From The Nation, Bangkok, July 10, 2007.

At the tender age of 10, Wimol Yomkerd has the heavy burden of taking care of her ageing grandparents, mentally ill aunt and an elder brother who is immobile from polio.

Following her parents' deaths three years ago, the fourth-grader from Tak's Ban Tak district has prepared food - mostly donated by neighbours - for 82-year-old grandparents Sanoh and Tiam, 60-year-old aunt Sampao and 18-year-old brother Niwet every morning before leaving for Ban Mai School four kilometres away.

She also cleans and feeds her ailing brother and ensures he has three meals a day - by walking back from school to the family's hut with no walls to feed him during her lunch break.

The Nation visited Wimol, who appeared to be a little sad all the time despite being among peers. Wimol admitted to feeling lonely and missing her late parents sometimes, but said she was not disheartened by the hardships.

While other kids play after class, Wimol heads back to clean the hut and prepare food for family members. At night she uses the house's only light bulb to do homework and prepare for classes next day.

"If I have a chance to study further, I would study to become a nurse so that I can use the knowledge to treat my grand-parents, aunt and brother," she said.

Grandfather Sanoh had 12 children, all of whom got married and settled elsewhere. Some had died. He said his children were poor and rarely able to visit. Wimol had become the family caregiver - a heavy responsibility for a child of her age - and he felt sorry for her because she should have a chance to play and have fun like other kids, he said.

Teacher Pradit Kaewwan said Wimol's heavy burden had affected her performance after she used to excel as one of the top students in her class.

The school had given her a scholarship but it was not sufficient, he said. It also assisted her with study materials, uniforms and free lunches while teachers sometimes donated money so she could buy rice and preserved food for her family.

Since 1991, Dr. med. Beat Richner, a Swiss pediatrician and musician, built four hospitals and a maternity ward for HIV positive mothers in Cambodia.

In the four hospitals, Kantha Bopha I, Kantha Bopha II and Kantha Bopha IV in Phnom Penh and Jayavarman VII in Siem Reap Angkor, each year 75'000 children are hospitalized (the average length of hospitalisation is 5 days), 800'000 ill children receive treatment in the outpatients department, 400'000 healthy children get vaccinated, 16'000 chirurgical operations are executed, 12'000 birth in the maternity (designed to prevent mother-to-child AIDS and TB transmission) and daily 3'000 families receive health care education. All medical services are free of charge since the families in Cambodia are simply too poor to even make a small contribution towards these medical costs. Without Kantha Bopha, 3'200 additional children would die in Cambodia every month.

Foundation Children's Hospital Kantha Bopha, Dr. med. Beat Richner

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