Sulawesi Introductions. . .
It’s been a few days since I arrived in Indonesia for my
initial visit. The first two days were spent in the highlands of Bali, quite a
dramatic contrast to where I am currently based in Makassar, Sulawesi. Makassar,
is a port city, the provincial capital of Southern
Sulawesi with a predominantly Muslim population of about 1.4
million.
In the midst of trying to acclimate to the extreme
equatorial heat, humidity and intensity of
such a large city, I am beginning to gain some familiarity
with this conservative Muslim culture. This involves learning about social protocol
and customs in order to get work accomplished. My colleague Karen has been working
in Sulawesi for 4 years and as a result has
learned the ropes and acquired basic, but vital Bahasa Indonesia language
skills. She has been a strong advocate for community health education in the
vulnerable slum communities, helping them to gain health services access. This
access has been painstakingly established by working with the whole spectrum of
leaders, from local to national level. While Karen’s extensive professional knowledge
and experience have helped with her achievements, her personal qualities of
infinite patience, flexibility, compassion, sensitivity and humor have played a
large role in her success.
One of the highlights of these first few days has
been meeting Dr. Baharuddin Abidin, an entrepreneurial visionary, who has been
collaborating with a US based NGO since 2009. He acquired his PhD in naval
engineering in Germany, but has a
wide variety of interests and projects to help Indonesia’s people.
Dr. Abidin is the director of LPTM, the Sulawesi partner NGO affiliated with
USA based Medical Exchange International, Inc. LPTM has involvements with
community health and advocacy primarily focused on TB. (Dr. Abidin is a
recovered TB patient so he is especially committed to helping others and
empowering people with proper health education and dispelling stigma.) His
other projects include training excavator operators, solar power, nature
conservation and eco tourism with the underlying objective to promote and
develop public/global health with direct and indirect strategies. Throughout my
time in Sulawesi I will begin to work with the LPTM and
Dr. Abidin in achieving these goals. I will elaborate further as the days pass
as to how this unfolds.
Upon meeting Dr. Abidin one becomes immediately aware
of his extreme affability. The glint in his eye and smile gives him almost elfin
qualities. His physical fitness (we have bonded over our mutual love of
swimming!) gives him the appearance of being a couple decades younger than his
69 years. His devout Muslim faith and devotion to his wife and family (father
of 6 and grandfather of 6), is paramount, but he is extremely committed to
leading his community. It has been wonderful to be introduced to his wife and
family and welcomed to Sulawesi with such
warmth and concern.
Going into a Makassar slum my
first day here, accompanied by Karen and our faithful translator Kasman, I was
able to get an ‘in-the-trenches’ snapshot perspective of the challenges faced
by the people residing there. We met with formerly identified women community
leaders who have had previous health training and scheduled more training for
the coming week. In the process, I did basic health assessments on their
children. Despite their obvious struggle with the provision of basic shelter,
clean water, food and garbage disposal, these people exude cheerfulness and
hospitality. As always, I feel honored to have the opportunity to help these
women and their families.
Helen
Helen doing child assessment.
Photo used in local newspaper
Helen meets Dr. Abidin
Helen with baby
Helen with Abidins
Makassar canal
