A FINAL REFLECTION BY BRIAN

Brian Ake
Cambodia Reflection
April 1st 2008


On Monday, March 10th I left Boston, which began my 32-hour journey to the other side of the world. I arrived in Cambodia on Wednesday, and right from the start, I realized that this was going to be a special mission. I met up with the student sponsor, one of the other students, a PIT, and a nurse in Los Angeles and right away we all connected on a personal and professional level. One thing that will always amaze me is how 67 total strangers from all different backgrounds were able to come together in those two weeks and perform an amazing amount of surgeries, in an extremely poor part of the world. Teamwork proved to be one of the themes throughout the mission.

When I first set foot in Cambodia it was a surreal experience. It was as if during the bus ride from the airport to the hotel was one long dream. The hoards of mopeds, not at all worried about what side of the road they were whizzing by on, and the shacks that shouldn’t be considered houses, littered the sides of the road.

I was at first taken aback when I saw how poor the people of Cambodia are. The only relative poverty I had seen previously, were the projects in the Bronx. I realized when seeing these “houses” made of cardboard, I will never, ever in my life make a joke about someone living in a cardboard box. People really do live like that, and it is nothing to joke about.

When screening week first started I was a little nervous. All my nerves slipped away when I grew accustomed to the people of Cambodia and their warm and gentle spirit. During the first presentation we made, I had a few butterflies, but when the kids laughed everything was fine, and after that every presentation got easier.

The surgeries were the most amazing thing I have ever seen. I had the pleasure of bonding with a several kids; bringing them all the way through the surgical process until they arrived in post op. It is an amazing experience being with the parents when their child came out a transformed person.

I will definitely travel on another Operation Smile mission. The two weeks I spent in Cambodia were probably two of the best weeks in my life.