Cambodia, home to nearly 15 million people, is one of the most charming countries in all of Asia. From an outsider’s first glance, its pristine golden beaches, tranquil rice paddies, lush jungle landscapes, and vibrant sunsets over the world’s largest religious structure are the allure of this country. Take a deeper look and learn that it is the Khmer people that ultimately comprise its unique draw. Cambodia’s tragic history defined by decades of political unrest, violence, and poverty has shaped an inspiringly optimistic and warm population. As a visitor, it is a powerful experience to feel the serenity from the magnificent Cambodian landscapes in harsh contrast to the magnitude of strife previously endured. This poignant intersection of a painful past and developing present leaves no visitor untouched.

International Medical Relief is partnering with Cambodia on a major goal of the country: to improve access to healthcare and preventative education to health conditions. This is no easy task – during the bloody regime of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, the health care system as a whole was decimated, with virtually no doctors left in the country at the end of the regime. 

Even today, more than 40 years after the end of the Khmer Rouge, the United Nations Millennium Project proclaimed that only 13 percent of the country visited health facilities last year, and 22.9 percent of children die before the age of 5. Treatable diseases like malaria, intestinal parasites, cholera, diarrhea, tuberculosis, and yaws, as well as vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles are endemic and claim lives everyday. The situation is improving as a whole healthcare is almost nonexistent among the populations that IMR serves including the poor, migrant workers, unregistered population, and ethnic minorities.