Mom and Nita

This morning I dropped in on my my friend, Mom (on the right), and stayed for lunch when her daughter, Nita, came home from college. I used to live in the flat below and we got on well.

Mom's my age and Nita's 18. Last time I saw Mom she wasn't so well. She was having bad stomach pains and getting stressed trying to find the right treatment. Nothing seemed to work and all the pills and potions were costing a bomb. There's no benefit system here or the equivalent of the NHS. So not being able to work because she was ill and having to pay to get better was difficult, as you can imagine.

I wasn't sure how she'd be today but I was encouraged to see her looking so much better and by the sound of it, getting the right treatment and support now.

Really good to see Nita too who's studying business management and psychology. She told me she wants to be a Doctor of Psychology which is quite a thing. I remember being shocked to hear how few psychiatrists there are in Cambodia, given the level of trauma the country has been through. I can't remember the statistic now but it was something like one for every hundred thousand people. Or more than that most likely. I'll have to check. Am annoyed i can't remember......

Anyway, it's an area where there's loads of stigma so am impressed that Nita wants to get into it. Some of her wider family have tried to disuade her but she's stuck to her guns. So hopefully she'll be a challenge to them and to many others too.