EVERETT – Two dozen members of New Life Foursquare Church in Everett have set off to deliver aid to one of the most war-torn countries in East Asia: Cambodia.
The group is bringing along $500,000 in medical supplies to spend about two weeks in the Oddar Meanchey province in northern Cambodia near the Thai border.
A clinic has been set up so that the missionary team consisting of an doctor specializing in obstetrics and gynocology, 12 nurses, two physician assistants, four emergency medical technicians, a dentist and a pharmacist, who can treat nearly 2,000 people a day, with a goal of seeing more than 15,000 during their stay.
“An overwhelming majority of Cambodians have never seen a doctor,” said Rick Sawczuk, the church’s outreach pastor. “This is the first clinic of this scale in the region.”
Nearly all Cambodians in the vicinity suffer from a variety of health issues, including malnourishment, malaria and dengue fever, said Dr. Diane Quammen, an obstetrician and gynocologist who retired from the Everett Clinic.
Prevention will be just as important as treatment, she said.
Along with clinical care, the group will be giving villagers enough multivitamins for two months; from pre-natal to adult tablets.
“There are traditional birth attendants, and I am bringing them supplies using kits based on a Ugandan model,” Quammen said. The $2 low-tech infant delivery kits include soap, a razor blade and latex gloves.
“With the riches that we have, it’s the least we can do,” she said.
Reporter Justin Arnold: 425-339-3432 or jarnold@heraldnet.com.
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