cambodia’s new site for sight
Three million people in and around the Cambodian city of Siem Reap will benefit from a new eye hospital, built with the support of The Fred Hollows Foundation (FHF) and the Australian Government. The Intrepid Foundation is a longtime contributor to the success and development of FHF’s Cambodia Program.
The recently opened Siem Reap Regional Hospital is a three-story facility that will quadruple patient intake and provide treatment for cataract, glaucoma, refraction (the need for glasses) and other eye conditions. The hospital will also be an important training centre for surgeons and eye health workers, teaching them the skills they need to restore sight.
In addition, eye health services provided by the new facility will reach patients in more isolated parts of the country through outreach eye clinics. During a recent eye camp in the province of Odor Meanchey, over 170 patients received eye examinations and around 100 received sight restoring cataract surgery. The eye health workers at this outreach clinic were trained by The Fred Hollows Foundation.
The support of The Intrepid Foundation and other partners has helped the FHF construct and renovate six eye facilities in Cambodia since commencing work there in 1998. In that time, more than 6,000 cataract operations have been performed and 45,000 Cambodians screened for eye conditions.
The Intrepid Foundation – travellers making a difference
Help support the Fred Hollows Foundation and other great organisations via the Intrepid Foundation, plus find out how your donation can be matched* by Intrepid Travel!
* Donations will be matched by Intrepid Travel up to AU$5000 (or equivalent) per donor and a total of AU$400,000 each financial year.
What a most wonderful endeavour! Restoring sight restores the person’s dignity making him/her again a useful member of society. Congratulations Intrepid!
Fantastic!