When I said I wanted to study at the Institute of Agriculture in Bogor, my father sarcastically said, “You want to become a farmer, huuh!” He forgot that 90% of the buyers in his shop were farmers; they might be poor individually, but together they had provided us good income, which enabled him to finance…
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Pantai Kasuari (abbreviated Pari, Casuarinen Coast) was a district of Merauke Regency. Bayun–located by Arafura Sea–is one of its villages. It is not found on the standard map, but you could try with Google Earth or Maps if you are curious—the key words are ‘Bayun, Asmat, Papua’. In Merauke, if a civil servant were assigned…
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To solve the problem of unequal distribution of doctors, the Government compelled all new doctors to register and to work for it. The new doctors could choose one province where they want to work. The 27 provinces were classified as non-remote, remote, and very remote. The doctors would receive a higher salary and a shorter…
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Compassionate people are not so many in the world, I mean the genuinely ones—no hidden self-interest expectation in return. The nuns, the Mothers—not the Fathers—is the group I find has many compassionate people among its members. Of course, it has many hypocrite members too, but relatively low comparing with the Fathers and Doctors. Two day…
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Nobody will argue that ‘doctors are the worst patients.’ They challenge the diagnosis and treatment from their doctor. But being a patient, especially a very sick one, is necessary to become a good doctor because doctors tend to be cold. They often look their patients as machines—hopefully not ATMs—need to be fixed; remember their diagnosis…
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“You don’t change” or “You’re still the same” is invariably said by the people I ran into after years—up to 30 years—of our parting. The sameness they mean includes both physical appearance and personality traits. I am glad—not because I look younger for my age—that I am able to escape from the power of my…
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SOS “How come?” the desperate voice came from the communication radio in the AMA (Associated Mission Aviation) office of Sentani, Papua. “They said there were no doctor available now. They promised to send a medical team next week. Over,” Bosco Fernandez, the AMA manager replied. “Next week! People are dying every day everywhere. . ….
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Returning to Kago was not as hard as coming from. Many children of Mayuberi accompanied us—they could walk round trip within a day. My backpack moved from one’s to another’s back. Still I was the second slowest person after David. At one stop, I shared the last pack of my cookies with them. All 7…
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I always went to convents or health centers in the places where there was no hotel or inn and I knew nobody. As no nuns lived in Ilaga, my choice was only Puskesmas, the government health center. As usual, there was no doctor in charge although officially, there should have been. The head paramedic Matias,…
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Although I had decided to choose Papua (Irian Jaya then) as my work place months before graduation, I needed to make sure I would like it. One week after graduation (June 1989), I was in the plane to Papua with David Stanley, a cinematography student from the University of California at San Diego. He was…
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“Reduce suffering, prolong life” is the moral guide for medical doctors. Most doctors still follow this guide, and we expect most of the patients will be very grateful after receiving this compassionate deed. Unfortunately, they are not the majority. What we often hear or read is many patients complain of being overcharged for the service;…
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The paranormal—para means ‘above,’ ‘against,’ ‘counter,’ ‘outside,’ or ‘beyond'(Wikipedia)—phenomenon is not normally seen in our normal life. I believe I experienced this phenomenon during one of my abnormal life periods. It started with my decision to run away from the suffering at home and at school when I was 15. At home, I suffered from…
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Any correlation between honesty and stupidity? Is honesty inherited, like the intelligence? The second question often pop-up into my mind when I see people cheat in the daily life. That question stays in my mind every day when I am traveling. People cheat and corrupt everywhere in Indonesia, mostly for single reason: money. Some studies…
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If a student came to my clinic at Green School more than twice a week and I did not find any significant medical abnormality, I switched my role from doctor to counselor. Majority of these children, especially the primary students, were confused with the question “where do you live?” Or, they unconsciously said “my mom’s…
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With ten pieces of luggage weighing 70kg, I felt lucky that my friend Lily Sanjaya let me have Alpen, a Moni boy, to accompany me to Bilogai. He watched and carried some of the luggage during the travel. Missing luggage is common at the airports in Papua; I had lost some before. Airplane delay is…
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Lore Lindu is not only on the map of the important bird areas (IBAs) of the birders, but of the neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) as well. Schistosomiasis is widespread in Africa, Asia, and South America, but in Indonesia it is only restricted to Lore Lindu, Central Sulawesi. As a medical researcher, this phenomenon is very…
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Traveling to interesting areas and helping people in need at the same time always make me happy. I have done this for many times in Papua and Kalimantan. The last time is two weeks ago, but this time in Sulawesi. Chris Majors, the parent of a Green School student, is the Indonesian Manager of Operation…
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Jacinta Dinsmore, class 2/3 teacher of Dyatmika School, invited me to give a presentation on our project at her primary school assembly this afternoon. I am honoured because at Green School only Jerry, grade 1 teacher, who invited me to do so in front of his class. And, that was historical because one hour afterward…
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Nothing much has changed in the last two months. The forest of the Lore Lindu National Park is as beautiful as it was, but there are more “bald patches” along the way from Palolo to Doda (around 150 kilometer). The road has been much worse; heavy rain has removed off the top layer of the…
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If you read my previous posting “Pessimism and Hope”, you can feel my gloomy tone, illustrated by the photo of the moss forest in Papua. I wrote, “The chance to get funding in Indonesia is practically zero. Endangered species is not well heard by most Indonesians, and the ones who have heard about it do…
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