SOLAR LIGHT PROJECT
Cambodia
Starting the month of August 2018 feeling happy because we achieved our goal to give responsibly.
Our Solar Light Project in Cambodia was initiated in March when we knew that many families in poor communities did not have electricity. They used the inefficient, dangerous, expensive kerosene lamps which can cause health problems. We decided to provide the highly needed solar lights for them by:
1. Giving three different models for the head of the village to try for six weeks. This way, we found out the model which fits their need: low maintenance, bright, easy to carry around, and lasting.
2. Raising funds to provide the solar lights, cover our transportation costs, and sustain our ground volunteers. We work with people who are doing humanitarian work full-time in Cambodia. They know the needs of the beneficiaries and are able to do thorough preliminary research for our project. Supporting our ground partner(s) helps make them and the work sustainable too.
3. Procuring the solar lights locally because buying abroad is cheaper but may create issues with the custom clearance process. The local distributor also gives us a one-year warranty.
4. Asking the beneficiaries to pay a small token so that they do not take it for granted. Giving things for free, based on our experience, can breed greed. They take things they do not need or use.
5. Following up on how they lights have benefitted them three weeks after the distribution. We received heartwarming stories which you can watch in the video below.
We feel so grateful to those who have donated money to support this project. THANK YOU for giving sustainably!
For more videos, visit our YouTube channel.
GIRLS SHELTER PROJECT
The #CambodiaGirlsShelter project The Good Exchange started April 2017 has successfully kept 15 Cambodian little girls at Cambodia Care Centre from potential abuse. This year, we are happy to have raised enough funds to protect more girls.
All of our little girls at the shelter come from slums in Phnom Penh—where alcoholism, drugs, gambling, and violence still take place. During the day, their parents work, and therefore they are left at home without any assistance. Their vulnerability can provoke unsolicited wrongdoings—even from the people around them. Staying at the shelter since after school until when the parents come back from home has proven to be a solution. Besides, at the shelter, these girls are educated, fed, and well taken care of.
Thank you to donors for extending your generosity to continually support this cause. Your donation of protection and safety is everything to them.
LIFE KIT PROJECT
Motherhood should be a time of delight for women and their families. In Cambodia, however, it is laden with higher risks of maternal deaths—due to the lack of emergency medical care.
For this reason, The Good Exchange is helping WAH Foundation—a registered charity organization in Kampong Chhnang, Cambodia—to provide health centers throughout Kampong Chhnang with pre-natal and post-natal life kits. This will help prevent deaths during and after delivery as well as in times of emergency.
The maternal life kits consist of a Pre-eclampsia (P. E.) kit, which is to treat mothers before childbirth, and a Postpartum Hemorrhage (P. P. H.) kit, which is to stop bleeding after childbirth. See each picture for further explanations for each kit.)
Pre-eclampsia (P. E.) is a pregnancy complication marked by high blood pressure, protein in the urine, edema—and many other symptoms. The P. E. Kit consists of medical consumables to prevent eclampsia from occurring during delivery. Magnesium Sulfate is the most important one as it functions to immediately reduce seizure risks in women with preeclampsia. During our interview with the local midwives, preeclampsia is the most common case faced by pregnant mothers in Kampong Chhnang.
The things inside the P. E. kit box:
. Oxytocin for injection
. Hydralazin for injection
. Misoprostol tablet
. Calcium gluconate
. Normal saline 0.9%
. Vaginal packet
. Urine Catheter
. Urine collection bag
. Contton ball sterils
. Speculum Sterile, (Plastics)
. Canul
. Betidine Solution
. Sterile glove
. Cored Clamp
Postpartum hemorrhage (P. P. H.) is excessive bleeding following the birth of a baby—which can cause maternal deaths. The P. P. H. Kit consists of medical consumables which are important to stop the bleeding. A local doctor emphasizes the importance of the P. P. H. Kit to prevent mothers from dying in times of emergency—when mothers need to be referred to a hospital in the city.
Some of the things inside the P. P. H. kit box:
. Misoprostol tablet
. Normal saline 0.9%
. Vaginal packet
. Urine Catheter
. Urine collection bag
. Contton ball sterils
. Speculum Sterile, (Plastics)
. Betidine Solution
. Sterile glove
. Cored Clamp
. Sterile water ampoul
. Guze sterile ( Compress sterile).
. Serum lactate ringer 1000ml
Each kit only costs SGD 100. We are now raising funds to buy these much needed life kits. You can contribute to save lives by dropping our co-founder Lee Siew Yian a message on her Facebook. Thank you.