DY DORN’S STORY – a holistic approach to medical aid

Dy Dorn was suffering from malnutrition.  From an extremely poor family, she had very little to eat and a typical meal for her was nothing more than rice with a bit of chilli and salt. 

Dy Dorn has adult children but they were unable to help out much as they also struggle to get by.  (Often the young adults from the villages work in Siem Reap on construction sites as labourers*.  Because of the global financial crisis a lot of the labouring work has dried up.  At the time of writing this report there continues to be a lack of work.) 

Dy Dorn’s lack of nutrition had caused her to become very ill and weak.  We took her to the Polyclinic in Siem Reap where she spent several days on a drip and receiving other medical treatment.  Eventually she was strong enough to return to her village.  We sent her home with a 50 kg bag of rice, vitamins and nutrition drinks. 

The story doesn’t end there.  We felt that her stay at the Polyclinic was only treating her symptoms but was not addressing the cause of her ill health – her lack of good food to eat.

Dy Dorn told us that when she was strong enough she wanted to open a small shop selling basic everyday supplies to other villagers.  In line with our philosophy of helping people to help themselves, we gave her a small loan to enable her to start her shop at the front of her house.  Business was not too bad but Dy Dorn was still not making enough to really improve her situation.  As it was coming up to the hottest part of the year she asked us to help her once again with a loan to buy an ice box so that she could sell flavoured shaved ice.  We were impressed with her hard work and initiative so readily agreed.  Thea purchased a large icebox at a cost of $60usd and delivered it to her.

We are now pleased to report that she is selling a lot of the ice treats and her business is proving successful.  Subsequently, she is now able to afford to eat properly.  In fact, recently Thea ran into the village leader who told him that “Dy Dorn is now very beautiful because she now has enough food to eat”. 

Dy Dorn lives in the village of Doun Keo.

*Unskilled labourers only earn between $1.00 - $2.00 a day. (And, unfortunately, often when it comes to payday the paymaster has disappeared with their salaries.)