Youth Participation in Community Development: A Case Study of Youth in Takeo Province, Cambodia

<p>Youth participation in community development has been viewed as one of the most effective methods for promoting young people’s active engagement with social services. However in rural communities of Cambodia, young people’s participation is most commonly related to their labour contribution, which lacks core components of participation such as decisions, choices, and management. Zeldin (2004) explains that adults usually initiate organisational structures and norms for young people’s participation, which can inhibit young people from reaching their needs or interests. Addressing these issues this thesis, from a qualitative perspective, aims to contribute to local understandings about youth participation in development. With a focus on Cambodia, it explores the grounded experiences of two youth groups in order to offer considerations for social practice, programme implementations and further studies. The research involved in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and participant observations with youth, village chiefs, commune councils, NGO staff, a church leader, a school teacher and young people’s parents in Chumras Pen commune, Samroang district, Takeo Province of Cambodia. The examination of local perspectives of youth participation is unravelled through participants’ practical experience and knowledge. The respondents considered charitable contributions of youth as their primary form of active participation, including educational awareness and campaigns in the community. Provided there are some positive outcomes from youth engagement, one of the influential aspects is contributed by local partnerships. This substantial contribution stimulates interactions between key local members and youth so they can work together for positive change in the community. This thesis suggests that young people do need support from key local groups or recognised agents to assist them in initiating participation in terms of forming groups, and providing training and coaching to open new possibilities and strengthen youth’s initiatives. The study also reveals several factors which have both direct and indirect effects on youth participation practices. These include religion and development, power relations, and women’s leadership. This research suggests that these factors either motivate or inhibit youth participation because of social norms and cultural acceptance.</p>

Youth Participation in Community Development: A Case Study of Youth in Takeo Province, Cambodia

<p>Youth participation in community development has been viewed as one of the most effective methods for promoting young people’s active engagement with social services. However in rural communities of Cambodia, young people’s participation is most commonly related to their labour contribution, which lacks core components of participation such as decisions, choices, and management. Zeldin (2004) explains that adults usually initiate organisational structures and norms for young people’s participation, which can inhibit young people from reaching their needs or interests. Addressing these issues this thesis, from a qualitative perspective, aims to contribute to local understandings about youth participation in development. With a focus on Cambodia, it explores the grounded experiences of two youth groups in order to offer considerations for social practice, programme implementations and further studies. The research involved in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and participant observations with youth, village chiefs, commune councils, NGO staff, a church leader, a school teacher and young people’s parents in Chumras Pen commune, Samroang district, Takeo Province of Cambodia. The examination of local perspectives of youth participation is unravelled through participants’ practical experience and knowledge. The respondents considered charitable contributions of youth as their primary form of active participation, including educational awareness and campaigns in the community. Provided there are some positive outcomes from youth engagement, one of the influential aspects is contributed by local partnerships. This substantial contribution stimulates interactions between key local members and youth so they can work together for positive change in the community. This thesis suggests that young people do need support from key local groups or recognised agents to assist them in initiating participation in terms of forming groups, and providing training and coaching to open new possibilities and strengthen youth’s initiatives. The study also reveals several factors which have both direct and indirect effects on youth participation practices. These include religion and development, power relations, and women’s leadership. This research suggests that these factors either motivate or inhibit youth participation because of social norms and cultural acceptance.</p>

Echinostoma mekongi: Discovery of Its Metacercarial Stage in Snails, Filopaludina martensi cambodjensis, in Pursat Province, Cambodia

Echinostoma mekongi was reported as a new species in 2020 based on specimens collected from humans in Kratie and Takeo Province, Cambodia. In the present study, its metacercarial stage has been discovered in Filopaludina martensi cambodjensis snails purchased from a local market nearby the Tonle Sap Lake, Pursat Province, Cambodia. The metacercariae were fed orally to an experimental hamster, and adult flukes were recovered at day 20 post-infection. They were morphologically examined using light and scanning electron microscopes and molecularly analyzed by sequencing of their mitochondrial cox1 and nad1 genes. A total of 115 metacercariae (1-8 per snail) were detected in 60 (60.0%) out of 100 Filopaludina snails examined. The metacercariae were round, 174 µm in average diameter (163-190 µm in range), having a thin cyst wall, a head collar armed with 37 collar spines, and characteristic excretory granules. The adult flukes were elongated, ventrally curved, 7.3 (6.4-8.2)×1.4 (1.1-1.7) mm in size, and equipped with 37 collar spines on the head collar (dorsal spines in 2 alternating rows), being consistent with E. mekongi. In phylogenetic analyses, the adult flukes showed 99.0-100% homology based on cox1 sequences and 98.9-99.7% homology based on nad1 sequences with E. mekongi. The results evidenced that F. martensi cambodjensis snails act as the second intermediate host of E. mekongi, and hamsters can be used as a suitable experimental definitive host. As local people favor to eat undercooked snails, these snails seem to be an important source of human infection with E. mekongi in Cambodia.

