Beatocello!

Let me present to you Dr Beat Richner and his cello...otherwise known as Beatocello! He sings, plays the cello, cracks a joke or two, and talks passionately about his work in Cambodia. On a recent trip to Siem Reap, I had the opportunity to attend his concert and meet him in person. Dr Richner is a Swiss paediatrician who helped set up several non-profit hospitals in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh offering free medical treatment to sick children
(www.beatocello.com/Assets/richner_history.html). The operating costs of these institutions are funded by donations alone. In between his cello solos, we were shown videos depicting the sad state of healthcare in Cambodia. Picture this : mothers ambubagging their own children for there was no ventilator, children getting infected with HIV-tainted blood as there was no facility for donor blood screening, the still widespread use of chloramphenicol as a first-line drug for the lack of a better but more expensive option. His point is, why is it that standards deemed unacceptable in the developed world still apply to poorer countries? Aren't these children worthy too, simply because they come from a less-privileged background? Well, he is a remarkable man, and the locals speak highly of him. Wished there were more individuals like him around.

Beatocello plays every Saturday at 7.15pm at the Jayavarman VII Hospital auditorium. If you happen to be in Siem Reap, take a break from the temples and go experience Beatocello. It might be life-changing.