HOW I CHANGE CAMBODIA 2019

Meet Quinn…..

Quinn is a shy introvert, who lost her legs in an accident years ago. Everytime I visited her, I found her hiding and she seemed scared and insecure. Due to the loss of her legs, she’s not able to move around by herself or interact with people as much as others. 

 

Luckily, Quinn has two other legs and she is being raised by Phnom Penh Animal Welfare Society (PPAWS), “a volunteer organization and full-service veterinary clinic based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.” 

 

In Disabled Animal, we are designing and making wheelchairs for domestic disabled animals. Therefore, we dedicated our time, energy and love to give this dog an opportunity to walk around and interact with others. We did this by designing and making a wheelchair for her. But to me, it’s more than that.

 

We are not just designing and constructing a wheelchair; we are changing Cambodian perspectives to revere animals like a beloved family member. 

 

At first, I joined the Disabled Animal Project with the purpose of helping to give disabled animals a better life. Personally, I’ve always been passionate about animals and it shifted my gears to apply for an internship at PPAWS on the basic veterinarian lesson. 

 

During my internship, I primarily went to the pagoda with the veterinarian and contributed free rabies vaccinations to abandoned dogs and cats. I delivered approx 200 shots, which will prevent rabies in a significant way. 

 

Meanwhile, at the clinic, I was keen on learning about their sickness symptoms and giving them their daily medication every time I was there. Twice a week when I was at PPAWS, as an advantage for my project, I could check on Quinn’s situation to try the wheelchair on her and reported back to the team to make changes. 

 

This year has been a breakthrough to me. I have found my true passion and now I know what I want to do in the future. These experiences inspired me to be involved in helping animals. I’m honored to join PPAWS’s mission on combating rabies, ending dog meat trade, finding new homes for rescues and reducing the insane overpopulation of street animals. Liger has allowed me to explore different passions and subject areas. By taking these opportunities, I have a clearer vision of my future and know that I’m willing to work with animals for the rest of my life. 

CHANGING CAMBODIA

As I observe  Cambodia today is developing, with factories, construction, education, transportation, tourism, forestation and etc. You can’t imagine how fast things are changing, from uneducated to educated society. It’s almost impossible to believe. If you want to change something or someone you have to change yourself first. From 2016 to 2017 I believed in myself that I have the agency to change Cambodia.

From the beginning of the year, one of my exploration was Iron Deficiency, which is we learn about anemia. Anemia is a type of condition when you have low red blood cells. We went to Siem Reap to teach students and villagers about anemia and Lucky Iron Fish. We also cooperate with Lucky Iron Fish Company. We helped to allocate the Lucking Iron Fish to each villager, who came to listen to our presentation about anemia and Lucky Iron Fish. By this exploration, I helped to transition Cambodia by distributing my knowledge to others villagers and technique how to live healthier. In 2017 I involved of making Climate Change Board Game for Cambodian students. The board game teaches students to understand about climate change, the impact of climate, how to prevent the climate change. As the result we want them to passionately understand how human activity affected to climate. The main problem caused climate change was their tons and tons of CO2 are releasing in the air. I helped to change Cambodia by teaching others students of the impact of climate change, so they also can teach other people to make a change.

One of my favorite explorations of the year was Ecosystem Services and Climate Change. We went to Koh Rong Island to do the survey about the six most eaten fish. The main purpose of the survey was to know the decreasing/increasing in a population of the 6 most eaten fish species in both villages. The 6 species are Sphyraenidae, Lethrinus, Gymnocranius, Carangidae, Snappers, and Groupers. Not just that, we also help Song Saa Foundation to distribute water filter one per family. The advantages of using water filter are they don’t have to spend their time to boil the water and spend the money on the wood to burn. Additionally, we also teach them how to prevent from the lightning by doing the lighting play that we prepared from school

To illuminate the idea of my changing Cambodia this year. I’m so proud of myself, even though I made a change a mini changed in Cambodia for the past 1 year, but I’m so appreciative about myself and I don’t care how it means to other people, but it means a lot to me. To end my conclusion I will keep making a change in Cambodia for the rest of the time that I have.

CHANGING CAMBODIA 2014 – 2015

I was notice need to be changed in my country is no more people throwing the rubbish, no smoke and not cutting down the trees. The solution that I thought about rubbish is we should have a lots of bins in the city and other province. I wanted the people in Cambodia or other countries to stop smoking because it is not good for our health. My solution is I wanted to explain to the seller how bad as secret are one more is making the workshop tell the people in our community to come and explain them. My solution for no more cutting down the trees is, we should find the better and integrity police because police now they just thinking about the money. Teaching the new generation of kids in the schools about the forest in Cambodia, try to grow more trees. During my holiday I talked to my friends about plastics in our community (community in my province (Banteay Meanchey province)). During Khmer new year me and some of my friends are helping each to picking up the rubbish. I also talked to my family and some of relative about the rubbish after that me, my brother, my cousin and my grandmother are helping each other picking up the rubbish around our house and burn it. We burn it because in my community don’t have the truck come and collect the rubbish that why we are burning it.

In Recycled Community Exploration I did my best to teach people in community how to recycle their rubbish.

Ex: We used plastics to make volet, we used recycled paper to make bracelet and we used cardboard to make some things for the kids to play. Recycled Community team showed them how we love and care about the environment in our country. If other people didn’t see what we doing they also check our blog. Recycle Community

My little step are:  

I got an idea (Where should I clean or picking up the rubbish) I did create changed Cambodia in this year. My exploration is Recycled Community (RC) we invite people in our community to comes and teach them how to reduce, reuse and recycled (3R) the plastics. I changed Cambodia this years by teaching people how to reduce, reused and recycled their plastics.