26 April 2012
Southern Times Messenger, Adelaide by Lia Harris
COLLEAGUES: Lorraine Fraser King with Kong, who works at the diabetes centre in Siem Reap.
AFTER her ex-husband Hilary died in 2008, Lorraine Fraser King moved from Seaford to Cambodia to fulfil his dream and fight diabetes.
The 58-year-old left the southern suburbs in which she had spent her
life and set up the Centre for Diabetes and Cambodian Diabetes
Association in Siem Reap.
Mrs Fraser King said setting up the centre had been Hilary’s ambition.
“He was head of the World Health Organisation’s diabetes program and
did some research here in Cambodia and found there was a diabetes
problem here,” she told the Southern Times Messenger from Cambodia.
“After my former husband died, I needed a total change of environment
... that’s why I came over here to help set up the clinic.”
The diabetes centre aims to diagnose and treat diabetes early, as
well as educate Cambodians about healthy eating. Mrs Fraser King, a
former Christies Beach High student, helps test Cambodians for diabetes
and recently launched a healthy-eating program for primary school
children, which includes planting vegie patches.
She said many Cambodians could not afford medication to manage diabetes and called on southern residents to support the cause.
“Thirty per cent of the population lives on less than $1 per day, so
they are more likely to eat rice almost exclusively,” she said.
“They’re all used to infectious diseases but are not aware of chronic diseases like diabetes and heart problems.
“I am a long way from Seaford in more ways than one.”
For more information or to make a donation, visit www.cdasiemreap.org
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