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Aceh Update |
Observations from an Uplift staff member
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The Tsunami May Be Out of The Headlines, But We Are Still Working
Restoration of Syiah Kuala Medical School
In the wake of the tsunami, the immediate concern was to get enough basic medicines, medical supplies, food, shelter and health workers to the survivors. The tsunami indiscriminately killed and injured hundred of thousands of people. Swept up with houses, power plants, schools, roads, and mosques were shopkeepers, laborers, mothers, fathers, children, fisherman, teachers, religious leaders, the unemployed, and doctors. In an instant everything had changed. And the world responded with unprecedented compassion and generosity. When the waters receded, a huge part of Aceh’s infrastructure, including hospitals and clinics, lay in ruin. The largest hospital in the province, Rumah Sakit Zainal Abidin, sustained severe damage. This public hospital serves a large segment of Aceh’s population and is also the primary teaching hospital for Aceh’s only medical school. Restoration of the hospital was one of the top priorities in the early phase of the relief efforts. The restoration effort consisted of cleaning up facilities that could be used, finding qualified health professionals, obtaining appropriate medicines, supplies and equipment to help put a dent in the incomprehensible and overwhelming demand for health services by the survivors. Uplift International, other local and international organizations and governments worked collaboratively to help R.S. Zainal Abidin restore its lost capacity so it could once again begin to function as the primary health center for Aceh. By the end of May, 2005, the Government of Indonesia declared that the emergency relief phase was over and it was time to fully focus on the huge task of rebuilding lives and infrastructure. Seeing that Aceh’s capacity to deliver health services to it population was severely crippled, not only for the short-term, but also for the long-term, we realized that our efforts should focus on our core mission - building the capacity of health professionals. Building Capacity of Health Professionals A logical first step was to restore the medical school building next to R.S. Zainal Abidin. The building housed the medical school’s research library, computer center, several classrooms and a lecture hall for students while in training at the hospital. All the books, computers and other teaching materials had been lost in the flood. The building also sustained significant physical damage. With the generous funding from Newmont Mining, Uplift International began a six-month effort, to restore the building. In addition to bricks, mortar and paint, the restoration included new medical books, journals, computers, photocopying machines and class room furniture. This effort expanded the resources available for the medical students beyond what they had prior to the tsunami. The building was dedicated in March 2006. Noke Kiroyan, President Director of PT Newmont Pacific Nusantara led the Newmont delegation. Dr Syahrul, Dean of the Medical School, and Geni Achnas, Uplift International's Country Director spoke at the dedication. Representatives from the Governor's office and the city of Banda Aceh also attended the ceremony. The Next Steps Uplift International is developing a long-term professional training program with the Schools of Medicine and Law at Syiah Kuala University to provide training for health and legal professionals to help eliminate barriers to health, such as discrimination, that harm the most vulnerable. This will be an expansion of Uplift International’s Health and Human Rights Program it has developed with Ikatan Dokter Indonesia (IDI). The training teaches student and practicing health and legal professionals to collaborate with lawmakers, national and local government officials, policy makers, opinion leaders and the media to develop policies that protect and provide individuals with better access to critical disease-prevention information and quality services.
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Uplift International and its partner Project Hope have already shipped 25 tons of medicines valued at $7 million to Indonesia. FedEx, which has partnered with Uplift International, delivers the shipment by air to Jakarta from the United States. PT Repex is coordinating the warehousing and transfer to a military plane or commercial cargo flight bound for Banda Aceh. Uplift International has also worked closely with UPS to send relief supplies flown in by FedEx into Jakarta to get them to Banda Aceh to supplement the military airlift. Prior to the first shipment from Jakarta to Banda Aceh, our logistics team went to Banda Aceh to survey the situation and develop a logistics and distribution plan. The planning was critical for a speedy and safe arrival of the donated medicines and medical supplies. The Indonesian Air Force helped coordinate air transport with the U.S. Air Force for our first two shipments from Jakarta to Banda Aceh On 10 January, a US Air Force C-130 delivered our first shipment of medicines along with our logistics team to Banda Aceh. The third shipment was handled by UPS. Our local partner, the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI), met the plane and the Uplift team that accompanied the shipment with trucks and transported the medicines and supplies directly to our secure warehouse in the IDI command post in Banda Aceh. Meeting the aircraft upon arrival in Banda Aceh is now a standard operating procedure. The medicines and supplies are being used by teams of IDI doctors to treat the sick and injured. We are also sharing our commodities with other organizations to supply them with needed medicines and supplies. We are implementing an inventory and tracking system in Banda Aceh with our partner Project Hope to control our donated medicines and supplies. The Government of Indonesia has established 24 camps to consolidate internally displaces persons (IDP) in the provinces of Aceh and Northern Sumatra and has requested IDI to lead a team of professional health organizations to coordinate the placement and monitoring of volunteer health professional in the 24 IDP camps. Uplift International is working with IDI in this effort. The program includes the deployment of 200 health workers to operate in the 24 IDP camps to carry out the following:
This initiative mobilizes doctors, nurses, midwives, and public health workers from professional organizations, medical schools, and other appropriate groups to provide these interventions. Cash donations made to Uplift International are not only being used to provide medicines and supplies, but also being used to provide financial assistance to support the health needs of IDPs. IDI and the other affiliated professional health organizations are membership groups that have access to almost all medical professionals in Indonesia, including branch members in North Sumatra and Aceh. The IDI lead coalition will help unite all health care workers in various governmental, NGO and private organizations to work together as a coordinated body to deliver the needed health care services and equipment in a timely and effective manner. In addition to providing the medicines directly to the IDI effort in the IDP camps, we have also donated medicines and medical supplies to R.S. Zainal Abidin, the largest public hospital in Aceh and just reopened after sustaining severe damage as a result of the tsunami, Kesdem, the military hospital in Banda Aceh, and several NGOs.
Photos
from the Field
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