INTRODUCTION
Cambodia is located in the Southeast Asia and situated between Thailand (West), Vietnam (East) and Lao (North) with an area of 181,035 Sq.km. Cambodia is multi-ethnic, multi-religions. The total population in the year 2003 is 13.5 million with the majority of population is Khmer Buddhist (90%), Muslim about (7%) and some Roman Catholics.
Through being minority, Cham people remain strictly adapt their own culture and tradition. Their interests are different from Khmer Buddhists in term of costumes, language, way of life, hobbies and food etc.
Most of Cham people live collectively along the Mekong river and around Tonle Sap lake, where the place are suitable for fishing and agriculture which are their common courses of incomes. Some of them are farmers, carpenters, sellers and a few numbers are working as Government employees.
For the health and Medical sector there are no Muslim Doctors before 1970 and even 1975, there were only 431 non-Muslim doctors in Cambodia.
Cambodia has many dedicates of civil war, especially during the Pol Pot regime. All infrastructures were destroyed. A lot of Cambodian people were killed especially doctors and nurses were killed as well. It rested only 25 doctors in the 7th January 1979 when Pol Pot was ousted and there are no Muslim Doctors. After that and from 1980 to 2001, many young people studied and became doctors and nurses and now the number of doctors are 6,450 and we Muslim society can have 20 doctors and 30 nurses.
The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) had supported to have some those Muslim doctors and nurses but as you know, they are impossible to take care our Muslim half million population.
We are from the Muslim doctors and nurses to establish The Islamic Medical Association of Cambodia (IMAC) and officially authorized by Royal Government of Cambodia in September 05, 2001. The IMAC is non-profit, non-partisan and non-governmental organization and with the objective to provide medical, humanitarian service and community development in country.
Our relief work includes provisions of foodstuff, mobile clinic, and counseling. Through our local outreach programs.
VISION
By 2007-2008, IMAC will be recognized as the leading local provider of medical relief and humanitarian aid service.
MISSION
IMAC is non-profit medical relief organization dedicated to providing services all Cambodian communities irrespective of race, religions, culture and boundary, with the highest level of compassion, professional care.
OBJECTIVES
The objective of IMAC as follows:
– To offer medical services for Muslim community in rural area.
– To offer specific medical advice to Muslim women.
– To make Dawah through medical activities.
– To create welfare services and job for potential medical student.
- To raise funds for emergency humanitarian aid projects
- To activate, supervise and cooperate with various local and international Organizations involved in humanitarian relief activities.
- To assist in providing consultation services in humanitarian relief work.
- To build the Muslim clinic and hospital in society
- To build the orphanage center in various province
- To provide the welfare, social service, sanitation and water pumps to rural areas
- To build the mosques, musalla and school in rural areas
ACTIVITIES
The activities of IMAC as follows:
- General medical consultation and treatment to the Muslim communities.
- To humanize assistance to the people in disaster.
- To provide mobile clinic to needed communities’ irrespective race, religion.
- To promote health condition in Cambodian community.
- Health education program for Muslim community.
- To build clinic/health center
- To cooperate with local and international organization for humanitarian relief.
- To have undertaken the circumcision program for the poor people.
- To organize of medical or non medical volunteer members for assistance to people affected by neutral disaster.
- To build the orphanage center in Phnom Penh
Activities and Programs:
Since our inception, we have sent many mission of free mobile service to visit the people in various villages and for relief purpose to provide medical aid to the victims affected by flood in 2001, 2002 and much needy people.
IMAC has many programs of humanitarian aid such as mobile clinic, circumcision, flood relief, health care education and other charitable donation. The free of charge Mobile Clinic comprises the consultation treatment, drug distribution.
