This has been shared on the Mennonite Central Committee and Mennonite World Conference Facebook pages, but by the time we were given permission to share publicly we were too in the thick of it to post an update here on the blog.

Just days from completing her term of service and turning home to India one of our YAMEN participants, Disha, suffered a catastrophic stroke. We were in Canada at the time which felt wrong at first – it’s hard to be away during a crisis – but enabled us to act as a bridge between the Cambodian team, MCC North America, and our global health insurance provider.

I’m at the hospital with Disha now. Over the last weeks the MCC Cambodia team and many alumni have been watching over her at the hospital in Phnom Penh along with her sister who MCC flew in from India.

Please pray for her continued recovery and healing. She is in stable condition now and soon she will transfer to a rehab center in India that specializes in neurology.

Please also offer thanksgiving for the many people who were able to intercede on her behalf.

• Last week I met with her host family in Prey Veng whose quick actions were the first of many who saved her life. They told me their accounts of that night and of the split second decisions they made that ended up making a tremendous difference.
• Our Prey Veng Team – Rory, Marcia, and Maly – responded immediately when the host family called them and cared for Disha during those desperate initial hours.
• Maly’s husband, Visal, is the pastor at the Prey Veng Christian Center. He drove Disha to the Prey Veng Provincial Hospital, advocated for her, and accompanied her to Phnom Penh on the ambulance. He then traveled back to Prey Veng to work the next day. Like many Pastors here in Cambodia he has another full time job.
• The Prey Veng Provincial Hospital where Disha received initial care is the one that MCC invested so heavily in during the early years. It was Indian Doctors from the same province as Disha who MCC sent to this hospital during the 1980s embargo to treat patients and train local medical professionals.
• In Phnom Penh, the current MCC Cambodia team and many alumni joined in caring for her. For the first weeks they had two people at the hospital at all times. Recently, after Disha’s sister arrived, there was still kept one person at the hospital with Disha and her sister at all times. This week we’re finally phasing out the evening shifts as Disha’s condition has improved and she prepares for transfer to India.
• MCC Cambodia alumni with medical backgrounds consulted with us remotely as we navigated this medical crisis and the Cambodian healthcare system.