For almost three years, a lay Marist couple from Mexico has been working as volunteers in Pailin, with the Marist Brothers to establish health services for local communities.
Doctor Estela Rodriguez and her husband, Rodrigo Sanchez, who are both fluent in Khmer, farewelled the community on March 29 with their two children, the youngest of which was born during their time in Cambodia.
Doctor Estela and Rodrigo have helped to establish a once-a-week health clinic in Pailin. Three times each week, they also run clinics in outlying rural villages, including Ou Chet Pram and On Doung Pi, and the town of Battambang. The program is endorsed by the Cambodian Ministry of Health.
The local community in Ou Chet Pram has provided a dedicated space at the local primary school and a clinic now operates there twice a week.
At each clinic, Rodrigo sets up facilities and engages with patients by providing basic health and hygiene information as they wait to be seen. Estela assesses and diagnoses each patient and is able to provide basic treatment.
In their first year, the couple provided health care to over 2200 patients. More than two thirds were women, from 25 communities.
Since last March, Estela and Rodrigo have also run health workshops covering a range of topics, including hygiene and sanitation, and illnesses like typhoid, dengue fever and respiratory conditions.
Estela and Rodrigo, with the support of the Marist Brothers, have now handed the outreach program over to a local doctor, empowering the local community to continue providing quality health services for years to come.
Marist Solidarity is grateful for the commitment of our funding partners Manos Unidas in Spain. And we are extremely grateful for the generosity and compassion shown by Estela and Rodrigo during their time at Pailin and for their support in making the new-found Rural Health Outreach program such an outstanding success for the communities it serves.
To donate to the ongoing costs of this program please visit our webpage www.australianmaristsolidarity.net.au/pailin