We rose early this morning to catch a flight from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where our People to People tour will close in four days. Upon our arrival, we checked into Raffles Hotel Le Royal and were welcomed into a conference room for our first professional activity. Dr. Alice Smith, PhD, CCC-SLP presented an informative lecture/powerpoint on “Cultural and Poverty Influences on Healthcare in Cambodia.” It was a great introduction to the country’s current situation regarding medical care, geography, people, disease, disabilities and conditions and societal beliefs. Having that information was enormously helpful in understanding how to approach the problem of the lack of speech pathology services in Cambodia.
It may be tempting as Americans to see a problem within a developing country and want to reproduce our solution for that culture. However, understanding the fabric of the culture facilitates the ability to meet felt needs rather than perceived needs. For example, Cambodian healthcare is characterized by the belief in kharma and the use of Khmer healers “Kru-kmai” to diagnose and treat illness. It is generally accepted that the Kru-kmai is able to treat any illness, therefore casting suspicion or non-acceptance on concepts in Western medicine. Simply providing Western solutions will not necessarily meet the needs of the people most effectively.
Dr. Smith has been in Cambodia for 8 months of the year since 2001. She is pioneering the field of speech pathology in this country. Tomorrow, we will have the opportunity to visit with her further and hopefully understand the framework for her work.
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