June/July, 1998
No. 035/VI/98
cover story
After The Boom
What future is there for
Bali's modern theatre
scene?
Warung Society
Bali has its own history of
communal philosophising
and coffee-drinking
Renaissance
Twenty years of Bali's
Festival of the Arts
beyond
bali
Sumbawa's
Secrets
Photographs from
Kuang Amo
regular
features
Dangerous
Times
Orchestrating a
cremation in Ubud
Home Grown
A preview of
the Quicksilver Pro
Adventure
Getting over a fear
of diving
Foreign aid for
optic
health
Books
The Painted Alphabet
reviewed
Food
Two boutique hotels,
two top chefs
Fiction
'Our Moon'
by Mas Ruscitadewi
advertising index for
Bali Echo web site
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MOBILE CLINIC
Since 1991 the Bali program with the aid of its now famous mobile clinic, has screened more than 60,000 people for various forms of blindness and provided preventative programs for glaucoma. Some 9000 poor villagers have been given their sight free of charge by this service. Nurses now take the screening service to rural and urban schools, finding children whose sight is threatened by cataracts or chronic infection. The more complex operation to graft damaged corneas is now being undertaken by local teams led by Dr. Dharyata.
John enthused: "We used to do most of our operations in the bus. A day later they would take the pads off and the patient would be able to see. That’s the great thing about this - the results are so immediate." The bus, designed by Dr. Jeffrey Cohn - one of the founders of the project - is still used, but while adults can be operated on in the bus using relatively simple xylocaine blocks, children require general anaesthesia - and that means hospital. The Denpasar-based BKMM is soon to open its 24-hour emergency service for eye enjuries, and is setting up an intensive training centre which will help Indonesian doctors and nurses expand their skills in opthalmology. Already Australian doctors and nurses have given time and energy to help out. Opthalmology it seems, has a history of selfless devotion to duty, an attitude not necessarily shared by their colleagues in other specialties.
The project has provided the focus for co-operation and technology transfer between Australia and Bali. Already international agencies such as the Helen Keller Institute have been involved and other regional universities have shown willingness to contribute teaching medical staff. The snowball has turned into an avalanche of help and hope.
WORKABLE MODEL
I
had recently seen a lot of blindness in Flores. One evening, I happened to pass by three
blind members of a family, being led by one sighted child. Remembering this, I quizzed
John on the prospect on Rotary taking their services to more needy areas beyond Bali. He
assured me that a similar clinic is planned for Lombok, and explained that a Dutch
benefactor currently pays for people to ferry across from Lombok to seek treatment in
Bali. In addition, PT. Freeport is considering establishing a similar service in Irian
Jaya. "We are also planning to undertake technology transfer in co-operation with the
Department of Health," continued Dr. Dharyata. "We have now developed a workable
model that can be used in all provinces of Indonesia by the year 2000. Ultimately we would
also like to build relationships with non-government organisations and even private
businesses who might be interested in helping out. For instance, companies where workers
night sustain eye injuries at work."
Many people come to Bali hoping to experience something magical. In effect, the sight that this project brings to poor Balinese is in part exactly that: a perfect melding of magic, science and good old generosity.
The various clubs that make up Rotary are responsible for a variety of health-related projects that augment those provided by the Indonesian government. The Bali Taman Rotary, which comprises only women members, and supports a cervical screening program for village women, and the Bali Rotary Blindness Prevention Project can be contacted at Tel. 28 7707.
See also 'The girl who fell off a log'.
Above:
Sci-fi scenes at the Community Optic Health Centre.
Photos by Ari Basuki.
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