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LICADHO dispatched a team from its Medical Office to provide emergency assistance to the small village of Phluk Thnung, in Kampong Speu province, after Radio Free Asia reported the village was suffering from a sudden increase in health and nutrition problems. They were joined by both national and international organization and provided health care services, medicine, dry food and vegetables to villagers in need.

The medical team first visited Phluk Thnung on March 5, 2006. Carrying with them basic medicine and vitamins, the field visit revealed a village plagued by poverty and insufficient basic infrastructure. Several villagers were found to be gravely ill or disabled, and lacked the resources to seek treatment.

The villagers said corruption at government health stations was the primary barrier to seeking medical assistance for problems including malnutrition, parasitic diseases such as malaria, disease from dirty water and lack of hygiene, as well as temporary and permanent physical disability due to lack of medical care after an injury. One man had suffered from an untreated broken leg for four years before receiving medical attention. Shortly after LICADHO’s visit, when he received proper medical care, the man regained mobility and is recovering well.

One of the children treated by LICADHO’s medical teamA villager from Kong Pisey district, where the village is located, told LICADHO medical staff that the provincial public health center required him to pay for services with cattle before receiving treatment. Unfortunately for most rural Cambodian’s, relinquishing even the most meager of possessions can have a huge impact on their ability to support themselves and their families.

This endemic corruption can be observed in most public services. Due to inadequate and irregular salaries, some doctors will compensate themselves with bribes in the form of livestock, money and other valuable items. These are extorted from clients before services are provided. Yet, according to the mandate of the Ministry of Health, medical care for poor Cambodians should be free of charge.

Another factor degrading health standards in Kampong Speu, is the fact that the five villages that make up the Kong Pisey district share just one well. This means approximately 1,000 families are dependent on a single water source, often far from their homes. The scarcity of water compounds health, hygiene and safety problems for villagers. Kampong Speu is a relatively economically stable province, with the means for local government to provide for its people, and yet a lack of infrastructure persists.

LICADHO’s medical team revisited patients for follow up treatment on March 12 and March 25, and noted general improvements in the health of the villagers.

While both Cambodian and international organizations have provided emergency assistance to the best of their abilities, it is inevitably non-sustainable. LICADHO urges the Ministry of Health to comply with its mandate at all levels and take appropriate disciplinary actions to end systematic corrupt practices. Furthermore, it is the responsibility of provincial governors to ensure the fruits of investment and development are distributed to small villages as well as larger cities and towns.

Thursday, April 20, 2006
5:30-7:30pm
Location: Long Beach City College

For a talk with Dr. Richard Mollica,
Director of the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma
and Community Dialogue facilitated by
NCCJ of Southern California

A Collaboration of:

Richard F. Mollica, M.D., M.A.R. is the Director of the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma (HPRT) of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and is Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He is a world renowned expert on the Cambodian genocide and the mental health needs and treatment of Southeast Asian refugees. In 1981, Dr. Mollica co-founded the Indochinese Psychiatry Clinic (IPC). Over the past two decades HPRT and IPC have pioneered the mental health care of survivors of mass violence and torture. HPRT/IPC’s clinical model has been replicated throughout the world. Dr. Mollica has received numerous awards for his work, including the 1993 human rights award from the American Psychiatric Association. Under Dr. Mollica’s direction, HPRT conducts training, policy and research activities for traumatized populations around the world. The group’s recent epidemiological studies have demonstrated for the first time the chronic disability and mortality associated with the mental health sequelae of mass violence. HPRT’s scientific work has helped place mental health issues at the center of the recovery of post-conflict societies.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT

NCCJ at:

(562) 435-8184

or log onto:

http://www.nccjsocal.org

http://www.hprt-cambridge.org

By Kristopher Hanson, Staff writer
Long Beach Press Telegram

LONG BEACH — Between 1975 and 1979, Cambodia’s “Killing Fields” claimed the lives of an estimated 4 million men, women and children under the brutal Khmer Rouge regime in control of the small southeast Asian nation.

Among those who escaped the horror were many who came to Long Beach.

Now, a cultural project featuring the experiences of Cambodian-American women through musical performances, a photographic exhibit and lecture is under way in Long Beach.

Through art, the project tells the stories of women who experienced the Cambodian holocaust.

A play at the Found Theatre, 599 Long Beach Blvd., features the story of a young girl who flees Cambodia under the horrors of the Khmer Rouge and is adopted by a family at a Thai refugee camp. The family eventually makes their way to America, where they find life can be as difficult as it was in Cambodia.

“Journey Across the Mine Fields to America” runs through Sunday.

Based on an ancient Cambodian cultural tradition called Lakhon Yike (pronounced yeekay), the performance includes drums, dancing and singing. Chantara Nop, a local survivor, wrote the play.

On March 4, a photographic exhibit titled “Courage and Resiliency: Cambodian-American Women in America,” opens at the Long Beach Main Library with a 2 p.m. reception featuring the oral history of 10 women documented with 47 photographs.

The library, at 101 Pacific Ave., will provide gallery space and free admission for the exhibit through April 30 during regular library hours.

On March 7, Poly High School will welcome Svang Tor, Senior Clinician and Consultant with the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma (HPRT). Tor is also a Cambodian-American survivor who is featured in the exhibit from Harvard. She will speak to students from 9:30-11:30

Finally, April 20, Harvard Psychiatry Professor Richard Mollica, who oversees the HPRT, will speak at Long Beach City College.

To contact the Found Theater, call (562) 433-3363 or visit www.foundtheatre.com. For more information about the project, call the National Conference for Community and Justice at (562) 435-8184.

Finally, April 20, Harvard Psychiatry Professor Richard Mollica, who oversees the HPRT, will speak at Long Beach City College.

To contact the Found Theater, call (562) 433-3363 or visit www.foundtheatre.com. For more information about the project, call the National Conference for Community and Justice at (562) 435-8184.