Infection Status of Gnathostoma spinigerum Larvae in Asian Swamp Eels, Monopterus albus, Purchased from Local Markets in Cambodia

Present study was performed to know the infection status of <i>Gnathostoma</i> sp. larvae in swamp eels from Cambodia. We purchased total 30 Asian swamp eels, <i>Monopterus albus</i>, from local markets in Pursat and Takeo Provinces and Phnom Penh on May and November 2017 and May 2018. All collected eels were transferred to our laboratory with ice and each of them was examined by artificial digestion method. A total of 15 larval gnathostomes (1-5 larvae) were detected from 55.6% (5/9) swamp eels in Pursat Province. No larval gnathostomes were found in 21 swamp eels in Takeo Province and Phnom Penh. The advanced third-stage larvae (AdL₃) detected were 2.575-3.825 (3.250) mm in length and 0.375-0.425 (0.386) mm in width. They had the characteristic head bulb (av. 0.104×0.218 mm) with 4 rows of hooklets, long muscular esophagus (1.048 mm), and 2 pairs of cervical sacs (0.615 mm). The number of hooklets in 4 rows on the head bulb was 41, 44, 47, and 50. In scanning electron microscopy, characteristic features were 4 rows of hooklets on the head bulb, cervical papillae, tegumental spines regularly arranged in transverse striations, and anus. The larval gnathostomes were identified as AdL₃ of <i>Gnathostoma spinigerum</i> based on the morphological characters. By the present study, it has been confirmed that <i>G. spinigerum</i> larvae are infected in Asian swamp eels, <i>M. albus</i>, in Pursat Province, Cambodia.

Echinostoma mekongi n. sp. (Digenea: Echinostomatidae) from Riparian People along the Mekong River in Cambodia

Echinostoma mekongi n. sp. (Digenea: Echinostomatidae) is described based on adult flukes collected from humans residing along the Mekong River in Cambodia. Total 256 flukes were collected from the diarrheic stool of 6 echinostome egg positive villagers in Kratie and Takeo Province after praziquantel treatment and purging. Adults of the new species were 9.0-13.1 (av. 11.3) mm in length and 1.3-2.5 (1.9) mm in maximum width and characterized by having a head collar armed with 37 collar spines (dorsal spines arranged in 2 alternative rows), including 5 end group spines. The eggs in feces and worm uterus were 98-132 (117) μm long and 62-90 (75) μm wide. These morphological features closely resembled those of Echinostoma revolutum, E. miyagawai, and several other 37-collar-spined Echinostoma species. However, sequencing of the nuclear ITS (ITS1-5.8S rRNA-ITS2) and 2 mitochondrial genes, cox1 and </>nad1, revealed unique features distinct from E. revolutum and also from other 37-collar-spined Echinostoma group available in GenBank (E. bolschewense, E. caproni, E. cinetorchis, E. deserticum, E. miyagawai, E. nasincovae, E. novaezealandense, E. paraensei, E. paraulum, E. robustum, E. trivolvis, and Echinostoma sp. IG). Thus, we assigned our flukes as a new species, E. mekongi. The new species revealed marked variation in the morphology of testes (globular or lobulated), and smaller head collar, collar spines, oral and ventral suckers, and cirrus sac compared to E. revolutum and E. miyagawai. Epidemiological studies regarding the geographical distribution and its life history, including the source of human infections, remain to be performed.

Illnesses Encountered during Medical Volunteering in Takeo Province, Cambodia

Background and Objectives: Medical volunteering seeks to meet the clinical needs of underserved areas, but has been criticized for difficulties in addressing local health issues and resultant lack of sustainability. Our team has visited rural Cambodia annually since 2012. This study reports the illnesses encountered during the recent mission and share our experiences to improve the efficiency of medical volunteering. Materials and Methods: Infrastructure, such as public electricity or water, was unavailable, hence most medical care and records were hand-performed. We categorized (1) primary diagnoses (chief complaints) by duration of symptoms, and (2) primary and secondary diagnoses (illnesses that were not related to the chief complaint) by severity of illness since patients commonly reported multiple symptoms. Blood pressure and anthropometric values were also checked and analyzed. Results: We encountered 317 adult and 141 pediatric patients. Among adults, 61.3% had persistent chronic (>6 month) symptoms of their chief complaints. The commonest diagnoses of chronic symptoms were musculoarthritis (31.5%) and gastroesophageal reflux disease and/or gastritis (21.7%). Hypertension and/or cardiac problems were relatively common among males (13.6%). The most common diagnosis among the severest cases (specialized or intensive care recommended) was cardiac problems (14.8%), often with abnormalities in sonography or electrocardiogram. For children, the overwhelming majority of diagnoses were related to acute symptoms and low severity, and approximately half were cases of the common cold. Commonly prescribed drugs were antacids or mucosal protectors (31.3%), Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or other painkillers (27.6%), and antiparasites (17.7%) in adults, and NSAIDs (44.7%) and antiparasites (23.2%) in children. Among adults, 32.7% were diagnosed with hypertension, and body mass index (p = 0.003) and age (p < 0.001) were both correlated with hypertension and its grade. Conclusions: Our study offers practical help to volunteer health workers planning to visit Southeast Asia.