Cameron Brown visits HIV Aids clinic in Myanmar
“Part of my trip to Myanmar involved visiting an HIV Aids clinic in Yangon. It was difficult to hear stories about how much stress doctors are put under while trying to do their jobs in the public health system. Often hospitals are so under supplied that doctors must go out-of-pocket and buy the medicine to take care of their patients. There also continues to be a huge knowledge gap in Myanmar about HIV and there is a very negative social stigma placed on those who live with the virus. Privacy and discretion is very important. Until the government adopts a better public plan to deal with the country’s health and education problems, people will continue to struggle.”
Cameron Brown’s November 2012 visit to Myanmar
Volunteers Cameron Brown (left) and Morgan Notman at Taste the World, Four Seasons Hotel Ballroom in Vancouver
“The people of Myanmar are desperate for proper health care. They live in a very poor country with limited access to health facilities. A small clinic we visited is situated in a very poor area near Yangon and it was difficult to find even with a driver. We were greeted by the local Burmese doctor who spent an hour with us, took us on a tour of the facility and provided us with information about the programs. This clinic diagnoses, treats and educates people basic diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, TB, and also sexually transmitted diseases including AIDS. There are a very good healthcare clinic and hospitals available for the poor, all funded by donations for those who cannot afford the fee or the medicines. The two funded by a number of Canadians are The Muslim Free Hospital & Medical Relief Society and Medical Action.”
Marily Mearns Visited Myanmar November 2012
One of many school rooms visited in Central Myanmar
This year’s Best Friends of Friends Award went to Dr. and Mrs. John and Nina Cassils. Not only have they been generous supporters of the organization …
www.fwab.org/recentevents.php – YEAR 2009
Nina Cassils, Kenro Izu founder of Angkor Hospital, Susan Wettstein
7th Annual Fundraising Gala
The 7th Annual Fundraising Gala was held on Monday, April 20th at the New York Athletic Club and was, once again, a great success. This year was unique as we had the opportunity to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Angkor Hospital for Children and did so with a celebratory Commemorative Journal full of well wishes and congratulations to those individuals who made the past ten years possible.
Kenro Izu, the Founder of Friends Without A Border, was honored with a wonderful wind chime made with the thumbprints of many children seen at AHC. This year’s Best Friends of Friends Award went to Dr. and Mrs. John and Nina Cassils. Not only have they been generous supporters of the organization themselves but they have also been wonderful ambassadors for AHC.
Mr. Drew De Carvalho was the Emcee for the evening and did a great job entertaining guests and auctioning live auction items. We were fortunate to have three guests from AHC attend the event: Dr. Bill Housworth, Executive Director of AHC; Dr. Vann Thy and Ms. Vanna Dary, who all gave touching speeches. They all enjoyed meeting donors and witnessing firsthand the kindness of those who support their country. We were happy to raise almost $300,000 at this year’s Gala in the current economic climate. This could not have been possible without a true commitment and support of all the guests who joined us for the evening.
A big thank you to all individuals who helped make this wonderful event possible. We look forward to seeing you again next year!
Dr. Corina Chapeskie’s* presentation at Calgary 2013 Taste the World, wine tasting April 24, 2013
“Thank you all for coming……
Before I explain why I cme out and why I continue to work with Angkor Hospital for Children I want to take a moment to thank some of the people who made tonight possible. And I mean that literally.
As some of you may know this year’s event almost had to be postponed, and if it hadn’t been for Matt and Kim Hall and the energetic Steve and Tannis Cochrane we might not be here tonight.
They stepped up, took on co-chairing the event, and went above and beyond to make this a great night and ensure that Angkor Hospital for Children and Medical Action Myanmar would not go without this year so if we could give them and the committee a big round of applause….
One of the most rewarding aspects of working with Angkor Hospital for Children is being able to witness the rapid evolution of this hospital made possible by these kinds of pro-active volunteers who jump in to solve problems, start projects and lend a hand wherever they can.
Because of people like this, Angkor Hospital for Children has gone from a one room shack to a World Health Organization approved teaching facility dedicated to meeting international standards while improving the quality of care in Cambodia. This goal has lead to clinical investigations and numerous collaborative research projects with people from Harvard, Oxford, John Hopkins and many other institutions.
The hospital now has guidelines for fluid and drug use, a large Intensive Care Unit, fully functional Operating Room, dental, ophthalmology, and physiotherapy clinics, and a microbiology lab where culture and sensitivity tests are conducted onsite. (some of the children you see in the slide show behind me with parotid swelling suffer from burkholderia infection. Before Angkor Hospital for Children research showed this organism existed in Cambodia these children would have had no chance of adequate treatment; once septic from this there is an 85% mortality rate)..but I won’t go on about that because I might take up your entire night.
