K.I.D.S' Floating Hospital in Cambodia - A CEF Sponsored Project

Rey Buenaventura, CEF Social Media Manager CEF is proud to announce that we have partnered with the Kids International Development Society (K.I.D.S.) to help fund their Mobile Marine Health Clinic project in Cambodia.  K.I.D.S. is a Nanaimo, B.C. based non-profit that was founded by Rick & Adrienne Dartnell over eleven years ago.   During this time, the organization has worked tirelessly to provide essential health care, family support & education services to underserved communities throughout South East Asia.

Their latest project known as the The Lake Clinic (TLC) is focused on bringing basic health care services to several isolated regions along the Tonle Sap Lake and Stung Sen River in Cambodia.  Comprised of one Cambodian doctor, a nurse/midwife, a pilot/cook, and a general volunteer, the TLC team has been travelling by small boats to various villages along the river since March of this year.  During that time, the Lake Clinic has managed to expand its services to eight villages & sub-villages along an 80-kilometer stretch of the Stung Sen, helping over 100 people each day.  The communities located along its banks are primarily isolated farming communities, which have limited access to basic health care services.

However, with the advent of the monsoon season, the TLC team’s work been hampered by torrential rains, which have made it difficult to reach the many of the same villages that have come to depend on their care.  Henceforth, out of their desire to continue to helping poor & isolated communities, K.I.D.S has asked CEF to support their goal of building a ‘mobile marine mini-clinic’ that would allow them to continue their work in the Stung Sen area during the monsoon season.

CEF believes in the work that K.I.D.S. provides and has agreed to provide the necessary funding to help them purchase a locally built, pre-fabricated medical clinic to be placed on a floating platform.  This 'mobile marine mini-clinic' will give K.I.D.S.' TLC staff the ability to provide a clean and controlled environment for minor surgeries and procedures; greater patient privacy for physical examinations (especially for women of all ages); and a safe teaching, meeting, and lodging space for the many brave volunteers who provide care for the  villagers.

Since receiving funding support from CEF in October 2011, TLC’s mobile marine clinic has come to serve approximately 3000 people living in this area.  Their goal is to increase their reach by providing medical services to an estimated 13,000 more people whom TLC staff could not reach before.  Overall, CEF has been extremely happy and proud to have played a small part in supporting the important work that K.I.D.S. has done for the people in Cambodia.