KAPUAS- This year, Sei Pinang village in Kapuas regency has been flooded several times, sickening many villagers, particularly the elderly and children. To help the villagers, we organized a volunteer medical team to provide free medical services.
On a rainy Sunday morning (04/12/22) we travelled to Sei Pinang village. The drive from Palangka Raya to Sei Pinang Village should take no more than five hours. However, due to the poor weather and the state of the only road access, which resembled a roller coaster and was strewn with mud, we arrived in the village at 12.30 PM after a 7-hour drive. We just started the health service at 1 pm after eating the food prepared by the village to fill up the drained energy after pushing our car that was stuck on the muddy road.
Residents who came to our free medical service had to wait patiently in the small hot room of the village office. The fans that hung on every wall were just a display because they couldn't turn on, there was no electricity!
Even though Sei Pinang village has thousands of residents, electricity has yet to reach this village. Perhaps because of its remote location in the midst of the forest and mountains. For approximately four hours, we treated eighty six people, mostly elderly and children who complained of coughing, itching, and high blood pressure.
There is actually a Puskesmas (Public health center) with two nurses in the village, but people still often have difficulty getting health services because of the lack of facilities and medicines.
"We hope this free medical service is not the first and the last, come again next year, we rarely have a doctor come to give free medical services," said Rintho, the village chief.
Besides giving medical service, we also brought one hundreds of food packages consisted of rice, spices, biscuits, tea and coffee, cereal, milk and baby’s meal. Despite challenges that we have to face to come and serve Sei Pinang Village, all volunteers gave their best in this mission. Even when we came home, the story about the pushing the card through muddy road became a source of laughter. (Sumarni)
