Most Significant Change of Ms. Nil Ngim brought her children to HC

Nil Ngim, 27 years old from Leng village in Tumring commune is one of these mothers now served by this new health centre. She is a farmer and has two children, a four-year old girl and a two-year old boy. Her children were both delivered at home because there was no health centre in the local area and going away from home would cost too much time and money. 

Most Significant Change of Ms. Chhay Kim, beneficiary of EMBRACE Project

Chhay Kim, 25 also delivered her first baby at home because travelling to the distant health centre would cost too much month. Touch Nang, at 38 years has had 4 children. Both her and her husband work for the rubber company. 3 of her children were delivered at home also, and again, because of finances and time, they did not want to travel to the far away health centre. 

Press Release: Opening Ceremony of Delivery/ Waiting Rooms and Health Center

Opening Ceremony of Delivery/ Waiting Rooms and Health Center

October 3, 2018

Kompong Thom, Cambodia

October 3, 2018 will be a very exciting day for the people of Tumring, Socheat, and Chheu Teal Communes in Sandan District, Kampong Thom province.

Two standalone labour and delivery room buildings and a health center with a labour/delivery room suite will be officially opened.  The buildings were constructed by ADRA Cambodia through the Enhancing Mother/newBorn/child health in Remote Areas through health Care & Community Engagement (EMBRACE) and HELP Health Center Construction projects.

EMBRACE began in February 2016 and is focused on improving the health of mothers and children living in remote regions of Cambodia, Myanmar (Burma), Philippines, and Rwanda.  Over the course of its four year lifespan it will serve an estimated 100,000 people, of which about one third are children.

EMBRACE is also raising public awareness of maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) within Canada.

Within Cambodia, the EMBRACE project targets 168 communities in the Choam Khsant, Chey Saen, Rovieng, and Sandan districts and is directly improving the lives of approximately 39,990 people.

EMBRACE focuses primarily on improving and saving the lives of women of reproductive age, newborns, and children under five.  These objectives are achieved through health and nutrition behavior change, communication, and the empowering of staff and systems in health clinics. Building and equipping these labour rooms, delivery rooms, and the health center is key to this empowerment. The labour rooms reduce the risks for pregnant women by providing a space for them to stay before and after their delivery.

At March 2018, the percentage of mothers and pregnant women screened for warning signs related to the pregnancy, delivery, or health of child or mother and then referred to health centers or hospitals increased from 27.3% to 45.5%.  Referral and screening for pregnant women and girls and boys (U5) screened for malnutrition increased from 15.0% to 44.2% for girls and from 9.7% to 43.9% for boys. These new facilities will further help to improve these percentages.

The opening ceremony for all of these buildings will be conducted in one place at the new Health Center in Khors village, Tumring Commune.

The standalone delivery/waiting rooms are located at Sandan Health Center, Sandan Village, Sandan Commune and at Chheu Teal Health Center, in Kampong Taben village, Sandan district, Kampong Thom Province and were built by ADRA Cambodia through the EMBRACE project.  The new Health Center building with the delivery waiting room included in the main building is located at Khors village, Tumring Commune and was built in partnership with HELP Health Center Construction.  This includes ring wells, incinerators and equipment.

Approximately 500 persons will be present at the inauguration ceremony of the health center and delivery waiting rooms, including His Excellency Sok Lou, the Governor of Kampong Thom Province, Governor, Deputy Governors and officials around Sandan district, Kampong Thom Provincial Health Department Director, Kampong Thom Operational District, and Health Center Chief, Ms. Allison ​Stewart, Chargé d’affaires, Cambodia Office of the Embassy of Canada, Mr. Frank Spangler, representative from ADRA Canada, Mr. Mark Schwisow, Country Director of ADRA Cambodia, ADRA Cambodia project team members as well as students and community members from Tumring, Sochet and Chheu Teal Communes.

EMBRACE is funded by a partnership between the Government of Canada through Global Affairs Canada and ADRA Canada.  It is being implemented in Cambodia by ADRA Cambodia.

 

 

EMBRACE team celebrated Midwifery Day "Midwife provides quality care"!

