The world of Tzu Chi (Vol.110)

2019 • 05 38 Cambodia 2019.03.01 – 03.03 Multinational Collaboration in International Medical Outreach lobal News F romMarch 1 to 3, 2019, a total of 169members of TzuChi’smedical teamand volunteers from Cambodia, Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, France, Laos and the USAconvened at the Prey Kabas Referral Hospital, Takéo Province, Cambodia for an international medical outreach and rice distribution session. This marked the second iteration of the medical outreach session held in the province – where a majority of its residents make a living in agriculture – following the previous session held in 1994 in Borey Cholsar District. The medical outreach offered services in general medicine, surgery, gynaecology, dentistry, traditional Chinese medicine and optometry, with 149 medical personnel attending to the villagers through a total of 5,789 consultation sessions, besides providing subsistence rice packs to 1,370 impoverished families. On February 28, 2019, 22 volunteers fromTaiwan and Singapore, along with 10 members of the Techo Voluntary Youth Doctor Association (TYDA) of Cambodia, officiated a ceremony held at the TYDA Headquarters to honour the generous individuals from Singapore who had donated medical equipment for the benefit of the medical outreach. The second-hand equipment collected by Tzu Chi on the other hand, was inspected and repaired by volunteers before delivery from Singapore to Cambodia to serve TYDA’s cause. A TYDA representative expressed his gratitude in his speech, saying, “We would like to extend our warm welcome to the Tzu Chi medical team. We are thankful for the medical equipment courtesy of our kind donors. We hope that medical outreach sessions will be held yearly to strengthen collaborative ties between TYDA and Tzu Chi for the benefit of the villagers.” In response, Dr Chien Sou-hsin, the Superintendent of Taichung Tzu Chi Hospital, said, “We are pleased to work with TYDA. It is our hope that our collaborative efforts extend beyond medical outreach sessions to medical training programmes in the future.” .