All the children look much younger than they are perhaps due to a lack of nutrition. We bring bananas to feed them, not being sure of what is available for them to eat at home.
Our leaders, Bob and Purobi Philips, have travelled the world scouting out venues for their childrens'' dental missions. Sadly, they are not optimistic about our patients' opportunities to have a fruitful life in this country. Schools, though run by the government, are not free. The teachers are paid $30 per month by the students family. This equates to about I/2 of a workers monthly wage. Many families can not afford to educate their children. We wonder too whether the Cambodian genocide, killing all intellectuals in the 1970's, may have destroyed their value in education. Most of the patients we are seeing are students, we know there are many more children not being seen, working in the fields.
Having completed our work early today, we have just returned to the hotel. We will venture out to see more of the city and prepare for the next few days. Tomorrow we begin our visits to the orphanages. On Thursday we will visit a housing project that houses families that have been moved out of the city. The official word is that these families have AIDS. Their former slum has been turned into an expensive large office building. It is hard to separate truth and fiction in this country.
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