Sellers Cambodia Mission Weeks 6,7,8

 

Good Morning, Cambodia!

Weeks 3-5

After another week of quarantine aka groundhog week and a final Covid test we were finally released and taken to our apartment--almost.  Because the departing couple, Mike and Linda Warner didn't leave for another four days, we stayed in an apartment upstairs and lived out of a suitcase.  We went to the mission home where we met President Lewis and his wife, some of the staff as well as some missionaries.  A slide presentation was made of the Warner's 18 months (plus home for Covid) and we were welcomed, then enjoyed a much needed meal of hamburgers and French fries!  How we longed for a good hamburger while in quarantine!

            Sellers, Lewises, Warners                                        Bye-bye Hotel Olympia City!

The next few days were spent visiting health clinics and meeting with hospital personnel, some training with the Warners and getting to know the one other medical couple, Steve and Vickie Lewis who live in Kampong Chan, 1 1/2 hours away from us.  Their focus is on renovating a district hospital which has become a showpiece for their province.  They are really friendly and we have become fast friends already.  They have mentored us a lot since we've come here.

After the Warners left we officially moved downstairs to the 4th floor (5th in the US) into their vacated apartment and spent the next few days personalizing and making it our own with new lights, pictures, plants, bedding, etc.  

Typical Hospital Bathroom

Hospital Ward

 Note new donated beds in the back on left.

Pow-Wow about needed improvements

The Registration Area

Elder and Sister Lewis spent the next few days with us traveling with our translator, Karona, to several health centers where we met with directors to try and identify what their most pressing needs were--many of them quite obvious.  There were surgery rooms with ceilings caving in, rusty and filthy lights, fans and equipment.  Beds were in bad shape but most had a few new beds that had been donated by the church via the Warners.  Bathrooms and surgery prep rooms, maternity suites, etc. were unusable by our standards.  Some health centers/hospitals had some new equipment, again, donated, but not always cared for or didn't have the right power source or know-how to run the equipment.  Ideas were flowing for how to make improvements to their current conditions with resources from the church with this medical initiative project.  Even the outside needs a lot of attention.  Swamps need to be drained, driveways and parking lots paved, landscaping, incinerators and generators, some newly donated, need to be addressed.  Now the hard part:  Dan gets to decide what is most pressing, what we can do with our budget, how we can get them trained to run simple things like autoclaves and patient monitors.

We were dealt a handicap this week.  Our visas that got us here are only good for three months, so the service center took our passports to apply for longer visas.  We were called the next day to tell us that Dan's passport didn't have enough visa pages left and he needs to get a new passport.  After a lot of blood, sweat and tears Dan finally got an appointment to meet with someone at the US Embassy to apply for a passport--two weeks hence.  Then it will take another minimum two weeks to receive the passport.  Since the interpreters are not allowed to drive us Dan needs to get his driver's license but can't without his new passport.  Therefore, I have to drive.  Ugh!  So off to the DMV we go.  After waiting in line forever I wasn't allowed to get my license because I have a temporary license.  I applied for a new one in Utah that wouldn't expire while we were in Cambodia.  Therefore, we had to be driven around a bit this past week which put a crimp in our week.  We did get permission to have an interpreter, Monasak drive us to a couple of our places.  Luckily, Dan was able to do a lot of desk work trying to figure out his role here.  The church expedited my license and unfortunately I have to get my driver's license and be the chauffeur until Dan gets his new passport.  The traffic here with the crazy cars, tuk-tuks (motorized rickshaws) and motos makes driving extremely hazardous.  Traffic deaths are the leading cause of deaths here.

Well, enough for this episode.  We struggle with Blogger, so we may try a different blog maker next time.

Mom and Dad

Dan and Marian