Dr. Hana: Feeding malnourished children in Simeulue, Indonesia

9 May 2006

Before joining CARE, Dr. Hana was a general practitioner in a Puskesmas – a government community health centre – on Sumba Island. She started working for CARE because she was looking for a new challenge.

“I heard about CARE through a friend of mine who was working with CARE in Flores. At this time I was looking for more experience in another part of Indonesia and I thought that CARE’s work sounded interesting and exciting.

“My country is an archipelago and I thought it would be fulfilling to have worked on as many of these different islands as possible – a doctor for a thousand islands!” she laughs.

In April 2005, she joined CARE’s health team as part of a health project in Kefamenano, West Timor.

By July, Dr. Hana was asked if she would be interested in helping to set up a Therapeutic Feeding Centre on Simeulue Island in cooperation with the Department of Health, as part of their recovery programme after the tsunami and earthquake.

“My parents did not mind when I went to work in Kefamenano as it was not too far away from their home,” she explains. “However, when I told them I was going to work in Simeulue they did not agree at all.”

Dr. Hana is a Christian and her father was worried that she would not be accepted in Aceh Province where the majority of the people in the region are strict Muslims. Her father was also concerned that the area was still unsafe, not only politically but also from further natural disasters. But she was determined to go and her mother told her to be careful and to look after herself.

“When I first arrived in Simeulue, of course it was quite difficult for me. I found the cost of living here very high for such a small island and I didn’t have any close friends to talk to,” she says.

Living together in a shared house with the other female CARE staff, it did not take long for Dr. Hana to find her place in the team. “I feel very much at home here now. I have good friends and I really enjoy the work I am doing. I made the right choice to come here; it is extremely rewarding working with the small children and their parents.”

“This kind of work really gives some meaning to what I am doing. Many of the villagers we see are ignorant about basic health issues and good hygiene practices. I feel so much more useful when I am helping out in the most isolated villages. After a couple of weeks in the feeding centre we can really see a change in the both the young children and their parents. The people are very friendly here and appreciative of the work we are doing.”

“I think the people in Simeulue are courageous and hard-working given all their recent set-backs. There are plenty of natural resources on the island, such as fish, timber and cloves, so I think they will be able to get back on their feet before too long.”

Dr. Hana says that she would like to continue her medical studies further and go on to specialise in gynecology and obstetrics, as she sees that there is a need for this in the more remote areas of the country.