“My visit to Cambodia will always be a part of me,” said Veronica Teaford, a junior
studying public health at Utah Valley University. “I had always dreamed of providing
humanitarian service in a developing nation.”
That dream came true in June for Teaford and four other public health majors who spent
nearly two weeks of their summer teaching hygiene and building latrines in rural villages.
The Empowering Cambodian Lives program is shepherded by UVU Associate Professor of
Public Health Brian Barthel.
“The students researched the most significant health issues of Cambodian school-age
children and prepared materials and lessons in their native Khmer language. This required
interaction with our Cambodian contacts to verify that the Khmer words and phrases
used in their presentation materials accurately portrayed the message they intended
to convey,” said Barthel.
“We did so many things!” said Teaford. “Our main projects included teaching school-aged
children (and some high schoolers) hygiene.”
Other subjects included sanitation and preventing drug abuse and disease. Elementary
school-age classes also received a lesson in dental health.
The UVU team also rolled up their sleeves outside the classrooms to install latrines
in partnership with Solidarity Fund for Rural Development; a Cambodian humanitarian
organization.
“We went to poorer houses in rural villages outside of Phnom Penh and Siem Reap and
put in latrines, which we hope will decrease the spread of disease and make our friends
in Cambodia a lot healthier and happier,” Teaford said.
“Even though we didn’t have a common language, we all shared in the joy of our time
together as we assisted them in providing water filters and building latrines,” said
Barthel. “While in this work, the village children would flock to our latrine worksites,
smiling in amazement at the interactions with our ‘peculiar’ UVU students.”
The students’ work could be the difference between life and death. Waterborne illness
is common in Cambodia, where more than two million people do not have access to clean
water.
“We taught the families how to obtain the pure drinking water, and from now on they
can get the good drinking water and do not need to buy bottled water,” said Cambodian
Facilitator Chhay Leang Suy. “They were also happy to get the latrine project from
our program. During the hand-over activity, we taught the family members to clean
hands and take care of the toilet each day after using it.”
Teaford said that, while the work was not easy, it was rewarding.
“Studying abroad is so important because you get to explore someone else’s life for
some time,” she said. “You get to walk in their shoes and explore what their country
has to offer. You get to explore different religious monuments and thrive in a place
you’re not accustomed to. Ultimately, you get to develop and grow as a person by taking
those challenging steps of doing something different, but something so incredibly
important.”
UVU’s Empowering Cambodian Lives program is funded in part by doTERRA and other sources.
“The students had to move quickly to apply for available grants and funding. They
utilized newly and quickly acquired grant writing skills, and each student was successful
in acquiring partial funding,” said Barthel. “The hope for this year’s UVU students
participating in the 2022 Empowering Cambodian Lives program was that they could apply
their public health classroom knowledge and skills to real-life situations in a developing
nation setting.”
But, Teaford said she learned many lessons that went beyond her major.
“I also gained a larger appreciation for service and helping people. Our 8-5 jobs
in Cambodia were serving people, and I enjoyed every single aspect of it. I want to
reach outside of myself more and help those around me,” she said.
She is also thankful for Associate Professor Barthel and the Cambodian guides who
made the trip possible. Barthel is grateful for the support he received from across
campus.
“Thanks to all the UVU departments who contributed! This included UVU Wellness Programs,
the dental hygiene program, and UVU Athletics,” Barthel said. He is particularly grateful
for Trevor Carte, program director, and Kerri Scott, program manager, of UVU Student
Wellness Programs.
In Cambodia, families are also sharing their gratitude for the work completed by UVU’s
Public Health students. “The families would like to thank UVU and doTerra Healing
Hands Foundation for supporting them. They would like to wish all to have good health
and more happiness and joy in the year 2022,” said Suy.
