“Life changing experience”: Hear from Brad about his time volunteering in Cambodia

Brad Coull joined us for our 2024 mass vaccination campaign in Cambodia. We completed the largest rabies drive in Asia with 229,488 dogs receiving life-saving protection. In October and November, 287 vaccination teams worked across the Provinces of Phnom Penh, Kandal, and Battambang. Cambodian and international volunteers formed our vaccinations teams who went door-to-door to vaccine as many dogs as possible. Brad was one of our incredible international volunteers who formed part of one of these teams. Our work could not happen without our amazing volunteers, who are vital to many of our mass vaccination campaigns. 

Keep reading to hear from Brad and find out his experience volunteering with us.  

“So, few events can truly change your life. For me, serving on the recent Mission Rabies campaign in Cambodia, is one of them. As an 18-year employee of Merck Animal Health (MSD outside of the US and Canada), the company that donates the vaccines for these projects, I’ve known about the great collaboration with this organization for over a decade. For most of that time I’ve been a cheerleader through getting the word out, fundraising and sending customers to participate in projects. At the beginning of 2024, I circled the Cambodia campaign and committed. Making the time and financial choice to participate was one of the best decisions I’ve made.

It certainly is no small undertaking – traveling 30 hours to the other side of the globe. But once settled into the hotel and after attending orientation on Sunday, the excitement and peace of mind being part of an expertly run organisation took hold.

The stakes in Phnom Penh are incredibly high, where as many as 2 children die from rabid dog bites every week. Everywhere you look in the city there are “little brown dogs” roaming, the vast majority owned by someone, somewhere. We would be going through this urban jungle door-to-door. A lot of work had to be done to reach the herd immunity goal of 70% of the population.

The day started at 5:30, breakfast at 6, transportation to the Hub at 7-am. Our Hub was the Royal University of Agriculture (RUA) where we were kitted out with the day's supplies, met our vet students, got assigned a geographic area for the day, and met our tuk tuk driver. A 4th year local vet student named Lin would partner with me each day to walk our assigned area, knocking on doors, shouting over fences and introducing ourselves to shopkeepers. I learned “Sou-sdei” (hello!) and Chkae (dog) quickly... but I found that the locals were more interested when I spoke English, as it is novel to them. In Cambodia, being loud and energetic draws a crowd.

The people were the biggest highlight of the trip. Most Cambodians practice an endearing trait called Sampeah, or pressing of hands together under their chin, to show respect and thanks. Everyone I met was gentle and incredibly grateful to have us there, always repeating “orkun” (Thank you) embellished with Sampeah.

Children got right into the work alongside us, leading the way to families with dogs, holding dogs, sometimes bringing dogs to us. Every alley, driveway, backyard and storefront had to be checked for the ubiquitous brown dogs. Unlike a static-point campaign, where locals wait in line to see you, in Cambodia it was literally door to door. By chance, our assigned areas were in some of the most impoverished of all of Phnom Penh.

I was struck by the strength of the family despite quite difficult circumstances. For most, several generations of family members domiciled. Grandparents were at home while one or both parents were at work. Children ebbed from one courtyard and into the next, like the whole of the block was communal. Homeowners would almost always bring plastic chairs for us to rest in – Cambodians conserve energy in the heat of the day - and people gave us chilled bottled water or fresh fruit in appreciation.

Although the days were long and physical, this experience gave me mental rest I’ve seldom experienced. Staying motivated throughout the week was easy knowing the impact and potential lives saved. Thanks to the incredible professionals at Mission Rabies, the government of Cambodia, and hundreds of volunteers representing 30 countries, this campaign vaccinated over 229,000 dogs and surpassed the 70% herd immunity threshold. If I had to sum up my time in Cambodia in just three words, it would be this: Life Changing Experience.”

Become part of our mission to end rabies 

We have lots of volunteering opportunities coming up in 2025 for you to get involved in. Join us in Goa, India in February to provide life-saving protection to communities or register your interest to be the first to hear when applications open for our other 2025 vaccination projects.