Students Continue Service Partnership in Cambodia

A group of Edgewood College students elected to spend part of their winter break in Cambodia, carrying on a mission of expanding access to clean drinking water and basic healthcare. Students and faculty, along with UW-Madison’s American Family Children’s Hospital, have forged a partnership with the Angkor Hospital for Children, a teaching hospital which provides free healthcare to impoverished children in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Those making the journey receive credit as part of their general education coursework focused on service, while gaining understanding of global health challenges.

Since 2012, students have made multiple trips to the hospital, which sponsors projects aimed at improving general health of the local population. Over the past few years, Edgewood College students have raised funds for nearly 500 water filters which can provide clean water for up to 15 years. This past trip, over 350 hygiene packets were donated to schoolchildren in the region.

“The first group of students chose this project as the way they felt they could do the most good with the funding that they had,” says Claude Rochon, RN, MSN, CPN, who serves on the Henry Predolin School of Nursing faculty and has been instrumental in planning and organizing these trips. “We often wonder what makes Edgewood College unique, I think the fact that for almost four years now Edgewood College students have looked beyond their own needs and have continued to sponsor this project, speaks for itself.”

Alumni Sarith Ou ’93 and Katja Seitz ‘14 will join students and faculty for the next trip, scheduled for May 2015.