Hi and welcome to 2007. This year Non-Profit News is back
offering information about the myriad ways that people are
helping people here in Bali, as well as sharing ideas about
the nature of development and thoughts on the different types
of support that we can extend to others during our time here
in Bali and indeed here on Earth.
I have taken over the writing of Non-Profit news from the
previous author. Social, cultural, economic, humanitarian
and related initiatives are some of personal and professional
interests and I’ve been working in the development sector
over the past 15 years. As I am new to Bali, I am keenly exploring
the local scene and would be happy to hear from readers if
there are non-profit programmes, projects, organizations or
initiatives that you would like covered in this column.
~~~~~~
In the middle of last year I was living in Jakarta when Mbak
Tarti, my trusty household helper, described how a baby boy
had just been born in the room across the gang from her front
door. Anwar was alive and appeared well, until some 10 hours
later his parents discovered that, in fact, their new son
had no anus. It was evening and although they called a midwife,
she did not know what to do. Baby Anwar’s father is
a rubbish collector. He has no motorbike, but his wife’s
sister does. That night she abandoned her food-stall and rushed
from hospital to hospital until she found help: an emergency
procedure was carried out that night, creating an opening
for Anwar’s bowel to empty through his tiny tummy. They
were told that when Anwar is older and has more bodyweight,
he will require surgery to construct an anus, or he will probably
die.
It was in my search for information and support for this family
that I came across the Bali-based Yayasan Kemanusiaan Indonesia
(YKI) - the John Fawcett Foundation – a name that I
have since seen regularly in the Bali Advertiser and was featured
last year in an article by “Ibu Kat”. Apart from
their main work providing cataract surgery and glasses for
Bali’s poor, YKI also arranges free treatment for economically-disadvantaged
children with serious disfigurements, and occasionally, life-threatening
illnesses. They organise training for local doctors and surgeons,
and also have an education programme assisting poor families
keep their children in school. It is worth pausing to reflect
that facial reconstruction for a child with a cleft palate,
for example, is not simply cosmetic in its benefits –
the likelihood of them attending school, obtaining work and
finding life-partners are all increased, and this has positive
implications for the whole family.
YKI responded promptly to my inquiry and was very helpful
in explaining the course of action for treating ‘colostomy
kids’, as baby Anwar’s case would be termed by
those that are familiar with his condition. If we could get
Anwar to Bali, YKI’s network of doctors in local hospitals
could provide the operation at minimal cost. Alternatively,
and in fact what happened, Anwar could be treated in Jakarta.
YKI provided information that I conveyed to the family, helping
them understand their options and their rights, and helping
them access necessary support closer to home. Anwar’s
operation took place in Jakarta in December 2006 and so far
he is recovering well.
Looking at www.balieye.org and reading through the brochures
from YKI’s office in Sanur it is apparent how well-organised
and focused this organisation’s activities are. In 2006,
to end November 48,879 Balinese people with eye problems had
been screened, 2,511 adults and 27 children had had cataract
operations and 6,735 had received free glasses. The latest
news at YKI is about their award as the best humanitarian
NGO in Indonesia. The award was made by Indonesia’s
President SBY in Solo just before Christmas. Other news is
the imminent completion of the Bali-Australia Memorial Eye
Centre in Denpasar, which is on schedule for March 2007. This
world-class facility is being developed with the support of
the Australian Government Bali Recovery Fund. Agreements are
in place with the Department of Health (Depkes) and the Royal
Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists for
regular training and learning exchanges and the Centre will
provide free service to the poor. YKI continues to support
the mobile eye clinics operating in north and south Bali,
and cash donations are still needed to maintain this work.
There are a variety of ways that individuals and organizations
can sponsor the much-needed operations for Bali’s poor,
so just log on to the website or call the office (270812)
for details.
At the YKI headquarters, the teams’ commitment to their
work is obvious. They take pride in the ways they are working
with government providers and reaching large numbers of genuinely
poor people in Bali. The office walls are plastered with photos
of the people they have helped, and with inspirational quotes
and sayings. One that struck me as fit for baby Anwar as he
goes forward through life with his repaired body parts reads,
“You can’t change where you came from, but you
can change where you are going”.
For desperately-ill baby Anwar and his parents, and many others
in Bali, Lombok and other parts of Indonesia, YKI and their
supporters really do make meaningful changes to where people
are able to be going in life.
www.humanitarianprojectsindonesia.org
www.balieye.org
By Lucy Mitchell
E-mail:writers@baliadvertiser.biz
