Dr. SOEURN Visal
Side By Side International is a non-profit organization that was established in 1985 supply humanitarian aid, counseling, and work with other likeminded organizations that want to help people in need. It has does this in partnership and collaboration with many partners over the years providing educational materials for children, as well as food, stationary, toys, clothing etc to aid children institutions in Japan and Cambodia. It also provides medicines and medical equipment for hospital in Cambodia. Side by Side work with the MoH to ensure appropriate and sustainable contributions that make a difference to the health outcomes of different population groups in Cambodia.
The non-governmental organization Graphis is one of those who partners with Side by Side International, bringing a group of Japanese university students to Cambodia every year to help them in their service. The students (all nursing undergraduates) visited University of Puthisastra Faculty of Nursing & Midwifery this week, to meet with our nursing students and to exchange insights into each other’s nursing programs.
The UP nursing students showed the visiting students the labs where nursing students carry out their clinical skills training in the first years of their program and the OSCE preparation for graduating exams in their final year.
UP nursing students then shared with them a presentation the Health Status of the Cambodian People. The Japanese students also presented insights into nursing in Japan and our students also got an indepth understanding of the work Side by Side International does here in Cambodia. These presentations engendered a lot of cross cultural discussion between the groups and provided each side with much broader insight into their professioparticularly as a wider ASEAN perspective. Overcoming language and other cultural barriers proved to create lots of laughter and fun in the process. It was a wonderful experience for all!
