Killing Fields Remediation Healing Cambodia

Why Remediation for Cambodia?
The depth and length of Western/international involvement in Cambodian affairs is something most people are not aware of. There really are no words to describe the misery created in Cambodia by more than 20 years of international covert activities.

Did you know?

• Thirty-nine years ago our government illegally bombed Cambodia for over four years (1969-1974).
• US bombs killed 500,000 innocent non-warring Cambodians (Cambodia was a neutral country).
• US bombs made 2 million Cambodians refugees in their own country.
• International covert activity facilitated the raise of the heinous Communist dictator Pol Pot.
• The US stood by as nearly 2 million Cambodians were tortured, killed or died of starvation in the Killing Fields.

Educators and Healthcare Providers Targeted First.
Consolidating his power, Pol Pot declared a new calendar when he took over converting 1975 to year Zero (0). He evacuated Phnom Penh in 48 hours, moving everyone to the countryside.

When Pol Pot was done with the Killing Fields in 1979 there were 40 doctors left in Cambodia.

The only educated Cambodians who survived the Killing Fields either escaped the country or they pretended to be illiterate peasants. Cambodia was intellectually sent back to the dark ages. It will take many decades for the country to recover.

The infrastructure of Cambodian healthcare has never rebounded. The ravages of the Killing Fields genocides continue to exert devastating consequences in Cambodia, particularly on the health of Cambodian women.  Many impediments to obtaining healthcare exist in Cambodia including poor infrastructure, a severe shortage of trained healthcare providers, high rates of illiteracy, extreme poverty, and lack of transportation.

Cambodian women are struggling to repopulate ethnic Khmer population.  Most women live in dire poverty, suffering from malnutrition, poor water quality, chronic Immunosuppression and more.  Many fall victim to illnesses that would be of little consequence in developed countries.

The lack of access to health care services results in lower rates of maternal health care than many other poorer countries. The Cambodian Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) is 540 deaths per 100,000 births causing the loss of 2000 Cambodian mothers annually.  Comparative MMR rates are: (Philippines 230), (Viet-Nam 150), (Thailand 110), (China 45), (USA 11), (Japan 6).  The Cambodian Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) is very high at 62.7/1000 births. 

The women and children of Cambodia desperately need our help.

The Killing Fields Remediation Healing Cambodia project proposal outlines the building of a Cambodian Women’s Health Care System beginning with the Cambodian Mothers Center and Obstetrics and Gynecological Institute (CMC) in The Capital City Phnom Penh and the first Rural Cambodian Mothers Center (RCMC) in a nearby province. The RCMC will support the training and practice of approximately 35 traditional birthing attendants in rural settings using custom-built Mobile Birthing Units. The RCMC will ultimately be duplicated in each of the 21 provinces of Cambodia.

Rural midwives training - Post training test