The field Health & Nutrition is a major pillar of Taramana.

Docosteocam and Mission 2 Mains, two Associations, have been working at the Taramana Magdalena Center for several days during the year since 2015.

• Docosteocam brings together a group of Osteopaths who, through their treatment, can treat the suffering of children from disadvantaged backgrounds who have high levels of emotional issues.
• Missions 2 Mains, is a micro-physiotherapy association. Their actions consist of providing care to the poor but also to former Cambodian doctors to this practice. This technique is complementary to medicine and allows for the treatment of many symptoms without the need for medication.

 

Listening to pain

Each child was able to be carefully examined for the time needed to study the pain they were complaining about and to explore for any ailments discovered during the session.
In Cambodia, social encounters are rarely tactile. Therefore, children are not used to being alone with someone who focuses specifically on their pain. The real challenge was to enter into contact with children while taking the necessary distance not to jostle them!
After a while a parade of children came in, the osteopathic work could then begin and the atmosphere of the room suddently changed. They were there all together, in silence, to take time to listen and to heal their bodies.

We would like to highlight the generosity of these two Associations who, in addition to having given time to each child, they also proposed their care to all the Taramana center centre (managers, volunteers, nurses, cooks …). Each of us were passed into the expert hands of professionnals for whom the language of the body often expresses better what is hardly expressed by the word.

A big THANK YOU for their loving care.

A historical partnership

Health is one of Taramana’s four pillars. Since 2005, Jocelyn Dordé, our President, has had the opportunity to develop a partnership with the NGO Cambodia World Family (CWF). Led by Doctor Robert Ogle and registered with the Ministry of Cambodia since 1997, the NGO mainly delivers dental care to more than 12,000 less fortunate children throughout the year.

A Bi-monthly appointment

Twice per month, in the south of Phnom Penh, 15 to 20 children meet their favorite dentist and his staff. All are extremely careful to reassure the children! To accompany and explain to them the importance of brushing their teeth and maintaining good overall health, our nurse Visal does not hesitate to remind them: “You were at the dentist, right? Well, smile now!”

Source: http://www.cambodiaworldfamily.com/about-us.html

Cambodia World Family («CWF») is a NGO headquartered in Phnom Penh, capital of the Kingdom of Cambodia.

CWF was created by Dr. Daniel Sursott, an American doctor who assisted in refugee camps near Thailand. The NGO registered with the Cambodian Ministry of Health and with the Ministry of the Interior in 1997. Later, Dr. Kay Gentry, who was volunteering with the NGO, got involved in various projects including a mobile dental clinic helping orphans from various provinces throughout Cambodia.

It was only in 2005 that the clinic was permanently set up in Phnom Penh in order to help the most vulnerable children and to form the orphanages’ staff to take on jobs such  administrators, nurses and therapists.

When Dr. Robert Ogle started to volunteer in 2006 at the head of the organization, the CWF concentrated its activity solely on dental services, thus moving from being able to help 500 children per year to 12,000 children per year in 2015.

 CWF is taking a new step as Dr. Jean Gainet takes over the international direction. He has volunteered for several years within CWF and his recent marriage to his Cambodian wife Somalina, creates stronger ties for him with Cambodia

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During May & June 2017 life-saving techniques were taught to both the kids and the staff at Taramana.

What should you do in case of an accident at the Taramana Magdalena Centre?

Since 2015, it’s been the Centre’s goal to answer this question by organizing first aid sessions for the adolescents living in the under privileged area which the Centre serves.  The sessions are financed by the Conseil Régional de la Nouvelle Aquitaine and supervised by Jocelyn, the Centre’s doctor, with the assisatance from Visal, the local nurse.

This year, Valentine, a pharmacy volunteer joined the group and the courses were opened up to the whole Taramana staff.

The training was organized into four sessions, May 4th, 18th and 25th May and and June 8th 2017.  Each session had a well-defined objective :

• Familiarize participants with the actions to be taken when an accident occurs and to maintain the lateral security position,
• Master cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and the first aid techniques for choking,
• Learn the correct reflexes when dealing with a wounded person,
• Learn the techniques which save people when trauma occurs.

The training ended with a pratical exam.  The young participants who participated in all four sessions and who passed the final exam received an official diploma which can be highlighted in a CV and prove useful in both future personal and professional activities !

In order to fight malnutrition, Taramana has implemented dietary supplements of spirulina for the kids at the Centre.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines malnutrition as a pathological condition caused by the prolonged consumption of food that does not provide all the necessary elements for proper health. Malnutrition is an important issue in Cambodia, especially because of the low protein intake in diets, mainly composed of rice.

What is Spirulina? It is a blue seaweed composed essentially of:
·      60% proteins
·      20% carbohydrates
·      7% lipids
·      8% minerals
·      5% water

Thanks to its nutritional quality, spirulina makes it possible to compensate for a low protein diet.

This is why, in partnership with Antenna, Taramana has set up a spirulina-based food supplement at the Taramana Centre.  Each child is given one teaspoon per day, per child. The goal is to improve the overall health of the Centre’s children by increasing their daily nutritional intake.

The Taramana team would like to thank the Conseil Régional de la Nouvelle Aquitaine which is supporting the Association for the second consecutive year and which has helped finance this project.

Taramana launches its great crowdfunding campaing ! Our goal : to offer the children of the slum of Boeng Salang access to new artistic and sport activities. Indeed, sport and art remains the privilege of the elite in Cambodia. Nevertheless, it should not be a luxury ! The campaign will last until the 15th of december.

 

Whats is crowdfunding ?

Crowdfunding enables people to submit their project on the Internet, so it can be funded by donations online. On the crwodfunding platform we chose, Ulule, donations can be made safely through a secured server.

In exchange for their donations, the donors receive counterparts, representing the project or enabling to follow the evolution.

 

>> Support the project

Our project: more art and sport at Taramana !

We want to go further: enable the children to reveal themselves through music, dance, arts and crafts, or the discovery of cinema and new sports ! We are convinced that they will blow off steam, thrive and imagine their future by this way. 

This year we moved into a new center, a bigger, more functional and safer place to welcome the children. But we have on thing missing to do the activities: the material !

From the 15th of november to the 15th of december, you can help us making this project come true !

Thanks to your donations, we will be able to buy the needed equipment for the children of the slum of Boeng Salang to have access, in the heart of their neighborhood, to a panel of activities permitting them to express their creativity, to blow off steam and to benefit from all the good things art and sport can provide. Because there is no reason these children can’t have access to it. 

 

A fun and unusual video

To talk about our crowdfunding campaign, a video was shot. It has been imagined, shot and produced by a volunteer of Taramana, with the help of all the staff. The children you see in this video are all from the slum of Boeng Salang, and volunteered to be a part of the project. 

 

>> The video

>> The project