Visits and students

Cambodia is a wonderful county to visit. Its people are warm and welcoming. Facilities are available at all levels, from luxury to backpackers dormitory. Within a few hours of Phnom Penh are white sanded beaches, mysterious jungle covered mountains, and the most incredible archeological temples shouldering their ways in from antiquity. Cambodia is easy and cheap to get to and is relatively safe by all standards. It is not the aim of this site however to lay out a travelogue, rather to say that genuinely interested visitors to the ROSE Cambodia projects sites are warmly welcomed. Many people have skills which they are prepared to 'donate' for a short period during their holiday. These may be medical, surgical, rehabilitative, nursing, accounting, administration, photography, writing. etc etc etc... almost anything can be of assistance Almost always they are welcome for any period of time.. a day, a week, a month etc. Welcome too however, are those who are simply interested. You will help us by seeing and understanding and just making yourselves part of us, if only for a little while.

Good Cambodian Travel Agent. We have found Mr Nara at Angkor Avia Travel in Phnom Penh very helpful, on email and answers promptly ! (no, we dont have any 'deal' with him to write this, just that it is useful to know someone reliable !) Email avia.angkor.travel@camnet.com.kh Many of us have used Mr Nara for onward tickets to Vietnam / Siem Reap, Visas, hotel bookings etc. and always found good service.

Student / Resident Electives

Students of all disciplines degrees of experience and ages are welcome at ROSE - Cambodia. Many successful electives have been experienced to date. The philosophy of ROSE is to interchange information, experience and learning and this applies also to students and/or other visitors. While ROSE has no formal rules and regulations regarding student electives the following considerations are important...

ROSE only offers its day to day functioning . No special programs are arranged and the staff of ROSE give no pressure for involvement. A lot however usually is going on and so it is up to the student to participate him/herself in whatever she/he is interested in. There are always potential projects to be carried out if this is desired. The most welcome students are those who will actively take a role in the running of the unit, and be prepared to assist with the numerous everyday tasks. (e.g.. going to the market to buy things, attending meetings with other NGO's, helping patients around etc. etc.). Although FIRST-Rose is primarily a rehab/trauma surgery center, Dr Nous Sarom who runs it is also Director of Chea Chumneas Hospital (where the FIRST-Rose unit is housed) and is able to arrange time in other departments such as paediatrics, psychiatry, infectious disease etc. The Rose Charities Eye Clinc at the other end of town (about 1.5 km from the center of Phnom Penh) is run by Dr Hang Vra and attends thousands of patients per year.

Regrettably, ROSE cannot undertake funding nor accommodation but can arrange a guest house. We can can advise on travel details. Food is cheap (1 USD will buy lunch or dinner at a street restaurant), as is transport (by motorcycle taxi) around the city. Any participants however working with ROSE do so at their own risk and should have arranged their own health and accident insurance. The best source of most recent information is from our student blogsite www.rosestudent.blogspot.com We ask all students to write a paragraph of two there, to help others following on. You can email (facebook very good to contact too) others also, who have been before.

As ROSE has no formal student programs it is recommended that the student comes to Cambodia with a flexible approach in mind. Once in country it can be often possible to direct students to other NGO's or involvements if enough has being gained from the ROSE core project.

Hazards and dangers: Any student considering working with ROSE in Cambodia should be aware that they do so at their own risk. Infectious diseases are highly prevalent and dangerous and may be carried by patients. Operative techniques inevitably include some exposure to blood and the use of sharp pointed and cutting instruments. Blood born infections such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and hepatitis B and C may be transmitted by an accidental cut or puncture. Tuberculosis (TB) as well as other infectious diseases are also common. All students must ensure that they are properly vaccinated and insured. Most current vaccination lists will be available from your local travel medicine center, but should include typhoid, hepatitis A and B, tetanus and polio. Proper malaria prophylaxis should also be carried for any out-of-Phnom Penh visits. Post HIV exposure prophylaxis is reportedly available a the Pasteur Institute in Phnom Penh, but do not assume it is routinely carried at other centers. ROSE Charities cannot be responsible for the above risks and each student will be asked to sign a waiver before undertaking or observing any ROSE activities. An increasing danger is road traffic accidents. In Phnom Penh and most other towns, speeds are slow (because of congestion), but in the countryside, the driving can be extremely dangerous and local vehicles old, poorly maintained/serviced and built with cheap, utterly unsafe, locally made parts. Overland taxi's are particularly bad in this area. Take this warning most seriously. If you do have a bad accident, advanced intensive care is extremely difficult (or impossible) to find. PLEASE TAKE THIS WARNING VERY SERIOUSLY !

Having given all the warnings above however, it must be said that usually the presence of students, residents, professional or other helpers is warmly welcomed by the Cambodian staff. RoseCharities in Cambodia does has no involvement with bullying expatriates (prevalent in at least one other NGO) and the staff are invariably keen to help and advise visitors in ways to gain the most out of their visit time, socially as well as medically. It also should be said that it is not necessary to bring medical/surgical/rehab skills to your visit. Although essentially the project is a medical/surgical one, there are always areas of logistics, communications, accounting, maintenance, or just teaching English, etc which any project needs.

Organization structure. Please realize that each Rose organization in the network is an entirely independent, nationally registered organization with no legal ties to any other. Your permission to attend for an elective is 100% dependent on the local organization(s). For Cambodia, this is Rose Charities Cambodia ( www.rosecharity.org ) and OperationFIRST Cambodia ( www.FirstRose.org ). While other Roses (Canada, Australia etc) may facilitate communication, ultimately permission is with the local organization.

Donations. As of late 2008 we are asking elective students to make a small voluntary donation to the projects. Typically this might be $10 - 20 per week. The projects invariably incur some expenses when visitors participate (ie laundering surgical greens, etc). But also, RoseCharities exists to medically assist poor Cambodians and train health professionals and with the huge demand, funds are always tight. Your donation will help keep things running. Please remember though that it is voluntary. We appreciate that students can be on tight budgets (we have been there too !): if you really have no extra to spare, then you are equally welcome. Even more welcome to us is if you keep in touch after your elective experience: we will always welcome your input, ideas and involvement. Once you have visited and understand a Rose project, you have become part of the family ! One useful way is to join our Facebook group (www.Facebook.com ) 'Rosecharities'

Who we like best..The most welcome qualities of students to ROSE staff are, initiative, interest, resourcefulness, flexibility, friendliness and ability to get on with people

also see the Rose Student Blogsite

Download student / volunteer waiver PDF