These advancements are fueled by the energy and enthusiasm that come from Angkor Hospital for Children being a teaching hospital but what keeps these projects running, and what keeps people like John and Nina Cassils working tirelessly to ensure that the hospital does not collapse or regress despite its ever-growing patient load is that whenever you visit Angkor Hospital for Children you will encounter parents whose determination and dedication is just indescribable.
There are countless stories I could tell you of parents who sold everything including the shirts off their backs and travelled for days to reach Angkor Hospital for Children in the hope they would find care for their children.
Angkor Hospital for Children dose not stop striving to improve care so for those of you thinking of volunteering or donating I assure you, you will not find your time or your money is wasted at Angkor Hospital for Children.
As volunteers you will be expected to bring not just your skills but also to teach this new generation of doctors who will be leaders in pediatric medicine in Asia.
As a donor I can assure you this organization makes every dollar count, from people like Nina Cassils who find ways of saving shipping fees such as asking volunteers to carry medical supplies over the boarder to the Operating Room Nurses who taught me you do NOT open an entire 4X4 of gauze if you only need half (that is done in the sterile section so the rest can be saved for another case).
I could talk all night about specific families, Cambodian medical students and the research at Angkor Hospital for Children that inspires me but…I think we would rather have more time to hear Nate Hall and Riley Donelson play so if you are interested I can tell you that later at the donation table. I will just leave you with this
Angkor Hospital for Children stretches every dollar and maximizes every educational resource they can to improve care for the children and families that work so hard to get there. Thank you all for your generosity and for coming out tonight.”
Corina (rt) at Taste the Worlld
Corina on location in make shift clinic at school auditorium in SiemReap
*Corina has traveled to Angkor Hospital for Children, as a working volunteer dentist, on 5 occasions
Angkor Hospital For Children Visit
by Cam TurnbullLast summer my mom and I went on a trip to visit my cousins in Thailand. We also went on a trip to Siem Reap in Cambodia with my cousins and Aunt Karen. 
It was hot there! It was busy there with tuk-tuks and people riding bikes to school in the morning. We met lots of really friendly people but I noticed a lot of poor people living there. There were a lot of poor kids.
When we drove to the satellite clinic through the country we saw lots of farms and houses that were built on stilts. If there were a flood their houses would be safe from all the water.
When we got to the clinic Helen met us. Outside the clinic was a fresh water place to clean the kids in. It had stonewalls and was a bit muddy with a little tap. It was very different from my big shower at home. When we got past the admitting room there was a big room with lots of beds in it. The beds were close together so I hope disease doesn’t spread from bed to bed. There were lots of sick kids there. It was very sad to see the all the sick kids and I hoped none of them were going to die. We blew bubbles to some of the kids to try and make them happy because they looked so sad and bored. There were little rooms with sick babies in incubators and in another small room there were two beds where they did surgery. My cousin had to get stitches in his foot cleaned so we were in the room getting that done. When we were there, there was a kid getting a huge needle in his back. He was really brave.
I think it’s important to keep donating to the AHC so the children don’t have to go to government hospitals where they won’t get good help. We learned the government hospitals are not very good. They don’t even have the medicine the kids need. I’ m glad I visited the hospital so now I know how some other people in Asia live.
Birthday Party July
After I went to Cambodia and Thailand I had my 10th birthday party. We had a beach party. It was so fun! We played capture the flag, swam, used paddleboards and went tubing. It was so fun except I fractured my hand so I had a cast on. I had to go to the hospital the next day to replace it because it got wet. For my birthday I asked people to bring a little money to donate to the Angkor Hospital for Children. We raised enough money to put at least one child through surgery. It felt good helping. I want to help some more so my Mom and I want to organize a bake sale at my school. We are waiting to hear if we can do it this year.
From: Cam Turnbull (age 8). Visited Cambodia June 2013
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/09/16/myanmar-muslim-hospital-offers-hope-in-troubled-times/
On November 26th, 2013, Friends staff along with the community of Laos gathered at the future site of LFHC and celebrated the ground breaking ceremony. Construction has officially begun on the new pediatric hospital that will include inpatient & outpatient departments, 24 beds, emergency room, intensive care unit, operation theater, laboratory, pharmacy, radiology, lecture rooms & library to teach pediatric medicine to the future leaders of the hospital, kitchen & laundry for families visiting the hospital, and a vegetable garden to teach families how to prepare nutritious meals.
