My Volunteer Trip to Cambodia
Donation protected
A 2017 Trip to Cambodia & Lydia's Second Chance
In July, my good friend and fellow Pre-Med Elizabeth O’Hare and I will be leaving the United States for a month and traveling to Cambodia to meet a child named Lydia at an orphanage called the Shelter of Love. The story of how I learned about little Lydia and her amazing story is below, everyone who has heard her story knows that she is nothing short of a miracle. I strongly encourage reading all of it. We will meet and care for Lydia, the other the children at the shelter, and the Cambodian surgeon who will oversee her cardiovascular care, while teaching and learning what we can about Cambodian culture from the locals’ perspectives. I never expected to see such a combination of abuse, neglect, malformation, and poverty in a child which would drive me to travel to Cambodia and see everything for myself. If this experience has taught me anything, it is that you should choose to love in every moment, despite what it may drive you to do (including crossing the pond!). Joy can be anywhere, in any place, and I feel it is my mission to bring my compassion to a country where I may need to live out of a backpack or sleep on a floor for a month. I hope that what I was able to do for Lydia will continue to give hope to the staff at the Shelter for Love, and that my journey will inspire others too.
All donations will go towards my travel and living expenses, and any excess will be donated to the Shelter of Love orphanage for Lydia’s healthcare fund. I also want Lydia’s story to be told, so please share with your family and friends! There is a big chance that she will get the surgery she needs to grow bigger and stronger, and I cannot wait to finally meet the little inspiration.
Many thanks,
Katelyn Comeau
(email: [email redacted]ary.edu)
Lydia’s Story:
Five months ago, a good friend of mine packed a backpack and some sandals and begin a year-long journey of volunteering in the poorest nations in the world. Nine thousand miles from my University in Emmitsburg, Maryland is an orphanage on a dirt road in the small town of Cambodia’s Kampong Thom Province, near Siem Reap. The Shelter of Love orphanage is home to over fifty orphaned children of all ages who have been abandoned, abused, or otherwise forgotten. These children are given opportunities to learn English and scripture with the help of staff from Cambodia and around the world. Many of the children who grew up at the shelter have since graduated high school and college and are now teachers and lawyers in their communities, happy to have been given the chance to succeed when their future had once seemed so bleak. This extraordinary place was the first stop on her mission and in no time at all, she was in love with Cambodia.
One of these children was a very special case. In November, my friend’s mother put me in contact with the caretaker a nine-month-old baby girl named Lydia at the orphanage, and I immediately fell in love with her incredible story of faith, love, and strength. Lydia was born prematurely, as many children with defects do in countries with poor medical care. She struggled to grow without the advanced technology that we have taken for granted here in the United States and in other developed countries, and as a result, is much smaller than the other babies her age. The most remarkable thing about her is that she was born with a heart defect that left her with only three chambers in her heart instead of four, and her blood circulation is so poor that her hands, lips, and feet are constantly blue and purple. Normally, operations to correct this defect in the United States would be done as soon as possible after birth, but her father did not have the money or incentive to get the help she needed. The story got worse when I learned that shortly after birth, her father physically abused both Lydia and her mother until her mother was forced to leave. Eventually their neighbors convinced her father to leave Lydia at the orphanage where she would be given the care and love she so desperately needed. Unfortunately, she was left with scars, injuries, and a lazy eye, but remained the same sweet baby girl that could light up every room with just her smile.
In the hope that her condition could be helped, Lydia’s caretakers at the Shelter of Love tried taking her to the hospital a few hours away in Siem Reap. Instead, they left with the worst news possible: she was inoperable, and very soon she would stop growing, her heart would cease to pump, and she would die. My friend heard this news shortly after her arrival and was heartbroken. She reached out to her mother for another opinion, and she in turn reached out to me. I looked at the medical records supplied by the hospital, all in French and very poorly done. With little hope, I talked to an incredible mentor of mine, a Johns Hopkins surgeon, that I’ve apprenticed under for nearly three years. Over that time, I have been introduced to a dozen other brilliant Hopkins surgeons who all have done great work in other countries for those in need. With his help, I was able to find someone to translate her medical records from French into English, but most importantly, put Lydia’s caretakers in contact with a doctor who specializes in pediatric cardiac surgery. Dozens of emails, hours on the phone, and late nights later, I got the final email that informed me that a pediatric cardiac surgeon would be traveling to Cambodia in late February to evaluate and possibly operate on little Lydia. Together, with a Cambodian cardiac surgeon from the hospital in Siem Reap, he will try change Lydia’s fate. It’s a sad story from a medical perspective because although she is now in an environment where she is loved and cared for, her fight is not over. She is as strong as a neglected and abused child could be, but unfortunately, if the diagnosis from the poor evaluation conducted at the hospital is true, her condition could only be helped but not repaired by the surgery. It’s also possible that her diagnosis was wrong and a different heart condition is causing her symptoms, but then it might not be in her best interest to have a complex operation with the damage already done to her lungs from her heart’s malformation. Little Lydia has a chance at life, but not necessarily a normal one. The people who care for her will do their best to surround her with everything she needs, and the love and attention that will keep her little heart pumping. I cannot wait to be there in person to see for myself how amazing she is. As an undergrad from a small university on the side of a mountain thousands of miles away, I wondered if I was too insignificant to help. With a bit of luck, lots of connections, and good friends, I was able to help little Lydia from the other side of the world. Her story made me fall in love with her and the volunteers at the orphanage, very soon, and with your help, I will buy a place ticket to meet her myself.
