Cambodia we will miss you! Post-travel blues for Newcastle nurses

COUNTRY: Cambodia
PROGRAM: UniBreak Groups
PROJECT: Nursing
WRITTEN BY: Natalie Payne

I have the post travel blues!

3 weeks of health promotion in Phnom Penh was without a doubt the best decision I have ever made. The trip had its frustrations and challenges and I missed home like crazy around week two, but now I am missing Cambodia so much! All the smiling faces we met have forever touched my heart.

The last week was spent at Riverkids and it was incredible. Our translators were nursing and medical students which made the assessments a little easier than the previous two schools. Adults from the community came in droves to see us, I guess word spread quickly about us, and while we couldn't address most of their specific complaints it was important for them to be heard and showed that people care. A quote from Dr Hamlin that kept me in check was "Remember that LOVE is better than any medicine, just hold a hand and encourage is better than any drugs."

Overall the general health and wellbeing of the children at the three schools we visited was better than we had expected. There were many common colds, however January is Cambodia's winter, even though it was quite warm for us on some days. Dehydration in the children was apparent in the afternoons and it was agreed that fundraised money should go towards providing water access to each classroom. This was completed in the first school before we departed Phnom Penh and we were able to visit the school one last time to see the new instalment of the water systems in place and say our final goodbyes to the children and school we had spent the most time at.

Saying goodbye to Cambodia and its beautiful people who made us feel so welcomed has been incredibly hard. A piece of our hearts will remain in Cambodia and we will never be the same- in the best way possible. I would like to say a huge thank you to Carol and Danielle, our supervisors, for putting up with all of us and supporting us through this massive learning experience! Also a big thank you to Linda, our in country contact, who was fantastic! I feel so blessed to have been a part of an amazing team of student nurses! We were like a dysfunctional family at times, but will forever be a part of each others lives from the memories that were made on this trip!