please stay tuned to
Supreme Master
Television.
Welcome back to today’s
Good People,
Good Works featuring
Angkor Hospital
for Children,
a non-profit pediatric
facility dedicated to
improving the health
and future of Cambodia’s
underprivileged kids by
providing comprehensive
healthcare services.
Another serious
health condition having
a significant impact
on Cambodian children is
Human Immunodeficiency
Virus (HIV), which
causes Acquired Immune
Deficiency Syndrome
(AIDS).
So right now,
HIV-positive children
in our village, there’s
more than 600 children.
So mostly the child gets
HIV from the parent,
gets infected
from their mother.
There are only a few
children that are infected
by other sources
like a blood transfusion,
something like that.
But most of the children
who come to us
who are HIV- positive,
they get the infection
from their parent.
Children with HIV
require
continuous treatment.
The hospital tracks these
patients and makes sure
that they receive
needed care.
But it is a little bit sad
as well that many HIV
patients they do not
have a parent,
they live with relatives.
So those kind of children,
they need a lot of support
and a lot of care.
And we provide
the treatment by
providing medication
and a full check-up by
bringing them here, then
sending them back home.
(We) try to make sure
that they receive proper
care and treatment
from us.
The achievements of
Angkor Hospital for
Children in addressing
HIV/AIDS in their region
has drawn the attention
of the international
community, including
former President of the
United States Bill Clinton,
who traveled to
Cambodia in 2006 to
see first-hand projects
sponsored by the Clinton
Health Access Initiative.
During the trip he visited
Angkor Hospital
for Children and met
with patients and staff.
We see improvement.
To be honest, there are
some, I think one or two
communities it seems
are changing very slowly.
But some places are
really good in changing,
and following whatever
we provide for them to do.
We try to do
whatever we can do.
For children
with HIV/AIDS, severe
malnutrition or other
serious health conditions
that require
regular medical attention,
Angkor Hospital
for Children provides
at-home visits through
its compassionate
Home Care Program.
With this program,
we go out to the person’s
house on a regular basis.
So, depending on
the condition of the child,
some children we need to
see them once a week
or once a month or
twice a month, depending
on their condition.
If our nurse finds
any problem that we
need to bring the child
to the hospital then
we encourage the parent
to bring the child
to the hospital directly.
So normally when we
go out, our nurse, we
bring medical records,
medication, supplies,
sometimes support like
clothes or something
like that for the child who
lives in the countryside.
When the child gets better
and the child can be
at home but still needs
continuous medical care,
we keep providing care
even when
they’re at home.
And mostly we educate
the caretaker
or the parent a lot.
Especially when they’re
at home, they need to
have a lot of collaboration
from the family
or caretaker to do this.
Otherwise it will not
be successful.
The hospital follows
the philosophy that
prevention is always
better than cure.
Thus they invest
in community health
knowing it is best
to keep kids healthy
in the first place
rather than trying to
heal them once
they have become ill.
To improve
the healthcare system
in Cambodia, advancing
awareness in the villages
about pubic health best
practices is essential
to reaching this goal.
So to have a good hospital,
and good doctors
and nurses, we need to
build up the capacity of
the people as well,
we need to provide more
education to the villagers,
(so they) understand
how to take care of
themselves, how to build
up their lifestyle better.
So we have another
program called
“Capacity Building and
Health Education”
by which we work
very closely
with the community.
We build up
the people’s lifestyle, try
to encourage them how
to make their life better,
not only healthwise,
but also how to grow rice,
grow vegetables,
and have clean water
to use in the village
or in the house.
And also to understand
how to take care of
themselves,
including hygiene, just
very, very simple skills
for the daily life of
the people of the villages.
Growing vegetables
is very important.
If there’s a lot to eat,
they can sell the rest
to the neighbors.
And also to grow
their own vegetables
is very good because
they don’t need to
spend a lot of money
in buying vegetables
from the market.
And another thing,
the vegetables that they
buy from the market
sometimes
are not really good.
There’s a lot of
chemicals.
To grow our own organic
vegetables is very, very
good for our health.
Our sincere gratitude,
Ms. Sinketh Arun and
other Angkor Hospital
for Children
staff members for your
compassionate hearts
and noble work that is
bringing love and hope to
the children of Cambodia.
We also salute you,
Mr. Kenro Izu and all
Friends Without Border
supporters for starting
this wonderful hospital
in Siem Reap.
For more details
on Angkor Hospital
for Children,
please visit
www.AngkorHospital.org
To learn more about
Friends Without A Border,
please visit
www.FWAB.org
Please be sure to join us
next Sunday on
Good People, Good Works
for the conclusion
of our series on
the benevolent Angkor
Hospital for Children.