Pictures of Lydia:
Photos courtesy of Hayden Schwarting
http://www.shelteroflove.org/
In July, my good friend and fellow Pre-Med Elizabeth O’Hare and I will be leaving the United States for a month and traveling to Cambodia to meet a child named Lydia at an orphanage called the Shelter of Love. The story of how I learned about little Lydia and her amazing story is below, everyone who has heard her story knows that she is nothing short of a miracle. I strongly encourage reading all of it. We will meet and care for Lydia, the other the children at the shelter, and the Cambodian surgeon who will oversee her cardiovascular care, while teaching and learning what we can about Cambodian culture from the locals’ perspectives. I never expected to see such a combination of abuse, neglect, malformation, and poverty in a child which would drive me to travel to Cambodia and see everything for myself. If this experience has taught me anything, it is that you should choose to love in every moment, despite what it may drive you to do (including crossing the pond!). Joy can be anywhere, in any place, and I feel it is my mission to bring my compassion to a country where I may need to live out of a backpack or sleep on a floor for a month. I hope that what I was able to do for Lydia will continue to give hope to the staff at the Shelter for Love, and that my journey will inspire others too.
All donations will go towards my travel and living expenses, and any excess will be donated to the Shelter of Love orphanage for Lydia’s healthcare fund. I also want Lydia’s story to be told, so please share with your family and friends! There is a big chance that she will get the surgery she needs to grow bigger and stronger, and I cannot wait to finally meet the little inspiration.
Many thanks,
Katelyn Comeau
(email: [email redacted]ary.edu)
Lydia’s Story:
Five months ago, a good friend of mine packed a backpack and some sandals and begin a year-long journey of volunteering in the poorest nations in the world. Nine thousand miles from my University in Emmitsburg, Maryland is an orphanage on a dirt road in the small town of Cambodia’s Kampong Thom Province, near Siem Reap. The Shelter of Love orphanage is home to over fifty orphaned children of all ages who have been abandoned, abused, or otherwise forgotten. These children are given opportunities to learn English and scripture with the help of staff from Cambodia and around the world. Many of the children who grew up at the shelter have since graduated high school and college and are now teachers and lawyers in their communities, happy to have been given the chance to succeed when their future had once seemed so bleak. This extraordinary place was the first stop on her mission and in no time at all, she was in love with Cambodia.
One of these children was a very special case. In November, my friend’s mother put me in contact with the caretaker a nine-month-old baby girl named Lydia at the orphanage, and I immediately fell in love with her incredible story of faith, love, and strength. Lydia was born prematurely, as many children with defects do in countries with poor medical care. She struggled to grow without the advanced technology that we have taken for granted here in the United States and in other developed countries, and as a result, is much smaller than the other babies her age. The most remarkable thing about her is that she was born with a heart defect that left her with only three chambers in her heart instead of four, and her blood circulation is so poor that her hands, lips, and feet are constantly blue and purple. Normally, operations to correct this defect in the United States would be done as soon as possible after birth, but her father did not have the money or incentive to get the help she needed. The story got worse when I learned that shortly after birth, her father physically abused both Lydia and her mother until her mother was forced to leave. Eventually their neighbors convinced her father to leave Lydia at the orphanage where she would be given the care and love she so desperately needed. Unfortunately, she was left with scars, injuries, and a lazy eye, but remained the same sweet baby girl that could light up every room with just her smile.
In the hope that her condition could be helped, Lydia’s caretakers at the Shelter of Love tried taking her to the hospital a few hours away in Siem Reap. Instead, they left with the worst news possible: she was inoperable, and very soon she would stop growing, her heart would cease to pump, and she would die. My friend heard this news shortly after her arrival and was heartbroken. She reached out to her mother for another opinion, and she in turn reached out to me. I looked at the medical records supplied by the hospital, all in French and very poorly done. With little hope, I talked to an incredible mentor of mine, a Johns Hopkins surgeon, that I’ve apprenticed under for nearly three years. Over that time, I have been introduced to a dozen other brilliant Hopkins surgeons who all have done great work in other countries for those in need. With his help, I was able to find someone to translate her medical records from French into English, but most importantly, put Lydia’s caretakers in contact with a doctor who specializes in pediatric cardiac surgery. Dozens of emails, hours on the phone, and late nights later, I got the final email that informed me that a pediatric cardiac surgeon would be traveling to Cambodia in late February to evaluate and possibly operate on little Lydia. Together, with a Cambodian cardiac surgeon from the hospital in Siem Reap, he will try change Lydia’s fate. It’s a sad story from a medical perspective because although she is now in an environment where she is loved and cared for, her fight is not over. She is as strong as a neglected and abused child could be, but unfortunately, if the diagnosis from the poor evaluation conducted at the hospital is true, her condition could only be helped but not repaired by the surgery. It’s also possible that her diagnosis was wrong and a different heart condition is causing her symptoms, but then it might not be in her best interest to have a complex operation with the damage already done to her lungs from her heart’s malformation. Little Lydia has a chance at life, but not necessarily a normal one. The people who care for her will do their best to surround her with everything she needs, and the love and attention that will keep her little heart pumping. I cannot wait to be there in person to see for myself how amazing she is. As an undergrad from a small university on the side of a mountain thousands of miles away, I wondered if I was too insignificant to help. With a bit of luck, lots of connections, and good friends, I was able to help little Lydia from the other side of the world. Her story made me fall in love with her and the volunteers at the orphanage, very soon, and with your help, I will buy a place ticket to meet her myself.
Pictures of Lydia:
Photos courtesy of Hayden Schwarting
http://www.shelteroflove.org/
Organizer
Katelyn Comeau
Organizer
Essex, MD
