The mothers' group in Chorm Trach meets to discuss preventing and treating diarrhea. Photo: PATH/Anne Aumell.

Originally posted on the PATH blog.

PATH's Anne Aumell, a member of our Development team, traveled recently in Southeast Asia, where she saw some of the innovative work our generous donors have made possible. Here's her report from Cambodia on our efforts to help mothers protect their children from potentially deadly diarrhea.

When I plan a trip, I think a lot about my shoes. They need to be solid for city sidewalks, sturdy for muddy and dusty roads, and fashionable in case I decide to wear a dress. And I must have red Mary Jane's whenever possible.

Last week, when I was in Siem Reap, Cambodia, a man offered to clean my shoes. They needed it, but I declined. I wanted the dust and mud to be with me a little bit longer. I wanted this evidence of meeting the people of Xem in Vietnam and Kampong Thom province in Cambodia to remain.

Meeting the mothers' group

A few days earlier, I stepped out of a PATH truck in the Cambodian village of Chorm Trach. I was there to attend a mothers' group, a quarterly meeting led by the village leader, who in this case is also the village health worker. My PATH colleagues, Vichit Ork, Thunvuth Nop, and Mary Prum, stepped easily into the wooden building with the corrugated metal roof and took seats on the opposite side of the room. I hesitated because, frankly, I was overcome with emotion: I was actually attending a mothers group in Cambodia.

A year ago, two PATH donors said yes to my request that they fund our diarrheal disease program in Cambodia. One, Susanna Cunningham, is on the nursing faculty at the University of Washington and has traveled to Cambodia to train nursing students. The other, Laurie Michaels of Open Road Alliance, funds high-potential projects that need fast, flexible funding. I had never been to Cambodia, but when the two of them decided to support our work, I imagined the mothers who would learn to recognize diarrheal disease in their children, obtain treatment for it, and even prevent it. Now here I was, sitting among them.

Benefits of a latrine

The meeting began with a presentation on how to get oral rehydration solution and zinc treatments and continued with information about acquiring latrines. The quarterly mothers' group meeting presents information like this as part of PATH's work to prevent diarrhea in the community.

Hem Taing Oy's latrine. Photo: PATH/Anne Aumell.

After the meeting, Hem Taing Oy showed us her latrine, purchased for $450 by her son, a construction worker, and her daughter, a house maid. Both work in Phnom Penh. When they return home, they want a safe and clean place to “go.” Her latrine is one of only six among 106 households in this village.

As we walked along the road in Chorm Trach, children waved from their yards, and we saw that a new wing for the school is being built. In a couple of years, there will be more latrines, more water filters, and fewer cases of diarrheal disease. As I said in my earlier post from Vietnam, PATH's in this for the long haul. Our donors are too.

For more information:

-- We're combining forces in Cambodia to overcome diarrhea and pneumonia.

-- Policy change to improve child health in Cambodia.