Beatocello

The sound of a cello is like listening to the echoes of heartstrings breaking from sorrow and the urgent need to help in times when you feel that each move you make barely makes a dent in the place you are trying to move from. I love this sound- heartwrenchingly sad, yet bringing from the depths of your soul such strong emotions that you can feel moved to make an effort towards change, to act.

On our last night in Siem Reap, we attended a free cello concert performed by Dr. Beat Richner, who runs the Children's hospitals throughout Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. The man is amazing- he was first in Cambodia with the Red Cross as a volunteer when the Khmer Rouge first moved in and began to cause chaos. He left the country shortly after the conflict started, and when peace was later restored in the early 90's, he was asked by the government to return to Cambodia to build a children's hospital.

And thus Kantha Bopha was born. A foundation that started with one seemingly impossible task of building a children's hospital with western standards of medicine, that would be free to all children that came. This was a success and over the years, through the astounding management and planning of Dr. Richner and the generous donations of independent donors, he has built 5 hospitals and a maternity ward. The hospital we went to the concert at in Siem Reap is a beautifully designed building and is built for function as well. The hospitals have treated more than 8 million children through the years, and what's amazing is that 90% of their funding comes from private donors. Only 5% comes from the Cambodian government and 5% from the Swiss government. The hospital was rated by 2 independent agencies to determine it's effectiveness with regards to cost and results, and it is the highest rated hospital in the world- meaning the best treatment at the lowest cost. The hospital employs over 1,900 Cambodian employees, and has only 3 non-Cambodian staff. This alone is tremendous as the hospitals train the staff as well in their careers, and they are payed a fare wage, which is was keeps the hospital from becoming corrupt at all.

If you are in Siem Reap, I highly recommend being there on a Saturday evening so that you can attend this concert.

For more information...

http://www.beatocello.com/