Siem Reap, Cambodia is known worldwide for being the location of the “lost city” of Angkor Wat, the 12th century Buddhist temple complex and World Heritage site, attracting visitors from around the globe.
But just a few miles away, there is a floating village called Kampong Khleang. This is not a place where tourists ever venture. This village might as well be in a different world – a world where poverty and disease are ever present.
During dry season, the village is accessible by a remote direct road. During the rainy season – which lasts from November to May – this ramshackle set of homes and businesses built on makeshift slits is at least a 20-minute boat ride from Tonle Sap Lake, the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia and the source of fishing which is the main work opportunity of the village.
The village struggles with poverty and for those who face health challenges in Kampong Khleang, there is little hope of quick access to medical care. In this far-flung, seemingly forgotten village there is no clinic. No pharmacy. No hospital with a fully staffed and stocked ER.
The most difficult part of it all, was that there was no hope. But that changed with the arrival of MAP International medicines that were hand-delivered by help treat the day to day needs of this community. These range from prenatal vitamins for pregnant women to oral rehydration solutions for children suffering potentially lethal dehydration from a simple bout of diarrhea.
When MAP medicines go into a community that would otherwise go without, we are giving people the greatest gifts of all: the gifts of health and hope, thanks to our generous donors.
