A Little Introduction to the Site
This website is in partial fulfillment of my Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) professional rotation objectives. One objective of my professional rotation is to explore occupational therapy in a culturally relevant way in an international setting. A learning activity corresponding to this objective is to observe and immerse myself in Cambodian culture. This website is evidence showing accomplishment of this learning activity and part of this learning objective. This website is to showcase just some of the life and patterns (i.e. culture) that I was able to observe and participate in while I was in Cambodia. Throughout my stay in Cambodia I was able to visit various hospitals and clinics and meet many patients and healthcare professionals. The website is organized by the Provinces I visited while in Cambodia. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Enjoy.
A Brief Introduction to Cambodia
Cambodia is a developing country, still recovering from a dramatic history. Between 1975-1979 The Khmer Rouge regime terrorized Cambodia and 1.5 to 3 million Cambodians died of were either executed or died from starvation and/or disease. A majority of the educated were executed in the self-genocide. There is still much corruption in the government, I am told from when the Khmer Rouge were here. Some additional facts about Cambodia:
- 75% of the population is dependent on agriculture
-Population is approximately 14 million
-Highest percentage of amputees in the world
-All above information is from: http://www.handicap-international.org.uk/page_170.php
-As a result of a traumatizing history, many of the people suffer from psychological disorders such as PTSD. There are many non-government organizations or NGOs that offer psychological counseling.
-There are many international and local NGOs that work in Cambodia. There were multiple NGOs working in every hospital that I visited.