Sunday 14 June 2009

Share the Health Cambodia

Not many people have the opportunity, or have the inclination, to help those less fortunate than ourselves, other than maybe a few dollars given to a charity of our choice. This is a story of two amazing people who took this one, two and three stages further and decided that they wanted to help in a more direct way.

Cara and James Garcia went to Cambodia for a holiday in 2008 with plans to see the normal things in the country, Angkor Wat, Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville. This they did, but they also saw past these things. What they saw was the poverty and lack of health care available to the poorest members of Khmer society. James is (or was) a paramedic in the US and his wife Cara an RN. After returning to the US, and I'm sure after much debate and soul searching, they decided to return to Cambodia and open a FREE primary health clinic in a rural area. They accepted that to do this would mean they had to sell everything they own, their house, their car and all their personal possessions. This cannot have been an easy decision as the have two young children, but make it they did. (Web Site)

This, in many ways, turned out to be the easy part, then all the applications and requests for support for this project began. They accomplished charitable status in the US and after many months gained initial support in principle from government officials in Cambodia and finally with the help of a Cambodian MP Mr. Thavy Nhem, found a suitable location to begin providing services.

Through the gracious assistance of Cambodian Parliament Member H.E. Thavy Nhem, we are operating the Chong Doung Community Health Center in Baray Distric, Kampong Thom province.

Cara, James and the kids arrived in Cambodia in early 2009 and after a lot of hard work have got the clinic up and running and are seeing many people everyday from as far away as 50 miles (it is the only medical clinic in the area).

These two amazing people have achieved a lot in a very short time but could do with our support financially, a few dollars would go a very long way towards the continued provision of this important service . They a not a big multinational care giver but two people who just want to make a difference for those who need their help in this small part of Cambodia. They are not in this to make profits ( other than the emotion and spiritual I suspect ). If you can PLEASE HELP, no matter how small (or large) everything will be put to good use I am sure.

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK CARA AND JAMES

Share the Health Cambodia for the price of a couple of cups of coffee,or an icecream for your kids, you could save a life. If you have a PAYPAL account why not give a little today..

1 comment:

  1. Unfortunately SHARE THE HEALTH CAMBODIA no longer exists after Cara was attacked and badly beaten. James and Cara have now returned to the USA with no plans to return, A sad day for the poorest people in Cambodia.

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