Health for CAMBODIA

Subject: Got an extra five bucks? By Ann-Marie Lindstrom

Five dollars can buy two dengue fever blood tests. Bet you didn't know that. I didn't. I don't even know what dengue fever is. So why do I care? I do know a paramedic from South Carolina who is living in the jungle in Cambodia. The blood test is important to him, because 80 people a day are coming to his free clinic from as far away as 50 miles. Right now he has an eight-year old patient with dengue and a fever of 104. He says all he can do is push IV fluids and hope the kid doesn't hemorrhage.

With all the grief and suffering we hear about every day, all over the world, maybe in our own neighborhoods these days with job losses and home foreclosures, this kid grabs me. Probably because I know the man struggling to keep him alive. Probably because a man, his wife and two young daughters--ordinary, middle-class people--gave up the convenient lifestyle we take for granted and moved to Cambodia, committed to spending two years of their lives to establish a free clinic. (OK,I'd guess the girls probably didn't have much of a say in that decision.)

They are doing this without governmental/organizational/church financial support. They don't have paid fund raisers. They don't have offices with executives making decisions. They don't spend money on advertising their efforts.

They are funding this endeavor with the proceeds from selling most of what they owned and donations.

He has invited me to come share the adventure. "Your life will never be the same." Yeah, I'm sure it wouldn't be. I'm equally sure I'm NOT going to the Cambodian jungle. If my own daughter had dengue fever in the Cambodian jungle, I'd have to hope there was someone like the paramedic and his RN wife to help her, because I am NOT going to the Cambodian jungle.

What I am doing is making small, periodic donation via PayPal. And I do mean small. I sent $5 today. I feel assured my $5 means something to the small clinic in the jungle. Much more than to larger charitable organizations that get mega-donations from corporations and governments.

Whether my $5 goes for two dengue fever blood tests or food for the two American girls yanked away from cable TV and trips to the mall (can't you just hear the older girl whining, "I didn't ask to be here in the jungle. I didn't even ask to be born. Why are you doing this to me?"), I am sure it will make a difference. I don't do very much in my every day life that feels like it "makes a difference."

Share the Health Cambodia's Web site is http://www.facebook.com/l/;www.sharethehealthcambodia.org. There's a DONATE button on the home page. Share the Health Cambodia has a FB page, but it isn't kept up to date. For some reason, the paramedic and his wife seem to spend their time doing other things. James D. Garcia has a personal page on FB. That's where the news comes from. And where the photos are.

Before the clinic even opened, Cara Garcia delivered a baby on the back of a tractor. Recently, they saved a cardiac arrest patient. James says that is unheard of in the Cambodian jungle.

I've read about people doing what I consider noble deeds. I've even known a few people who set out to do something to make life better for other folks. I've always admired them. From a distance. Without getting involved. Always thought "how wonderful that someone wants to do that." I repeat, I am NOT going to the Cambodian jungle, but for the first time I feel I can participate in spirit and support. Their project is small enough that my contribution can make a difference.

I invite you to participate, too. Remember that $5 can buy two dengue fever blood tests. That means even $2.50 can make a difference...it will buy one dengue fever blood tests. And if anyone knows what the heck dengue fever is, let me know, will you?

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COULD YOU HELP IN A SMALL WAY $5 OR $10 CAN GO A VERY LONG WAY AND MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE TO SO MANY PEOPLE.