Precious viewers,
thank you for
your company
on today’s program.
Up next is
The World Around Us,
after Noteworthy News.
May Divine love
grace all lives with
beauty and blessings.
Today’s
Good People, Good Works
will be presented
in Khmer and English,
with subtitles in Arabic,
Aulacese (Vietnamese),
Chinese, English,
French, German,
Indonesian, Japanese,
Korean, Malay,
Mongolian, Persian,
Portuguese, Russian,
Spanish and Thai.
We’ve received
official recognition from
the Ministry of Health
in Cambodia that
we are one of
the teaching hospitals
in Cambodia.
We can provide
good care and treatment
to the patients and also
we provide education
and training to doctors
and nurses who work
in the countryside, or
who work somewhere
else in Cambodia.
Hallo, sincere viewers,
and welcome to
Good People, Good Works
on Supreme Master
Television.
Today’s program
features the conclusion of
a two-part series that
profiles Angkor Hospital
for Children,
a full-service pediatric
hospital based in
Siem Reap, Cambodia
that provides
compassionate charity
medical care
to the youngsters of
the local community and
neighboring provinces.
The hospital was
established in 1999 by
Friends Without
A Border, a non-profit
organization started by
internationally acclaimed
photographer Kenro Izu
who travels the world
taking images of
sacred sites – from
the pyramids of Egypt
to the Caves of
the 10,000 Buddhas
in western China.
The facility provides
outpatient, inpatient,
acute, emergency,
surgical, low-acuity,
dental and
ophthalmologic care,
and has treated over
500,000 children
since its establishment.
It is one of the sites
selected by the World
Health Organization
to host its
Integrated Management
of Children’s Illnesses
training program.
Angkor Hospital for
Children has more than
250 staff that
all are Cambodian.
In the beginning,
there were a lot of
expatriate doctors and
nurses, that came to
set up the system
in our hospital.
And then, they provided
a lot of training to
the Cambodian staff.
And by year 2003, most
of the doctors and nurses
that we trained before,
they became higher level
in their knowledge,
and then
the expatriate doctors,
the expatriate staff
they decided to leave and
then they handed over
the work to
our Cambodian staff.
So we have 35
Cambodian doctors and
105 Cambodian nurses.
Many international
volunteers still come to
serve at Angkor Hospital
for Children and have
contributed their time
and talents to helping
the hospital achieve
its mission.
Doctors, nurses,
laboratory technicians,
teachers, surgeons,
carpenters, administrators
and many others have
offered their services
in a spirit of charity,
community and friendship.
Dr. Michael Carter from
the United Kingdom
is one such person.
One of the things
the hospital does
really, really well here is
understand and realize
that they need to be
working in the community
as much as
in the hospital.
And it’s only
in the community where
you’ll save most lives.
I’ve worked
in quite a few hospitals
both as a student and as
a doctor, and quite a few
in the developing world.
This one is a bit special.
The ward we are
standing in now is
the intensive care unit –
emergency room.
And the ability to treat
very sick patients
is greater here than I’ve
seen in almost any other
developing country.
Angkor Hospital
for Children is
a training center for
health professionals
and each year
hundreds benefit from
the programs that seek to
improve the quality of
healthcare in Cambodia.
Every year we are
having more than 300
nursing students that
come to our hospital
for clinical training.
We have to collaborate
with the Ministry of
Health when they send
the nursing students
to be in our hospital
to learn more about
the nursing standards.
Besides nursing students,
there are doctors or
nurses who come from
other referral hospitals
that were sent by
the Ministry of Health
in Cambodia or
sometimes requested by
the World Health
Organization that
bring those people to us
to train more about
children’s diseases.
Angkor Hospital
for Children has bettered
healthcare access in the
greater Siem Riep region
by establishing
satellite pediatric clinic
in the Sot Nikum District.
Recently, we opened
the satellite clinic;
it is about 35 kilometers
from our hospital and
it’s located in
a referral hospital that is
run by the government.
Over there, we took over
the pediatric department.
We opened on the 22nd
of February this year,
and the first day that
we opened, we saw about
100 patients who came to
our clinic there.
Without money they can’t
buy clean water, or get
access to clean water.
They can’t buy
antibiotics if needed.
They can’t travel to
the hospital
if they are very sick.
And that’s the one reason
why Angkor Children’s
Hospital has opened up
a smaller satellite
hospital in the community.
The reason that
we opened that clinic is
because we would like to
build up the work of
the referral hospital that
is run by the government.
Because there was
a pediatric ward, but
there were no patients.
There are beds, but
no patients stayed there.
