This is a guest blog post by Gabrielle Yetter, a member of the Watsi community since 2014.
Years ago, when I lived in Phnom Penh with my husband, I was struck by an unforgettable moment of generosity. I remember being in a tuk-tuk on the way to work. The driver suddenly pulled to the side of the road and stopped next to an elderly widow sitting on the sidewalk (evident by her shaved head and white clothing). Our driver reached into his pocket and gave her a handful of small bills. At the time, he was earning about eight dollars a day, barely enough to support his family of four.
“I have more than she does. I must help,” he told me.
Returning to Cambodia years later, I saw that same spirit of kindness everywhere.
Again, and again. A coach driver handed a bottle of water and food to a beggar through the window of the bus. Our tuk-tuk driver from years ago (who now owns three guesthouses thanks to the generosity of friends who contributed to building him a home) donated money to a local health center. And, when traveling on the commuter ferry across the river, a blind man was led by the arm by his young daughter/wife/sister begging for donations. The first to give them money was a woman in a vegetable wagon. On the same journey, a tuk-tuk driver invited me to take a seat on his stationery motorbike shaded from the sun, and then offered to share his food with me.
This culture of generosity reminded me of what Chase Adam saw when he founded Watsi in 2012. A moment of witnessing someone in need—for him on a bus in Costa Rica while traveling through a town called Watsi—led to the creation of a platform that connects donors with patients in need of life-saving medical care.
It's about people helping people. And it's about spreading the word and appealing to those who are more able to help change lives.
One of those examples is the Children's Surgical Centre since (CSC) my husband and I visited last week. We have been Watsi supporters since hearing about it when we lived in Cambodia. I now volunteer by editing patient profiles, so I wanted to see this facility during our return visit. Run by British American doctor, Dr Jim Gollogly, CSC is one of Watsi's earliest medical partners. This year, CSC will mark a milestone—treating its 10,000th patient funded through Watsi. So it was enlightening and heartwarming to see the work being done there.
There's one thing about watching from afar, and quite another in standing next to the bed of a young man whose leg has been amputated because of a traffic accident. There's one thing about reading what it takes to run such a facility, and quite another in observing through glass partitions as surgery takes place. There’s one thing about hearing about farmers struggling in the fields but quite another seeing them lined up for eye surgeries after decades of working in the blistering sun. There's one thing about watching a video on how CSC started, but another in meeting Dr Gollogly, who has dedicated his life to helping people unable to help themselves.
In just the past 30 days, CSC has performed more than 180 surgeries, many of them on Watsi patients who meet the criteria of facing catastrophic health expenditure or cannot afford to go elsewhere. Some are able to provide small donations towards their treatment, but many are penniless or have spent their savings trying to find medical treatment through other means (often unsanitary or crude local clinics). Nobody is ever turned away, no matter what their financial capability, and everyone, with the exception of a handful, is seen and often treated on the same day they arrive at the center.
It's both heart-warming and heart-breaking to see the work of these devoted doctors and nurses who save lives and make it possible for poor individuals to have a better life.
And it’s incredible to learn about the sophisticated and caring work being done at this facility where there are frequent visits from doctors or medical professionals from other countries to conduct additional training.
Funding is primarily provided by donors and supporters such as Watsi, but much of the expertise is world-class and includes medical staff such as British pediatric surgeon, Dr. Saqib Noor who chose to leave England and devote his expertise to helping Cambodians, and Dr. Davy, one of the founding members of the ENT team. In her two years of training at the hospital, Dr. Davy has become one of the most successful ENT surgeons in the world with a success rate for a complex ear surgery of 91% compared to 85% worldwide.
What began in 1998 as a center to provide reconstructive surgery for Cambodians maimed by landmines, now provides ophthalmology, ENT surgery, orthopedic surgery, limb reconstruction, burn management, and more. Every day, a team of more than 80 people shows up and provides life-altering treatment for hundreds of poor Cambodians.
As a Watsi supporter myself, I was able to witness first-hand how every donation – even as small as $5 – could change a life. Seeing this work reaffirmed my belief in Watsi’s mission and I hope that everyone reading this would realize how they can be part of that mission and support a patient today.
Because, as our tuk-tuk driver said many years ago, "We have more than they do. We must help."
Gabrielle is a journalist-turned-author who has written for The Star in South Africa, worked in PR in New York, and managed global bureaus for Business Wire. She later moved to Cambodia, where she wrote books on Southeast Asia and children's literature. After years of house-sitting worldwide, she settled in England, publishing her debut novel, Whisper of the Lotus, in 2020, followed by a poetry collection, And The Clouds Parted, in 2022.
The Watsi Team
Everyone deserves healthcare.