In late September 2018, I embarked on my fourth trip to Cambodia. I have been working in Cambodia for 5 years now. 2018 was my third Cambodia Vision mission and the second time I would be joining Speech Therapy Cambodia, accompanied by my son Gideon Heine and Speech Pathology students from La Trobe University who had received the Australian Government New Colombo Plan.

My journey began with a visit to the National Pediatric Hospital in Phnom Penh where I met with the Head of Pediatric surgery, the Head of the Cleft Palate team and the Head ENT.

The students and my son arrived a day later and our joint journey then begun. We travelled for three hours by bus together with 80 other Cambodia Vision volunteers to the regional province of Svay Rieng to work in the local Referral Hospital. The mission was already set up by a team of volunteers who sorted the shipped boxes of supplies, set up the tent for registration, the tent for the surgery patients and cleaned the rooms for each team. The teams consisted of the vision team (Optometrists and Opticians who tested eyesight, prescribed and made glasses, diagnosed the cause of the vision problem and evaluated the patient’s potential for surgery to correct their vision), Anaesthetists, nurses and Ophthalmologists (who conducted surgery), GPs (who evaluated patients potential for surgery and provided general healthcare), pharmacists (who dispensed mediation) and my team (the Speech and Hearing team). All teams are supported by the organisers, cooking team and support staff who work at registration and manage the crowds.

The mission started off with a bang and my team was consistently busy on the first day. We saw around 180 people and it was only our first day! The people who worked in the team consisted of myself, my son, the students, qualified Speechies, support staff and 2 translators (who were Cambodian nursing or medical students who acted as translators and with whom we conducted capacity building education). The first day was an eye-opener and although we were tired by the end of the day, we were also elated to have achieved such a good result assisting an impoverished community in need of speech and hearing healthcare.

The six days on the mission all blurred into one experience, although there were many patients that never left our minds - the deaf couple who were happy to have received listening systems to be able to hear each other’s voices, the mother who was now able to hear her child cry, the old man who had cataract surgery as well and once fitted with a listening system had improved vision and hearing, the mother who now knew how to stimulate language production, the young man who persevered to say them, p and l sounds and the list goes on and on!

The mission was undoubtedly a huge success with over 4000 people registering for services. My team conducted 797 assessments and therapies. The team learnt about working together under humid conditions, for long days. They learnt about working in impoverished communities that lack access to health care and they learnt more about themselves (for example how resilient they were).

After the mission concluded, we returned to Phnom Penh to begin a second program. This program consisted of visits to various NGOs or not for profit organisations working in Cambodia including Speech Therapy Cambodia (who work with Physical Therapists at 2 hospitals), UNICEF, the Cambodian Children’s Fund, the Rabbit School (for children with disabilities), the Friendship Fund and All Ears Cambodia. And of course, there was the yearly visit to the Australian Embassy in Phnom Penh for a briefing by the First Secretary. These visits provided us with a broader perspective about the healthcare system in Cambodia, the role of NGOs and the services (albeit sparse) available to the community.

 The program concluded after 14 days. It was a wonderful experience for us all and we are always grateful to have been involved in such incredible programs.

Cambodia, you always touch our hearts!