Thursday 19 November 2015

Banteay Sleak Clinic

Walking through the slum where dust and dirt mingle, rubbish all around with makeshift homes…it would be easy to turn the other way… We want to thank CamKids for seeing the beautiful lives of these impoverished people and their children and to all their supporters for getting behind them. 
The Banteay Sleak (BS) Community Clinic which is funded by CamKids and operated by One-2-One, is situated in the Tumnub Teak Commune, near the Russian Friendship Hospital in Phnom Penh. Most of the residents living in these slums are rubbish collectors, construction workers and garment factory workers, who face a range of health problems and diseases. They make up the majority of the residents who earn less then 2 USD a day. With limited sanitation and water, life is a daily struggle. The slum clinics also provide services to people from other surrounding area. Nearly 700 families within these communities benefit from the medical, maternal and nursing treatment care that is provided. 
The Medical team provides the following services at the BS clinic: Provision of emergency relief combined with health education and health promotion.  
  • Medical Care - includes treatment for a range of common injuries and illnesses such as dengue fever, acute infections, diarrhoea, common colds, typhoid fever, malaria etc.  
  • Nursing Care - includes health and hygiene education to for adults and children, as well as and administration of basic health care, including height and weight measurements, de-worming (in line with the Cambodian National Strategy), nail cutting and wound care.  
  • Maternal Care - includes prenatal and antenatal postnatal checkups, provision of vitamin supplements, vaccinations, breastfeeding and birth control advice for pregnant women before, during and after delivery. Our team also provides and gynaecological / obstetric referrals for HIV testing, pap smears, ultrasounds, pregnancy problems etc. 

The team visits the BS community to provide basic medical treatment and maternal services and health education. We work cooperatively with community leaders and members to build trust and positive relationships with the community at large. As a result, more patients are continuing to seek medical treatment and care from our team each month. They have learnt to trust the advise and recommendations given. 
Specifically, since January 2015, the Medical team has provided medical care to 333 patients, nursing care to 903 patients and maternal care to 95 patients. This is an increase in the number of patients treated from the previous year. 
Case Study
On a recent visit by the medical team to the Banteay Slek, an elderly woman attending the clinic was interviewed. Her name is Lan Neng. She is an egg seller at the Banteay Sleak. On 6th October 2015, she presented with her little 2 years old granddaughter, who had been crying in distress and with fever. She whimpered and refused to eat or play, Lan Neng knew that with out money she could not be seen at the government hospital so she was so glad that she could bring her little girl to the medical clinic. It is so easy to get skin infection because of the crowded condition and with the rainy season, the slum community is awash in mud, so her granddaughter developed skin infection that lead to skin abscess and thus the tears and fever and misery. Even though she was only 2 years old, she was so brave to allow our medical doctor to incise and drain the abscess. With careful wound dressing and treatment , she is on the mend and starting to eat and play again. There are many like this whose lives are changed for the better. 
Thanks to our donors and supporters, the medical, nursing and midwifery teams are making a real difference in this community helping people like Lan Neng and her granddaughter.
Please consider making a donation to help us to help these desperately poor children and their families. 

If you are in the UK, you can text CAMK13 £10 to 70070 to make a £10 donation. Even a small donation of a few pounds from all of our supporters will make a huge difference. Remember, we do not have any overheads, so 100% of your donation goes to helping the children. 
Alternatively, go to www.bit.ly/singdonate or www.bit.ly/regdonate to make a single or regular credit or debit card donation.
Thank you 
The CamKids Trustees




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