When Maryknoll first came to Cambodia about ten years ago, there was no pre-set plan that was to be accomplished. The first Maryknollers were people who had worked in the famous Site 2 refugee camp on the Thai border, at that time Cambodia's second largest "city" where refugees from the Khmer Rouge had gathered until the Paris Peace Accord made it possible for them to return to their homes.

Wat Than Skills Training Program for Landmine and Polio Victims was one of the first responses Maryknoll made to the obvious needs of the many disabled people around them. Another effort was the Rehabilitation for Blind Cambodians project. John Barth, Pat Capuano, and Patty La Mothe began developing programs to help blind people get back into the mainstream of Cambodian life. In the beginning they had a program to train blind masseurs which was very successful and now has two centers in Phnom Penh. Another program taught music on traditional Khmer instruments to blind musicians who became performers in hotels and other public venues.

Gradually, however, the focus shifted from rehabilitation to prevention, and today all of Maryknoll's efforts with the blind are centered in the RBC project in Takeo, an eye hospital which trains doctors and nurses in basic eye care so that they can make these services available in the provinces where little medical care is available.