Nationally, nearly half of Cambodian children are malnourished and one in eight will die before his/her fifth birthday. Most of these deaths are from preventable, treatable causes such as respiratory infections, diarrhoea, dengue fever, typhoid and other gastro-intestinal problems. Some health services are available but very limited in Sihanoukville. Most families cannot afford to pay for care and often turn to high-interest money lenders or the sex trade to help pay medical bills. Our goal is to guarantee free, comprehensive medical care to every vulnerable child in Sihanoukville.
- Provide efficient, comprehensive, holistic medical are to the children and families who are supported by MT
- Provide medical care with compassion, empathy and respect for the individual patient
- Educate and empower children to better manage their own health and their families’ health
Center Based Health Care
The clinic at our Main Center focuses largely on health promotion and minor treatments and serves the children who come to the centre regularly, primary caretakers of M’Lop Tapang children, children of M’Lop Tapang staff and any referrals from our Outreach Team. The clinic serves as a base for assessing all new children to M’Lop Tapang as well as conducting follow-up health evaluations.
The medical team provides daily assistance to children at the Main Centre in the form of basic hygiene (bathing, lice treatment and dental care), medical care, emergencies and health education. We arrange referrals to 22 various medical facilities in Cambodia. Emergencies and severe medical cases can only be treated in Phnom Penh, and we work with a Registered Nurse who is our Phnom Penh-based logistics assistant and coordinates medical care, follow-up appointments, and communication with Medical Doctors regarding our patients.
In 2008, we started our Baby Care Program to provide babies and toddlers who are malnourished with medical, nutritional and emotional care. The program also incorporates education to caregivers about nutrition, hygiene, positive parenting skills and basic care, allowing them to better manage their baby’s health. We have recently started to offer a Baby Care program at our community shelter in Phum Doang which provides daytime care to babies and toddlers to enable a parent to work or a child to attend school.
Thanks to the generous support of Swedish dentist, Karin Jonsson, M’Lop Tapang is able to offer free dental care to children. Karin works with our medical staff for 5 months per year treating an average of 90 children per month. As well, we host a handful of highly skilled and committed volunteer international dentists every year at the clinic who come in for a short period and treat 100+ children at a time.
Special Needs
Working in slums and poor communities of Sihanoukville every day, M’Lop Tapang social workers recognised that there were a number of children who were not able to benefit from any of M’Lop Tapang’s services because they were physically unable to come to the centres and/or had difficulty interacting with other kids.
Many of these children suffer from undiagnosed learning difficulties, while others are living with neurological disorders such as cerebral palsy and epilepsy. Parents, public schools and the wider community are ill-equipped to deal with these types of development challenges, and in most cases these children are given virtually no opportunities to learn or develop intellectually and emotionally.
Children are given a chance to interact and bond with other kids through arts and crafts activities such as painting, colouring, and plasticine moulding, as well as dance and basic literacy. All of the children have access to bathing facilities, and our nurses assist them with basic hygiene maintenance (brushing teeth, washing hair, etc). Each child is assigned an individual social worker who is responsible for their transportation to and from the main centre.
Medical Volunteers
M'Lop Tapang welcomes many foreign and local medical volunteers who generously offer their skills and expertise to treats hundreds of Cambodian children.
Some of medical professionals who generously donated their time to M’Lop Tapang include:
- Dr. Petrina Jobson, Dentist
- Dr. Ed McCudden, Dentist
- Dr. Tim Trodd, Medical Doctor
- Dr. Richard Bell, Dentist, and Jodie Braden, Dental Assistant.
- Elaine Lancaster, Dental Assistant
- Dr. Trisha Wright, Dentist, and assistant Suzanne Wright
- Dr. Isabella Rocchietta, Dentist
- Dr. Cathy Heath, Medical Doctor
- Dr. Rosemary Barnett, Medical Doctor (Nutrition)
In 2010, M’Lop Tapang began working with Speech Therapist consultant, Alice Smith. We also work closely with Dentist Karin Jonsson who treats hundreds of children in Sihanoukville. Additionally, we work with All Ears Cambodia, a team of ear specialists that visit 3-4 times per year offering free ear care to children and families. All Ears Cambodia
Special thanks to Vanessa and John Stout who helped us build our Medical Database.
Medical professionals interested in volunteering to treat children can contact: info@mloptapang.org
