Starting Out My Journey As a Doctor to Be

Tuesday, June 08, 2010

of fund raising and fun raising

so you probably know this already. I went to Cambodia for a voluntary trip with two of my awesomest buddies, thanks Mel and PJ, this was by far the awesomest trip i have ever had!

Well it was supposed to be a full blown four weeks extraordinary voluntary experience but unfortunately, i fell sick, terribly sick, twice in a row in the second week. It manifestated as fever, constant severe throbbing headache, myalgia and arthralgia, diffuse rashes and we (the doctors included) had no idea what was the cause. It might be an allergic reaction to god know what or a bacterial/viral infection. PJ got it first, but he recovered more quickly then I did, so I am putting my money on infection. My folks were dead worried about that incidence so I was called back. literally. Of course I was very reluctant to leave, especially when I was slowly recovering by the day. the thing is I was the one who intiated the whole voluntary trip and i dragged my lovely friends into it (don't get me wrong, we are sooooooo very glad that we took part) and now i am the one to leave prematurely. i feel really really realllllllly bad, leaving early definitely shucks. i can't believe i actually got ill, it's those kind of things that you think could happen to anybody but yourself. oh well, i just happened to be that 'anybody' in this case. we need to keep the stats accurate, don't we? :p

But still, I am grateful that I got to spent two weeks in Samrong. It was truly a mind-blowing-eye-opening-arse-kicking experience and there will definitely be more voluntary trip down the road. and of course i will keep myself healthy and not fall sick next time. i have had my fair share of illness thank you very much.

I mentioned earlier that the hospital that I went to was a small hospital - Sam Roang Hospital, at the rural area of Siem Riep. This hospital is nothing like what you will ever see in Melbourne or Malaysia and I was utterly shocked by the condition of the hospital. The very limited facilities and resources, running low on/out of medical supplies, fan-less maternity ward, supposedly sterile operating theatre with flies in it and only three out of five bulbs of the operating lamp are working. You can't possibly imagine what the condition is like until you see it for yourself. It is primitive.

Mel and I had a chat on this matter and we decided to raise some funds for the hospital. We know that raising funds can't and won't be a long term solution for the hospital, more has to be done, much more for this case but at this stage, this is the best we could do a part from raising awareness on behalf of the hospital. They need all the help that is available, and this little money and medical supplies will no doubt relieve some of the problem the hospital is currently facing.

Okay, this is the hard part. Whenever it comes to fund raising and donating money for a good cause, the first thing that cross most people mind is - this is a scam. and I don't blame you for that because there are people out there scamming people for a living. I don't have a paper authorization to prove that I am raising money for the hospital, i am not raising fund on behalf of any organization, i don't have a proper official bank account for wire transfer, what i have is the permission from the medical adviser from the hospital to raise fund through my blog and facebook (see right column for her email address), i am just a volunteer at the hospital trying to help. i have no experience whatsoever in raising fund, not through internet anyway, i only did bake sale before. I don't have a target, all i know is that ALL the proceed will go to the hospital and be used to purchase medications for the patients and fans for the maternity ward. So please do help if you trust me. By the end of this, receipts will be issued by the hospital to every donor and I will either email, snail mail or pass the receipt to you in person. Every cent counts people.

I will publish multiple posts over the next few weeks on my trip to Cambodia and the bits and pieces about the hospital. Please bear with me and email me for details on making a donation.

Be part of this people, it's not everyday that you get to save a person's life.

love,
Phey Yee

Labels: Cambodia, for a good cause, medicine and me