Every person deserves a voice. Even those who don't have them.
Why I think this is the project most worth supporting
People with disabilities in Cambodia are a forgotten population. Within this group, there is an even more forgotten population, and that is those with communication and swallowing problems. I've seen first hand the changes that can be made to these lives
through Speech Therapy in the UK. Children are given the opportunities to enter school, to have jobs and to participate in their communities through this therapy.
However in Cambodia, there are no Speech Therapists. There is no training course at university, no knowledge at government or community level and no system in place to help these people reach their potential.
Volunteering with CABDICO for the past month, I've been able to see up close what they are able to achieve. The staff are highly motivated, they want to learn and improve and they genuinely care. The only thing stopping them is resources, one of which, is
funding.
The project is the brainchild of Weh Yeoh, an Australian who has been working with CABDICO for 2 years. He was featured in
The Sydney Morning Herald, the largest paper in Australia, recently
here. His approach has not only been to set up a sustainable program, but also to help bring more worldwide attention to this forgotten issue.
How this project will create long term change
Most projects funding therapists coming into Cambodia focus on training a few individuals in non-profit organisations to improve their skills in this area of knowledge. Eventually those foreigners leave and the longer term, bigger impact of that work is
minimal. This project works with government and non government partners. It is a pilot project, meaning that the results are shared with people who are in a position to implement bigger change.
Right from the start, the onus is on Cambodian people to implement this knowledge into practice. This project is all about Cambodians helping other Cambodians through sustainable systems.
Who this project can help
I recently met this child, Kei Roun, in a small village outside Siem Reap, Cambodia. If you only ventured to Siem Reap to see the famous Angkor Wat temples, you might not know anything about the poverty that exists around it.
One year ago went to school for preschool, but he ran away from the class because he was scared of the other children and the environment. They found him in the forest near the village. At that time, he could not even
express one word.
After this he wouldn’t want to go back to school, because he was still afraid. CABDICO's treatment consisted of simple communication strategies for the parents, such as how to give attention to the child, speak slowly, and wait patiently for him to reply.
These strategies improved his communication drastically.
Then after a few months he managed to say a few words here and there. Now he can say simple sentences, and he can understand what his mother says pretty much all the time. He has now returned to school. He now has a future,
a potential as a human being.
Why this matters to Cambodia
There are over 600,000 people just like Kei Roun who need speech therapy services. For those with swallowing disorders, the situation is even more dire. Research has shown that those with swallowing problems are 13 times
more likely to die young. CABDICO staff have told me that at least 2 children out of their caseload have recently died because they literally choked on their own phlegm. It's a serious problem.
Without countrywide efforts to attack this problem, the over 4% of the population will continue to be ignored.
I'm so proud of the work that CABDICO, lead by humble, honest and hardwork staff like Phearom, pictured below, have been able to do. They truly are the underdogs in a great stuggle.
