The Angel Clinic - Siem Reap, Cambodia
The young girl’s eyes were wide and curious as she peered over the counter, regarding me on the other side of the scratched glass. She was skinny and tan from the hot Cambodian sun, which beats down mercilessly throughout the day. Only the monsoon rains provide relief. Behind her, a baby lay on an old, donated examination table with tears in his feverish eyes. Perhaps the baby was the little girl’s sibling. She had brought him to the nurse, playing the role of parent that so many older siblings take on. Beside the table was a small cabinet of meds, clearly inadequate to serve all the children in the surrounding villages. Drawing my attention away from the pharmacy window, the nurse of the clinic began to show me the other rooms - namely two surgery rooms, empty because there were no doctors present. While sharing about the challenges and blessings of her work, she said to me, “ Look not only at the physical, but ask what causes it.”
Cura Personalis.
