MMI’s first project to serve the poor in Cambodia launched in 1999.God soon created a principal partnership with missionaries who have established a critically important medical care program in the country.
Project Sites
MMI Projects go to either Siem Reap or Phnom Penh. Medical and Dental teams will travel in mobile clinics to the villages surrounding the city. Surgical teams will work in local hospitals.
Housing
MMI teams stay in either a modest hotel or guesthouse Cambodia. Rooms are shared. Hot showers and bed linens are provided.
Electricity
Electricity in Southeast Asia is usually 220 volts. If you are bringing electrical devices, please remember to pack a converter.
More About Cambodia
Following a five-year struggle, communist Khmer Rouge forces captured Phnom Penh in 1975 and ordered the evacuation of all cities and towns; over 1 million displaced people died from execution or enforced hardships. A 1978 Vietnamese invasion drove the Khmer Rouge into the countryside and touched off 13 years of fighting. In 1993, the UN helped restore some semblance of normalcy. A coalition government, formed after national elections in 1998, brought renewed political stability and the surrender of remaining Khmer Rouge forces.
Cambodia has little seasonal temperature variation, with an average low of 70F/20C and an average high of 95F/70C. The rainy, monsoon season is May through November, the dry season is December through April.
Geography
Location: Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, between Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos.
Area: slightly smaller than Oklahoma.
Terrain: mostly low, flat plains; mountains in southwest and north.
People & Economy
Population: 12.2 million (note: estimates for this country take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS.)
The population lacks education and productive skills, particularly in the poverty-ridden countryside, which suffers from an almost total lack of basic infrastructure.
Ethnic groups: Khmer 90%, Vietnamese 5%, and Chinese 1%
Literacy: 35%
Religion: Theravada Buddhist 95%, other 5%
Language: Khmer (official) 95%, French, English
Currency: Cambodian new riel (CR).
Industries: garments, rice milling, fishing, wood and wood products, rubber, cement, gem mining, textiles.
Agriculture: rice, rubber, corn, vegetables.
