DDSP

DDSP (short for Disability Development Services Pursat) is a project which MSAVLC has recently provided some funding for, it is based in Pursat province which is about 4 hours bus ride North-west from Phnom Penh. Or in our case a 2 hour taxi ride! We missed the last bus of the day (at 1pm?!) due to being busy in the morning so had to taxi it, with the most terrifying taxi driver I have ever experienced! Through major rain storms he still maintained about 90 mph causing me and Alex to look at each other in alarm, but fortunately we survived along with all the poor moto drivers in our way…

As soon as we arrived I phoned the Director, Samnang, to arrange a time to meet the following morning. To my surprise he offered to come straight away and go for dinner , which proved to be very enjoyable but also allowed us extra time to ask questions about DDSP. DDSP was actually founded by a young English guy named Steve Harknett, in 2003. He had been working out in Cambodia for a different NGO and then started Up DDSP. I have met him a couple of times in London so I felt like I knew a bit of the background which was good. Interestingly he left DDSP a couple years ago, which is what I really like about DDSP - it is very much for Cambodians and now completely run by Cambodians - extremely rare for an NGO out here!

To summarise, they provide support for people with varying disabilities. An example of only some of their projects:

Community Rehabilitation Project (CBR) this provides an incredible range of support for 26 villages across the province. DDSP’s selection process for target villages are those which are poor, remote, lack basic services and projects from other NGO’s, and have a large number of disabled people.

The CBR project focus is in 4 main areas:

Basic needs – disabled people’s health, hygiene, nutrition, housing and emergency needs. Rehabilitation needs – e.g. home-based therapy and rehabilitation equipment, and need for referral to rehabilitation services outside of the community.
Social needs - e.g. psycho-social counselling, confidence and empowerment, education and vocational training.
Economic needs – e.g. access to micro-credit and capital for income generation.

Paraplegic and Quadriplegic Project: this provides support for the 43 people in the province who have been injured in this way. Support ranges from equipment supply to physiotherapy to transporting young people to school, as well as helping them find ways to make an income.

Mlob Mith Komar (MMK) meaning “Children’s Friends Shade”Launched in 2004 for children with severe disabilities . A room at Pursat Hospital has been donated to the project, allowing children to attend. As well as centre-based activities staff carry out home follow up, to provide on-going training and encouragement to carers and where necessary to provide emergency support and help with health care and nutrition.


The next morning bright and early at 7.30am Samnang came to collect Alex and I to travel to a village 2 hours away, one of the furthest they deal with. We met with the VDPC ( Village Disabled Peoples Committee) and to say we were in awe at our reception upon arrival would be a vast understatement! It was a glorious hot, sunny day and we were met by probably about 25-30 people from babies to old Ladies and Men. The Deputy Chair of the VDPC gave us a presentation about their Committee and the Village and we then had the opportunity to ask questions. I could go on here for hours but I won’t, I will just say that they seemed a very respectable and respectful group of people, and it is clear DDSP has provided them with a lot of help they would never have received elsewhere. We met two youngsters with Cerebal Palsy whilst there, who both seemed very loved and well cared for; and also found out there are 46 people in the village with a disability of some kind.

There are no social services in Cambodia and without each other and DDSP they would have nothing, no support whatsoever.After answering a few questions ourseleves (some related to MSAVLC), the funniest being what was our marital status (!) we went on to visit a Battery charging project. DDSP paid a small group of disabled villagers to install an electricity generator so that they can charge other people home batteries, a lucrative business it turns out. Following that we visited the DDSP vegetable fields, filled with lush looking watermelon, cucumbers and peanuts for the villagers to sell and eat. We even managed to get some cucumbers for ourselves! Organic dahling.

Upon our return to Pursat we hoovered up some more delicious food (it is such a delight to be with an actual Khmer person and order interesting things!) we then met with two people supported by their PQR project. The first was a 19 year old girl named Srei-mom, who has not had the use of her legs since she was very young. Srei-mom was truly inspiring, she had a lovely smily nature and spoke very good English, we chatted for a while at her family home. DDSP pays for her to be transported to School and for extra lessons in english and computing (as well as initially providing health support). It was really nice chatting with her, she was very bubbly and positive – the next time I find myself moaning about something which I invariably do about 50 times a day please punch me! – because life obviously is not easy for Srei-mom.

We then met with a young man who had fallen from a tree two years earlier and lost all movement from the neck down. The saddness permeating him was obvious as soon as we arrived, we both felt terrible for him. He lives with his wife and two young Sons, and his parents. DDSP provides him with regular physiotherapy and has also supplied Chickens for him to earn an income. As we spoke with him it was apparent things were very hard, there is no one else to earn money and the chickens do not make enough to support all of them. What can you say? DDSP do as much as they can, it is awful knowing he is unlikely to receive much more in the way of aid but there is nothing I can do about it. I asked if he ever had visits from Doctors or the Hospital, or any government aid, and he said No, nothing. Thank god DDSP exists is all I can say!

Finally we briefly met with some of the staff members at the DDSP office. The whole visit had incorporated so much more than I had expected and sadly we already had bus tickets back to Phnom Penh on the last bus, and so had to rush off. If I had had any idea how much time of his Samnang would have given us I would have stayed longer, but I didn’t… regrets regrets eh…So we arrived at the bus stop just before the bus left when I realised… I had forgotten my bag at the office! Which only contained all my money, passport, laptop…. I have never done anything so stupid in all my life! Fortunately one of Samnang's staff raced over to us on her moto, just as the bus driver was threatening to leave and all the passengers were glaring at us through the windows…I am so grateful to Samnang for all his help, and if anyone is thinking of making any donations any time soon I can vouch for DDSP without question!