Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Final Preparations!!

November 4, 2015
Getting our final bits done before we leave for Cambodia... at 6:30 am tomorrow!!  Hal is going to chauffeur us to the airport!  Thanks Hal!
I packed last night.  Since we are not sure if we will actually do surgery, I am not taking my surgical equipment.  Therefore, I decided to try to do this international trip with just a carry on and a back pack!  Wish me luck! 
Below is part of the email from our trip leader, Shelley.   Some exciting stuff there, so I am just putting it in the blog.
The clinic location sounds amazing! It is a huge pagoda in central Siem Reap with temples surrounding it and overseen by a Buddhist monk. Cathy says the site is unbelievably beautiful. It is also across the road from a handicrafts market and has restaurants very nearby. It sounds like we may not be able to fully set up the day before, but it should be fine to set up the first clinic morning because I don't think it is going to be so busy. There has never been a veterinary aid project in Siem Reap before and the local organizers are going to advertise our clinic ahead of time, but they are unsure what the turnout will be like. There is no veterinary medicine for small animals in Cambodia from what Cathy has told me...no government rabies program, no veterinary education in dog and cat medicine...just agriculture.
There is some concern from the monk at the clinic site and from the local organizer that there may be resistance from the locals to spay/neuter. There is a religious aspect, as the locals are Buddhist, as well as just a lack of understanding of why it is a good idea. Cathy has asked us to feel out the situation once we are there and try to educate people and promote spay/neuter and do what we can, without offending the locals cultural and religious beliefs.

Regardless of how this plays out, there will be lots of medical cases/consultations and lots of opportunity to introduce something new and valuable to the community. And we are the lucky few that get to go to this amazing place and be the pilot project members for World Vets Southeast Asia. 

I have a couple of friends that will be in Siem Reap at the same time we are, volunteering at the Elephant Sanctuary. This sanctuary is the sister site to the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand that World Vets is partnering with in 2016 to offer veterinary volunteers at the Thailand location. I am working on trying to arrange for us to visit the elephant sanctuary on Friday 11/13. Cathy King has sent an email to ENP Thailand trying to help organize that...hopefully it will be possible. 

We have since been informed that we will get to visit the Elephant Nature Park! 
So those are just some snippets of the adventure awaiting us!

Until later!!

1 comment:

  1. Hi there everyone.

    Love the photos!!..............what a remarkably lush looking countryside. Beautiful.

    hope everyone is doing great!.
    cheers
    Uncle Dude

    ReplyDelete