Press Release

Midwifery Day

By Project EMBRACE

Rovieng District, Preah Vihear Province

May 24, 2018

On May 24, 2018, members of ADRA Cambodia’s EMBRACE team conducted an awareness meeting on Midwife's Day on the topic of "Midwife provides Quality Care". The event was conducted to raise awareness and improve knowledge of women and villagers​​ on other problems pre and post birth deliveries and to encourage husbands to bring their wives to help on deliveries at health centers. The session was held in cooperation with the Provincial Health Department, Operational District and the local authorities in Chey Sen district, Preah Vihear province.

This was a live on air program event. We were able to broadcast live to local Phnom Tbeng Radio 97.3MHz, in which we open questions for participants to ask guest speakers to answer as much as possible.

Over 300 people including children, women, men, female and male youth participated.

Mr. Tith Sokham, deputy district governor of Chey Sen District who presented as a chairperson for the event, addressed to all participants to focusing on caring mothers and child health specifically Antenatal care (ANC) and Postnatal Care (PNC).

Ms. Muy Chanmoly, representative of midwives from provincial department gave a provincial health reports and provided some advices to mothers, fathers, also students to take care health by encouraging and bringing their wives, mothers, and sisters to closer health centers and hospitals.

Ms. Naung Sotheavy, representative of midwives from Tbeng Mean Chey Operational District, also provided similar messages of health care and what danger signs that affected mother and child health. She also encouraged mothers to go to health centers and hospitals even when there are no danger signs during pregnancy.

Project EMBRACE (Enhancing Mother/Newborn/Child Health in Remote Areas through Health Care and Community Engagement), is being implemented by ADRA Cambodia. It is primarily funded by Canada’s International Development – Global Affairs Canada department with support from ADRA Canada’s generous donors.

“I will definitely delivery my tenth baby at the Health Center!”

The end of last month, Sopheak, our project Monitoring & Evaluation for Learning Officer along with his partner from M’day Rik Reay Kone Rik Reay (MRKR) Veasna visited Morokot commune, Choam Ksant district in Preah Vihear province and met this family. They were able to sit and spend some times with the family asking about her life and family. Here is a short story of the woman they met:

The woman’s name is Mrs. SAMOEUN, married to a man who is a soldier at the border (a majority of the families living in the community are soldier families)! “I have had ten children including the one in my tummy because I’m now eight months pregnant.” SAMOEUN said. “But I now only have six children including the one in my tummy because my other 4 kids had passed away.” she mentioned when asked about her children’s names and their ages.  When asking about how they died, she told that she wasn’t sure. The babies were too young, but she said maybe because of the Measles. One of her kids who died was one month old. And there were no health centers nearby. She continued that she never got to deliver all her babies at the Health Centers. But for this tenth child, she is planning to go to the health center to deliver her baby to seek a better health care.

SAMOEUN has been participating with EMBRACE Project for about 12 months now! She has actively joined the Reflect Circle Group discussion meetings and has learned quite a lot of knowledge, especially about nutrition and pregnancy women care. She has visited a few times already to a health center and has been taking the iron tablet, eating good nutritious food to make herself and her child healthy, which she has learned through the group meeting. After joining with the project, she has hoped she would learn more and improve her family to be healthy. She is hopeful that her child would be born healthy!

“And I also wish ADRA and the supporters to be healthy and be successful in all they do” She thanked us

Story collected by: EMBRACE Project team (Sok Sopheak, Veasna_MRKR)

Health Center Management Committee (HCMC) Meeting

HCMC Meeting to discuss about indicators to follow up in community and Health Center and to encourage people to involve in the project. Members of HCMC are health center staff, community health volunteers, commune council, village chief.

Good news for the mothers in the village!

Khorn Sok Lim lives in a village 48 kilometres away from the nearest health centre. Her 2 year old daughter was born in the village because her family is poor and going to the health centre means an expensive and difficult journey. This has been the experience of most of the mothers in the village.

Sok Lim’s older friend, Keo Porng, has three children. The first two were born in the village but, for her most recent delivery, five month ago, she was able to go to the health centre in Sandan town where she was cared for by a qualified midwife. Her positive experience included a three day stay at the health centre so that the midwife could make sure she and her baby were strong enough for the journey home.

Sok Lim would like to be cared for by a qualified midwife when she is ready for a second child but  the health centre is still 48 kilometres away.
However, ADRA Cambodia, M’day Reak Reay Kone Reak Reay (MRKR) and the Ministry of Health are working together to build and equip a health centre to serve the village. Welcome news for all mothers in the village.