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Helping ultra-rural families to have a healthier life

Helping ultra-rural families to have a healthier life

This new "Picture of the Day" features Kawan Ino, one of the Fair Future team members in Sumba (Rumah Kambera Leader), talking to health workers and the village community of Kabanda. To do this, he uses the "Kawan Sehat" book we produced at the end of 2022 for children in these regions. This book is an integral part of the program of access to primary medical care for children in ultra-rural areas.

We spend two days here, and you can read what we have done in Kabanda. This village is genuinely one of the most isolated I have ever seen. Getting it is difficult, even dangerous, at times. No road leads to this village; only extremely steep or steep stony paths allow us to go there. Kawan Ino explains how to have a healthier life thanks to implementing specific things in everyday life. This includes physical and mental health, body and home hygiene, daily habits and women empowerment.

Thanks to the Kawan Sehat program, we see a significant improvement in the health and well-being of rural populations. It is truly heartening to see healthy habits being encouraged and access to health care increasing. It is vital that everyone has access to quality health care, and we are happy that this program allows more people to receive the care they need.

Here, when a person is sick or injured while a woman is due to give birth, one of the only ways for her to receive medical attention is to carry her on people's backs for several hours or even a whole day until the nearest health centre. This person also does not know if he will arrive in time at the medical centre, called "Puskesmas or Pustu", as we have seen on several occasions.

This is why this book is necessary:Kawan Sehat” is intended for schools and teachers. It's an amazing teaching aid for them, and kids love it. Nothing is done here to give children the means to learn from an early age how to wash themselves, eat healthier, use soap, and learn not to pollute or brush their teeth etc… In the classrooms here in East Sumba, the book“Kawan Sehat” is the only one available for children; there are no others.

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Let’s prevent malaria rather than cure it!

Let’s prevent malaria rather than cure it!

In this "Picture of the Day" shows you three children from Kabanda Village in East Sumba (read this post here), where the PMC program is in place. In this village, very far from everything, especially health centres, malaria is very active and wreaking havoc. We are talking about 80% of children under 12 are affected. It is, therefore, essential to prevent and train families. This is what we are doing here.

The daily observations concerning the causes of malaria are multiple here. These include, in particular, the lack of access to health care, information on prevention methods, the unavailability of health centres and sanitation, and the growing resistance to antimalarial drugs for regions with access to these treatments.

A reminder for all Kawans: Malaria is transmitted by female mosquitoes of the "Genus Anopheles", throughout the East Sumba region. These mosquitoes breed in standing water, such as rainwater storage tanks and open water sources, most of the time in rural and deprived areas of East Sumba.

As Fair Future has repeatedly seen and repeated for years, the consequences of malaria are serious if nothing is done to treat it: High fever, severe headache, nausea and vomiting. If not treated quickly, the disease can progress and lead to severe complications, including kidney failure, anaemia, seizures and death.

It is essential to train families and rural communities to protect themselves from this disease to reduce its transmission. Also, by learning how to prevent and treat Malaria, rural families and communities will reduce the economic and social burden of the disease. Malaria entails high costs for families and communities, particularly medical expenses (if they can access them), school absenteeism, and reduced productivity.

As we apply it with the Primary Medical Care Program (PMC), training families and rural communities to protect themselves from malaria contributes to strengthening the resilience of these populations in the face of epidemics of infectious diseases such as HIV, Tuberculosis, Gastroenteritis, cholera etc… 

Alexandre Wettstein from the Foundation’s Medico-Social Camp in East Sumba, Rumah Kambera, Lambanapu, on the 2nd of May 2023

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Fighting Malaria in Eastern Indonesia

Fighting Malaria in Eastern Indonesia

East Sumba, where we work at the time of writing this article, was experiencing a dramatic malaria epidemic. In the first quarter of 2023, there were more than 28,000 cases of Malaria, a significant increase from the previous year. A few months ago, Fair Future declared this life-threatening emergency. Despite our best efforts, Malaria cases are increasing. Here, when a child has a fever, it is more than 80% of the time a question of Malaria. We conduct health education campaigns to raise awareness of the importance of malaria prevention and early detection. Efforts to control the epidemic should include the distribution of mosquito nets, the provision of essential antimalarial drugs, as well as rapid diagnostic tests.