So usually people
traveled, they passed by
that hospital or
health center
(and went) directly to
our hospital here.
So we think that if we
build up the good work
over there, then people
will not have to travel
so far just to get
simple medical care or
just to get primary care.
When we return, we’ll
hear more about the
caring work of Angkor
Hospital for Children.
Please stay tuned to
Supreme Master
Television.
The motivation –
children are fun -- that’s
the most important thing.
They are hilarious.
Welcome back to today’s
Good People,
Good Works featuring
Angkor Hospital
for Children,
a non-profit pediatric
facility dedicated to
improving the health
and future of Cambodia’s
underprivileged kids by
providing comprehensive
healthcare services.
I’m Michael Carter.
I’m a doctor
from England.
I’ve been here
for seven months working
both on the wards and
in the microbiology lab.
I do some clinical work,
although my role is
really research, and
in particular trying to
define, to find out what
type of bacteria cause
and what type of viruses
cause infections
in the children that come
into Angkor Hospital
for Children.
Once we know that,
we can treat them
much more effectively.
My name is
Sinketh Raneth.
I have been working
in Angkor Hospital for
Children for four years.
And I love working
in Angkor Hospital
for Children because
this hospital is
a charity hospital and
can help the Cambodian
children so much.
The noble work of
Angkor Hospital
for Children has brought
hope and a brighter future
to many
Cambodian children
and their families.
After they recover, some
patients, out of gratitude
for their excellent care,
volunteer to work
at the hospital to help
other children in need.
Ms. Arun now shares one
of their touching stories.
There’s one patient that
came to our hospital
about 11 years ago when
we started the hospital
in the beginning.
He was
a landmine victim.
Actually, he went out to
the field with his friends.
And then they all maybe
five of them,
they were together, and
they saw the landmine
on the land.
And, they just
played with it.
And then that thing
exploded.
And he had
a very bad injury.
So then his parents
brought him to
our hospital because
the hospital in his village
is not able to treat him.
During the time that
he was here, he was
under treatment and care
for a long time.
One doctor said that
his leg would need
to be amputated.
But then there’s
one doctor from Hawaii,
from the US, saying that
maybe there is some way
that they can help him.
So then they tried to find
support and then
brought him to Hawaii
for one year.
He was under
the treatment and care
in a hospital in Hawaii
for one year.
And then his leg did not
need to be amputated.
And then after that,
he was getting better
and then came back to
Cambodia after staying
there for one year.
So several years later,
he came back and started
volunteering with
in the administrative
department, just helping
to run documents
from one department
to another department.
And right now
he’s in school.
He’s in grade 10 and he
still continues working
with us by volunteering.
I asked him,
“What do you think
about the hospital?”
And he said, “I volunteer
here because I want to
get some experience,
and also I want to give
something in return.”
The staff of Angkor
Hospital for Children
knows that
to significantly improve
the health status of
Cambodian children and
adults, it is not enough
to just offer high level
medical care to the public.
Informing the population
about preventive health
steps they can take
in daily life is essential to
reducing the need doctor
visits and hospitalizations.
Underpinning
all of this is education.
It’s education, and
particularly education
for women that
saves lives.
People are short of
vitamins, partly because
I think their diet is based
too much on rice,
not enough
from other vegetables.
And in particular,
the diet is based around
white, polished rice.
If you polish rice,
make it white and shiny,
you lose the brown husk,
which is full of a vitamin
called thiamine.
Thiamine deficiency is
one of the biggest causes
of admissions to this
hospital and is probably
a large contributor
to the mortality rates
in Cambodia.
We provide education
and training
to the community.
I mean to the staff from
the hotels or guest houses
or any travel agency or
public sector worker
such as policeman or
taxi driver,
something like that,
about first aid training,
about hygiene, about
HIV/AIDS awareness,
and there is much more,
mostly about something
that people need to know
for taking care of
themselves.
We salute you,
Sinketh Arun,
Dr. Michael Carter,
Sinketh Raneth and
all the other Angkor
Hospital for Children
staff and volunteers for
taking such good care of
the children of Cambodia.
We also laud Kenro Izu
and Friends Without
A Border for establishing
the hospital and
for their continuing
support of the facility.
To further their
noble work,
Supreme Master Ching Hai
is contributing
US$10,000 with love
to the Angkor Hospital
for Children.
For more details
on Angkor Hospital
for Children,
please visit
www.AngkorHospital.org
To learn more about
Friends Without A Border,
please visit
www.FWAB.org
Splendid viewers,
thank you
for your company
on today’s program.
Up next is
The World Around Us
after Noteworthy News.
May we all know
the love and greatness
of Heaven.