Value Life Nov10 2010

Midwifery Intern program

5 new students were enrolled October in our intern program. They’re all from different provinces of Cambodia and very eager to learn. This internship is so much more than just studying midwifery, they all live at Kaleb (a NGO who partnered with us to develop and train quality Cambodian midwifes). They also receive English classes, computer training and value teaching. 3 of the girls, Linda, Channe and Pauline come from strong Buddhist families. Bora and SoTe are from Christian families.  I’ve been teaching now for 2 mnths and next week they’ll start to join in on clinic days. Please pray for them, for the work of the Holy Spirit in their hearts and their studies which is overwhelming as they are not really used to study. Please let me know if some of you would like to be more involved with this program to sponsor and pray for a specific student.

Theary enrolled in International University beginning October after she successfully completed her 9 month internship with me. We have shared before that she has also come to belief in Jesus during this time and it is so encouraging to see how she is growing in her faith. She is now the only Christian in her family and such a strong witness. I asked her what is her family saying about her conversion and she said they are happy for her because they see that she is now at peace and happy. There is so much fear in their religion that the change when they become Christian is very obvious. We’ve went to her village to start building relationship in order to start a clinic there once Theary is finished with her studies. Her family is very influential and their house is full of portraits of monks from their family. Please pray for her and her family.

Value Life Clinic

Wow! The clinic is bursting out of its seams! More woman every Saturday and with the more patients there are more staff too. We have Jenny, a nurse practitioner from UK, Victoria, nurse from Sweden who is doing all the baby and children check-ups. Then in the pre natal room there is faithful Emily and now also Erica from Finland. Marianne still translates together with Phil and Janet from Singapore helps out with Admin. And of course we all are waiting for Kerri to return from USA. Theary is doing prenatal exams now independently. We are in the process of employing a Khmer midwife, please pray for this. It is not easy to find someone; many have qualifications but shockingly little knowledge or practical experience.

Jason from Water of Life is coming every Sat morning to share the Word with the women, we see how they start to listen more as they also get to know him.  Davee from our Malaysian partners also come and visit individually with the woman while they wait for their check-ups.

Then on Tuesdays we do follow up clinic and after wards I do family visitations with Marcus and Ivan who is partnering with us to start bible studies in the homes of families open to the gospel. Praise the Lord for this; this is the purpose why we do all this. Pray for these two men, for open doors, open hearts, guidance, protection and favor with the people.

We have opened another room at the clinic and Vanessa (Ivan’s wife) has started skills training with some of the women. They are doing simple needle work projects, and get paid a small amount for the hours they put in and their babies can be with them. Please pray for Vanessa and also Mom from Water of Life as they teach and share. The women are so thankful for this, many of them sit for hours at home doing crafts for the temples and paid not even 25cents (U$). Sreymau was one of the 1^st moms that came to our clinic 2 ½ yrs ago, she worked on the garbage dump and usually very angry and stressed. It was so wonderful to see her sitting with Vanessa and the other moms, so peaceful and then she showed me so proudly what she was stitching.

Cambodia Struggles With Maternal Deaths

By Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer Original report from Phnom Penh 24 March 2009

One night last week, Mith Saron, 48, and his pregnant wife, Vorn Yeoun, 38, went to a referral hospital in Pailin. 
Vorn Yeoun was ready to give birth, Mith Saron said in a recent interview, but the hospital attendants refused to admit her without a $25 delivery fee. It was around 10 pm, so Mith Saron promised to pay the next morning. Still an attendant asked for $1.25 to call in a team of doctors. Mith Saron did not have that much money. 
The attendant, who said he was poor too, did not call the doctors. By morning, Mith Saron, said, Vorn Yeoun and her unborn child were dead.
For all its development over the past few years, Cambodia has been unable to lower its maternal death rate. Its death rate was higher in 2005 than in 1997. 
“Five women per day die giving life,” Douglas Broderick, UN resident coordinator, told members of the National Assembly last week. The figure has remained the same since 2000, he said. 
Cambodia had 473 deaths for every 100,000 live births in 2005, an increase from 437 in 100,000 in 1997, according to the most recent government figures. 
The increasing number of deaths is above the average for developing countries, and, Broderick said, is the highest number in Southeast Asia.
But not all maternal deaths are the fault of doctors or hospitals, said Nhiek Bun Chop, head of Battambang province’s health department. Some women ignore prenatal care, making their pregnancies more difficult, sometimes dying as a result, he said.
Krouy Leang Sim, undersecretary of state for the Ministry of Health, said the government is trying to make sure every woman is able to deliver at health centers, which improve odds for survival.
The ministry is setting up a national network of houses, where women who are expecting to give birth but live far from medical centers can stay.
Still, some health officials say Cambodia will not meet its development goals, if the pace of improvement for women giving birth does not increase.