At Friends Without A Border, we promote sustainable solutions to health care in developing countries through the model of “Treatment + Education + Prevention” by:

            Providing high-quality medical care to children in a compassionate environment;

            Educating families and health care professionals throughout Southeast Asia;

           Improving the health, nutrition and hygiene of local communities through outreach programs and home care.

 
Our Story:

World-renowned Japanese photographer Kenro Izu first visited Cambodia in 1993 to photograph the Angkor Wat temples. During his travels, he often encountered ill and malnourished children, many missing arms and legs — a horrific legacy of America’s conflict in Vietnam. After witnessing a young girl die, simply because her father could not afford $2 for medical care, Kenro decided to take action and give back to the country that inspired his photographic journey.

In 1996, he founded Friends Without A Border, a nonprofit organization with the mission to provide compassionate medical care to children in Southeast Asia. After years of planning and gathering support from donors, photographers and friends around the world, Friends Without A Border opened Angkor Hospital for Children (AHC) in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Since that time, AHC has treated nearly 2 million children, trained thousands of health-care professionals and was deemed “one of only three essential health-care institutions” in the entire country by a Cambodian health minister.

In January of 2013, Friends Without A Border celebrated a long-held goal as Kenro handed over a heart-shaped “key to the hospital” to the dedicated staff of AHC, thus transferring the administration of the hospital to local management. At the same time, Friends decided to expand its mission of helping the children of Southeast Asia into another country: Laos.

On February 11, 2015, Friends opened the doors to a new pediatric hospital: Lao Friends Hospital for Children (LFHC), in Luang Prabang. On opening day, the staff of LFHC treated 47 children in its Outpatient Department. In its first year of operation, LFHC treated nearly 20,000 children. In 2016, the hospital opened a Neonatal Unit, as well as a Surgical Theater, which greatly expanded the reach of services available to children in Laos. Today, the hospital staff sees more than 100 children each day. Visit LFHC to learn more.

1993

Kenro Izu first visits Cambodia to photograph the Angkor temples and witnesses the suffering of Cambodian children on subsequent trips.

1996

Friends Without A Border founded in New York and Tokyo

Land for Angkor Hospital for Children granted by Governor of Siem Reap

1998

Medical training begins

1999

Angkor Hospital for Children opens

2002

Capacity Building and Health Education Program (CBHEP) begins in Cambodia

2004

His Excellency, Prime Minister Samduch Hun Sen attends Inauguration of Medical Education Center.

2005

AHC is officially recognized as a teaching hospital and its land guaranteed by a 50-year agreement with the Cambodian Ministry of Health

2006

Former US President Bill Clinton visits and tours AHC

2010

AHC Satellite Clinic opens in the Sot Nikum District

2013

Ground-breaking ceremony for Lao Friends Hospital for Children

2011

One millionth patient treated at AHC

2013

AHC becomes an independent self-managed hospital

2014

Baseline Medical Survey (BMS) begins in Luang Prabang province, Laos

2014

Medical and English language training begins for LFHC staff

2014

Kenro Izu receives World of Children Award

2015

Lao Friends Hospital for Children opens