Maryknoll in Cambodia

Seedling of Hope Photographs

Photographs from

The Seedling of Hope Hospice

Photographs of the Hospice

Back porch of the hospice The hospice, for people with advanced AIDS who need care but have no one to take care of them, is a converted shophouse on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. A favorite place for most of the residents is the large wooden back porch overlooking green rice fields.

A young man with AIDS Those residents who are able to move usually eat lunch on the large back porch. Some who are less mobile also prefer to spend their days there rather than in the rooms.

Lunch time on the back porch The staff are dedicated and spend much time with the patients, feeding them, helping them to wash, or just sitting and talking with them. The back porch is truly a place of care and hope.

The setting of the hospice is a real blessing, just a few minutes from the center of Phnom Penh by motordupe but far enough away so that the patients who are able can spend their days on the wooden back porch with beautiful green rice fields before them. Now at the time of the annual floods, they can even fish from the porch! The staff have had to be careful, though, when the residents die, to take them discretely to the nearby wat for a Buddhist ceremony and cremation because the superstitious neighbors--and the landlord--don't like so many people dying there.

A staff member checks on one of the women The people who come to the Seedling hospice have nowhere else to go. Without family or friends to care for them, they would end up dying on the streets. At the hospice they can feel "at home" again, knowing that caring people are all around them.

Dr. Margrethe Juncker with one of the patients Weak, newly arrived patients, or those with advanced stages of AIDS stay more in their rooms which they share with one other person. Here Dr. Margrethe Juncker speaks with one of the new arrivals.

The hospice dispensary The "pharmacy" of the hospice is simple. The care is simple, too, mostly a welcoming environment, a renewed sense of dignity, good food, and a lot of love. Often people with AIDS amazingly regain their strength and have months added to their lives in the hospice's supportive environment.

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	The hospice, for people with advanced AIDS who need care but have no one to take care of them, is a converted shophouse on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. A favorite place for most of the residents is the large wooden back porch overlooking green rice fields.
	Those residents who are able to move usually eat lunch on the large back porch. Some who are less mobile also prefer to spend their days there rather than in the rooms.
	The staff are dedicated and spend much time with the patients, feeding them, helping them to wash, or just sitting and talking with them. The back porch is truly a place of care and hope.
The setting of the hospice is a real blessing, just a few minutes from the center of Phnom Penh by motordupe but far enough away so that the patients who are able can spend their days on the wooden back porch with beautiful green rice fields before them. Now at the time of the annual floods, they can even fish from the porch! The staff have had to be careful, though, when the residents die, to take them discretely to the nearby wat for a Buddhist ceremony and cremation because the superstitious neighbors--and the landlord--don't like so many people dying there.
	The people who come to the Seedling hospice have nowhere else to go. Without family or friends to care for them, they would end up dying on the streets. At the hospice they can feel "at home" again, knowing that caring people are all around them.
	Weak, newly arrived patients, or those with advanced stages of AIDS stay more in their rooms which they share with one other person. Here Dr. Margrethe Juncker speaks with one of the new arrivals.
	The "pharmacy" of the hospice is simple. The care is simple, too, mostly a welcoming environment, a renewed sense of dignity, good food, and a lot of love. Often people with AIDS amazingly regain their strength and have months added to their lives in the hospice's supportive environment.