Family volunteer holiday in Cambodia
by ELIZABETH TAUFA Reporter

Robert, MarLisa, Ryan and Elisa Kalb

Robert Kalb, chair of the Buffalo Medical Group Department of Dermatology, will spend his holiday with his family - in Cambodia.

For the second year, Kalb, along with wife MarLisa, daughter Elisa, 19, and son Ryan, 22, will be volunteering their services in Cambodia's capital of Phnom Penh.

Kalb will be working at the Shanouk Hospital Center for Hope, the only hospital that provides free care in Cambodia.

"There is one dermatologist in Cambodia with full training," Kalb said. During the family's two-week stay, Kalb said he will treat dermatological cases that are similar to those in the United States, such as eczema and cancers, as well as those that arise from living in an impoverished country, such as infections from malnutrition.

While Kalb works at the clinic, his wife and children will be teaching English to sixth- and seventh-grade students at the Goldstone School.

"HOPE International sponsors the hospital and the school," Kalb said. "The school started with one grade and has added one every year."

Last year, the Kalbs taught English to the fifth- and sixth-graders. They will be working with the same group of students who have advanced a year in their education.

"It'll be great to see the kids one year later," Kalb said. "(The hospital has) also expanded their facilities from just the one room."

The Kalbs will also be hosting a pool party at their hotel for the children they are teaching.

HOPE International is a global, faith-based organization focused on alleviating poverty in underdeveloped countries.

In a correspondence during last year's trip, Kalb noted the plight of the people in Cambodia and how it affected his family.

"The hardest part of the trip is the rampant poverty," he said. "We like to walk to dinner at night, but often by the time we get to the restaurant, MarLisa and Elisa have no appetite. Many people have no limbs (due to land mines); mothers with babies sitting on the ground unclothed, just asking for a handout; children forced to beg or sell trinkets ... It's difficult to fathom."

When the opportunity arose for Kalb to travel to Cambodia last year, he planned on going with just his wife.

"When the kids heard what we were going to be doing, they said 'No, you have to take us, too,'" Kalb said. "After we got back, they said that we don't ever want to go on a regular vacation again."

The experience not only encouraged a return holiday trip, but it also made an impact on Ryan, who is now teaching English at Assumption University in Bangkok, Thailand.

"I think last year really played into his decision," Kalb said. "He applied after he got home."

But the trip has made an impact on the whole family, according to Kalb.

"We certainly don't take the modern necessities for granted anymore," he said. "And material possessions don't hold the same importance that they did in the past. The children have a different look on the future than they did, in using their talents to help others."