19.2.08
Second day of eye camp.
We heard cries of joy coming from the consult room. "I can
see! I can see!" Post-op patients were sat in school chairs in lines like a
classroom waiting for their turn for the doctor to unveil their new sight. This was where we met Mot Suan. Yesterday he
was completely blind with cataracts in both eyes. He had been blind for over 3
years and today, he could see clearly from one eye! He was excitedly chatting
to his family and friends about his miracle. He would be my case study. His
reaction was out of this world. He could hardly contain his excitement! We
learnt Mot Suan came from a farming family not far from the hospital. He
had been struggling with blindness for so long he didn’t know what his
grandchildren looked like. He couldn’t participate in the family’s duties to
make rice noodles and work in the rice fields and felt like a complete burden. He said that his
life was worth nothing without his eyes to see. It was mind-blowing to think about the
implications of restoring his sight for himself and his family. Farming
families need each and everyone working to help generate an income. Most
families live on less than US$5 a day so everyone’s contribution to making
money is vital. For Mot Suan, seeing again means his family will be better off
and he feels he can make a hefty contribution instead of the burden he felt he
was for so many years.
We drove Mot Suan home to his village where we were
confronted with the problem of Mot Suan not recognising his house! He was a
little distressed as we followed him around his village looking for his family.
He talked to fellow villagers along the way spreading the message of his
miracle sight and finally was reunited with his wife, daughter and her family.
He saw his two grandchildren for the first time!
After a morning of miracles, Somin, Sophavid and I went for
some lunch on the banks of the river where local women fought over who was
going to cook us lunch. The food ended up being delicious but took quite a long
time to come out to us. We decided next time to go for the person who offers
the quickest chicken! Our leftovers were greatly appreciated by local kids who
Sophavid said their parents don’t have enough food to feed them so they are
forced to scavenge.
Next we embarked on a bumpy journey to the pre-Angkorian
ruins of Samor Prei Kuk. We were only there for a short time but for long
enough to appreciate the unique qualities of these monuments.
We had one more
errand to make before we could go back to the hotel to rest. We went to Dr
Kakada’s house in Kampong Thom to pick up medical supplies for tomorrow and had
an unusual Khmer snack of sliced unripe mango with a fish sauce/sugar/chilli flake
dipping sauce! After returning to the hotel I listened through my interviews
from today and was secretly hoping my feast on unripe mango with supposed gut
healing properties wouldn’t end up as a literal ‘flush out’ tomorrow!
