First Impressions

It's placement week time and I find myself in my new home for the next 2 years. So what are my first impressions?
I've been in the safe bubble of Kampong Cham, cycling to class, going out clubbing with the staff of my breakfast cafe and it felt strange to leave all that on Sunday. Cambodia's second city, 250, 000 people live here. It is not as busy and hectic as Phnom Penh yet it is not a tranquil back water town like Kampong Cham and the mighty Mekong does not run through it.
Instead it is greener and has what my VA (volunteers assistant) called a stream running through it. It has beautiful decaying french colonial architecture and there is still aerobics by the river. Its quicker to get to Bangkok than PP from here and Angkor Wat is just a couple of hours away. First impressions of my home city for the next 2 years - all good.
Perhaps I will allow The Rough Guide to Cambodia to review my future work place; "Avoid the provincial hospital near the river, where facilities are basic & conditions none too clean. You'll be better off at a private clinic."
Its a shame the majority of the Cambodian population aren't backpackers who can afford the luxury of a private clinic, for them the government hospital is their only option and they still have to pay for treatment (however basic and unclean). It's poorly resourced and the wards appear to be run by student nurses, the doctors I'll be working with didn't know who I was, why I was there and wanted me to work nights. Gary, the VSO nurse advisor, started in December and seems pleased to have someone now to exchange non-verbal communication eyebrow signals in meetings with.
I've seen my challenge for the next 2 years and it makes learning Khmer to a fluent level look like a walk in the park. Work first impressions? Overwhelming sense of helplessness! Solution - little baby steps........

This is the new outpatient and emergency wing development which in my job description it says I'll be working in. 

The room that they perform gastric lavage for people who have taken weed-killer.

The ITU (this is in name alone but technically where the sickest medical patients go) is where I will actually be based until the new wing is built. These are the only drugs available for the whole ward. NHS workers never again complain about not having enough resources. 

Newly installed sinks in wards to improve infection control. Please note the alcohol gel pump not soap - this one will get Gray's eyebrows twitching in my direction!

The room of pneumonia - in the rainy season apparently it has its own moat.

Area for patient's families to cook for them and wash clothes.  Like most developing countries all basic nursing care is delivered by families. Maybe another time I'll tell you about the 15 year old with no family in ITU.

This eye catching poster is a public health campaign about smoking. Clearly in Cambodia there are health issues that take a higher priority. Basic sanitation and a water supply in one of the country's biggest hospitals (270 beds) for a start.

Sharps disposal

Incinerator, the placentas get buried and I'll leave you to imagine what the local dogs do. 

This could be my potential home, I'm due to pay the deposit on Friday. It is the top floor of a khmer family home, it has 2 rooms so all visitors are more than welcome. BYO mossie net and plenty of goodies for the overwhelmed VSO health volunteer!

 All I need now is a hammock for the veranda and inner peace for the journey ahead.....