Wat Opot Children's Community

Hi Everyone,

Here is the latest video about the Wat Opot Community… hope you enjoy it.

They say that time heals all wounds and I suppose that is true… but time seems to have stood still since the passing of Toon Hang and even the mention of his name… still brings back all of the memories.

It was a scorching day as we left the pickup and began walking through the dry-dusty rice patties toward the house of Prak Vutha, one of our AIDS patients. She and her son Hang were both HIV Positive and came regularly to our clinics for rice and medicine but not on this day, and so we drove to their home in the countryside. As we approached the house, Hang came running out to greet us and we found his mother lying on a bamboo bed outside of the small hut, in the shade of a tree. She tried to sit up as I approached but was having difficulty because of her weakness.

I raised my hands to my face as a greeting and told her not to get up. After examining her I offered to start an IV but she told me that it wasn’t necessary. I then went over to where Hang was sitting on another bamboo bed and examined him, while my staff continued talking with Vutha. Hang looked to be in good health but seemed concerned for his mother.

Several villagers had gathered around us and some of the older boys started climbing into the trees. I assumed it was to get a better view of things, but suddenly there was a loud thud very close to where I was sitting and I jumped with surprise as large green coconuts began falling to the ground. The boys used their sharp knifes to slice a hole into the top of the coconuts and offered one of them to me… along with some instructions that I did not understand. I raised it to my mouth to take a sip and much to their amusement, poured the coconut water down the front of my shirt. A young boy broke through the crowd and when I saw what he was holding in his hand, I realized what the instructions were. Wait for a straw!

Later, as we prepared to leave, I went back to the bed of Vutha and raised my hands to my face again, as a farewell. To my surprise however, she took hold of my hands and held them very tightly… then with tears in her eyes she whispered “Please take good care of my son.” I wanted to cry, as I walked back to the pickup, but like the rice fields around us, my eyes were to dry to form tears. Vutha died a few days later.

Toon Hang came to live at Wat Opot a few weeks after his mother’s death and it wasn’t long before he became my shadow. He was funny, creative, inquisitive, and very good natured. He picked up on English very fast and by the time school started he was really excited for the opportunity to go. He was the first HIV Positive child to start public school in our village and in no time he became the teacher’s pet.

In June of 2004 the Anti-Retro-Viral (ARV) medication came to our community through MSF-Belgium… but only for adult patients. The doctors in charge had not received training in pediatrics yet and wanted to wait before starting children like Hang on the medications. I was assured however that Hang would be the first child to get them once they received the training.

It was just before New Years that I took Hang to the hospital in Takeo for his appointment. The Doctor informed me that he would be leaving in the afternoon for Thailand to receive the instructions for using the ARV medicines for children. Hang had a bit of fever and had started to have some diarrhea the night previous and so the Doctor wanted to keep him in the children’s hospital in Phnom Penh, so that he could start the medications immediately upon his return. I was reluctant to let him go but the Doctor was just as concerned as I was about Hang and convinced me that it was the best thing to do.

I called the hospital every night for an update and was assured that he was doing fine. On the morning of the 5th of January, 2005, the day the Doctor was to return from Thailand and start the treatment, I called to see what time we could pick Hang up from the hospital and was told that he had died during the night. I was stunned and for a moment couldn’t say anything… when I could speak again, I told them we would be coming right in to pick up the body but then was informed that they had already sent his body to the crematorium in Phnom Penh and all that was left were his ashes.

That was five years ago and I still wait for Hang to come home from the hospital. I imagine him jumping out of the car and running into my arms… arms that have held so many other children since then. Children whom I also had to let go of… as I placed them into the crematorium furnace. The difference was that with Hang I couldn’t hold on to him for that one last time, I couldn’t look into his face and see that he was at peace, and I couldn’t release him from my heart with the first puff of smoke rising out of the crematorium chimney.

The Doctor came out to pay his respects the following day and as he was lighting a candle and incense, offered to open an investigation into Hang’s death. Something didn’t seem right about how things were handled and I could tell that he felt deeply responsible. We told him there was no point in having an investigation because it would only create hard feelings with those we had to continue working with and besides… it wouldn’t bring Hang back to us anyway.

We learned later that to treat children with the ARV medicine, all that was needed is to break the adult tablets in half.

Wayne Dale Matthysse

Here is the update some of you have requested on our newest member Ann Marie. Born on the 23rd day of March, her mother died of AIDS related causes just 20 days later and because of that the Home Care team of Partners in Compassion /Cambodia was notified. There were no known relatives in the area and so my Partner Vandin San, who heads our Home Care teams, called to ask if I would accept her. I of course said yes, having been given a sign just a few days earlier that we would be getting a baby, when our good friend Mary Dunbar dropped off a bundle of used clothing in which there was a bag of very small baby clothes.

She wasn’t in very good shape when she came to us and needed some special infant care, which is not easy to find around here… however in what can only be described as a WOPCIE (Wat OPot CoIncidental Experience) the day after her arrival, Juergen Reichl, a male Pediatric Intensive Care Nurse from Switzerland just happened to find his way to our place and decided to stay for a few weeks.

Photo by Michael Scholten

Ann Marie is making good progress and is now at 1.8 kilograms, which is pretty good considering she was only 1.6 kilograms when she came to us a few days ago.

Thanks to all who have expressed concern for her and a big THANKS to all of you who make this possible through your support.

Wayne Dale Matthysse

Here is the latest report from Wat Opot regarding the ongoing projects at the community. http://partnersincompassioncambodia.com/index_files/ydaw.htm

A few months ago Mark Masingale found himself at the end of his rope, sitting in a small backpackers cafe in Phnom Penh, wondering where his Journey would take him next… if anywhere at all. He had been self employed most of his life doing what he needed to do to stay ahead of the game but lost it all after an accident. All he was wanting to do was to eat his sandwich in peace, but a sudden downpour and a leaky roof forced him to move to another table, and then another, and another, and another, until there was only one table left in the cafe that was dry. A young German girl was sitting there however and so he asked if he could join her until the rain stopped.

A few months ago I was desperate for someone who knew a little about a lot of things because after eight years of wear and tear our buildings and equipment where in need of repair. We get many volunteers but not many men and most of the men who do come are not handymen. Most of our volunteers are like Ramona, a young German girl, with teaching or nursing backgrounds.

Some might call their meeting Coincidence while others would call it Providence but whatever it was really doesn’t matter, because I have gotten more things done in the past few months then I could ever had hoped for and Mark… well he really doesn’t have much time to think about it:

Moving a house.

Digging out tree stumps.

Feeding the fish.

Removing a landmark.

Repairing the car.

Repairing a diesal engine

Joining the children for a day in the mountains.

Cutting off a toe and experiencing seven sutures without anesthesia.

Relaxing with the children at the end of the day.

Mark is not a religious person but considers himself a follower of Jesus. Where this will all lead him is anybodies guess but by putting his Faith in action, he is leaning that today is all that really matters.

Journeys have no destination,
There is no end or graduation,
Each new step the realization,
We all are part of One Creation.

You can send Mark a note of encouragement to: marktmasingale@gmail.com