rebecca zachariah

Many apologies for having been rather quite in recent time. But I am back. I like to share a little of what I have been doing recently.
Some may know from melinda kerr that I have recently been to Indonesia.

I was involved in medical teaching team from melbourne. We went to East Indonesia to help a small clinic which provides a free medical care to the poor. Whilst many of the big cities in Indonesia are opulent, many of the small villages and island, especially in the east Indonesia are left with very limited resources. There are medical facilities available but as many are poor, it is out of reach of many poor farmers and fishermen.

This clinic is started by an australian couple with the support of many NGO. Medical treatment and medicine are provided free and no one will be turned away. Often, when treatment could only be done in the hospital, financial help is given to the patient who needs it. Many patients come from places hours away, some even from different islands. The needs are tremendous.

They also provide training for their health worker. They have a local doctor that works in the clinic who is helped by health worker. These workers are high school graduates who are trained with specific skills to diagnose common ailments and even performing specific blood test such as malaria which is endemic in the area. I guess for our standard perhaps this is not that acceptable. But in the area, the alternative is worst. Dying from an easily treated medical problem will be an everyday occurrence without this clinic.

Many of these workers themselves have traumatic childhood experiences plagued with poverty and for some even abuse, intentional neglects and rejection because things are just too hard and poor. Many for these workers find home, father or mother figures, trust and self belief, because some one care enough to think that they have potential.

I believe this is a place of healing, healing patients from physical ailments and healing the worker from personal hurts. They are now in the process of completing a 16 beds hospital including maternity section. These is all supported by the a local rotary club in melbourne.

This couple is totally inspiring. They all live in a compound together where the health workers receive medical education and english lessons. They are all paid workers. They are all dedicated to the service of helping the poor.

I will slowly put some photos in the next weeks. For those who felt touched to help the cause or would like to know more about the work, please contact me. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks for reading

Rebecca