S'pore effort to help kids in Cambodia

Mon, May 16, 2011
By Gwendolyn Ng

WHEN 23-year-old Candice Lim visited a hospital in Cambodia last year as a volunteer, a doctor gave her a stethoscope to listen to the beating of a baby's heart - one which had a hole in it.

She said: "It sounded different from the usual 'lup dup' rhythm. There was a swishing sound, like the wind.

"It was so sad to see the baby struggling to breathe, suffering at such a young age."

The experience cemented her decision to help young cardiac patients get the health care they needed at the Angkor Hospital for Children (AHC) in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Miss Lim has been a volunteer for the past four years at Children of Cambodia - a non-profit project founded in Singapore in 2006.

Over the past six years, the group - made up of young Singaporeans under the age of 23 - has organised musical concerts, sold teddy bears and sourced for sponsors. So far, they have raised over $1 million and secured medical equipment to support their cause.

National University of Singapore medical undergraduate Jonathan Ng, 23, took over the position of project chairman four years ago. He said: "The project stood out because of its bigger vision. It wasn't a one-off effort. I really wanted to make a difference."

The team liaises with doctors and nurses here who are willing to spare time and effort to provide medical help free of charge.

The project has evolved over the years. Until 2009, they flew Cambodian children to Singapore if they needed complex heart surgery. Since then, Singapore medical experts, who are part of the team, have been imparting skills to the doctors at AHC so as to allow them to carry out more complicated surgical procedures.

Heart surgeon Sriram Shankar, who has volunteered with Children of Cambodia since it started, said:

"Our ultimate goal is to empower surgeons in the hospital to be able to do it independently."

Their efforts have inspired others to give back too.

Earlier this year, a young Cambodian boy donated US$100 (S$124) to the cause. Recounting the incident, Mr Ng said: "He was in one of the first batches of children to undergo surgery in 2006. It took him a long time to save the money. He said it was not much but he wanted to help."

To raise awareness, the Children of Cambodia project will hold a visual-arts exhibition at The Arts House from June 5 to 12. It features photographs taken at AHC by professionals such as Singaporean Dominic Khoo and American Daniel Rothenburg.

Mr Khoo, 33, who spent a week in March in Cambodia, said: "We're so lucky to be born here. This is a way for me to do my part."