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PMC program evaluation in Lapinu

PMC program evaluation in Lapinu

These women linked to the PMC program devote part of their lives to saving others. These unsung heroines work tirelessly to keep people from the danger of illness and injury. They put their lives on the line to ensure others can live to see another day. Teachers trained in primary medical care, these women are the backbone of these ultra-rural communities in East Sumba. They exemplify true bravery and selflessness, and we are eternally grateful for their service. Therefore, we express our deep gratitude to all women who save lives. Thanks for what you’re doing for the others.

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PMC program evaluation in Kabanda

PMC program evaluation in Kabanda

Kabanda is genuinely one of the most isolated I have ever seen. Getting it is difficult, even dangerous, at times. No road leads to this village; only extremely steep or steep stony paths allow us to go there. It took us over six hours to get there, including four hours of absolute terrain with the Truck of Life, a 4×4 medical truck specially designed for this journey. Kabanda is no exception; so many villages are in the same situation: That is to say, they have no road leading there. This raises – among other things – the question of access to health care, of course. And it is for these types of communities that Fair Future exists, and together with our friends from Kawan Baik, Sumba Volunteer and Charis Foundation, we have created this primary medical care program.

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Check blood pressure in rural areas

Check blood pressure in rural areas

Here in the ultra-rural and poor areas where Fair Future Foundation and Kawan Baik Indonesia work, populations tend to have a higher prevalence of high blood pressure than in urban and wealthier areas. This is mainly due to poor diet, excessive tobacco consumption, and poor hydration. Of course, poverty and limited access to resources will also contribute to higher stress levels, increasing blood pressure. An unhealthy lifestyle increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and other health problems. We teach some “Kawan Sehat” health workers participating in the primary medical care program to measure blood pressure and take the necessary measures.

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Check Blood Pressure as part of the PMC program

Check Blood Pressure as part of the PMC program

This new "Picture of the Day" shows you Mama Katerina, from the village of Lapinu, who is learning to take blood pressure with Dr Aldo. She knows what a systole is or a diastole is and from when and under what conditions there is hyper or hypotension. She will also learn to give appropriate medical treatment (Captopril) for high blood pressure.

As part of the Primary Medical Care program, Katerina and eight other "Kawan Sehat" health workers participate in this unique pilot experience. These women teachers can measure a patient's blood pressure and give appropriate medical treatment in case of hypertension.

It is a social and medical revolution, in our opinion. The fight and prevention of hypertension and cardiovascular diseases are essential here in the ultra-rural regions of eastern Indonesia. To be active and efficient, our medical teams provide knowledge and equipment (manual blood pressure measuring device, stethoscope) in each pilot village. They are five out of the thirty-five in which the PMC project is implemented.

This, for example, has led us to talk about active and passive smoking. To make it clear, tobacco is dangerous for your health, and it is also the cause of high blood pressure and, consequently, strokes, heart attacks, respiratory problems and a host of other related diseases at the cigarette shop.

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PMC program evaluation in Mbatapuhu

PMC program evaluation in Mbatapuhu

Non-professionals who give medical care and medicine to people, sick children, and injured. They do so through a unique and innovative medical care program. Because here, there are no doctors, no health centre, or else too far away. No one has a vehicle, and the roads that lead to these villages are often impassable. This program saves and preserves the lives of children as well as adults. Today, we are in Mbatapuhu.

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PMC – Teachers receive their training certificate

PMC – Teachers receive their training certificate

This new "Picture of the Day" shows three real heroes and three incredible women, Merlin, Siyane and Sarlota. In the ultra-rural and isolated village of Kabanda, the three participants and teachers in the primary medical care program received their first work and training certificate. 

This follows the teaching they received from the foundation's teams in December 2022. Complete medical training based on fifteen modules, which explain and demonstrate how to care for a sick or injured patient (adult or child ). This is in villages where no health centre, doctor, or health professional is present, available or accessible, and most of the time, like here in this village, where no road leads.

You must understand the situation, friends: These women come from Asia's most rural regions and perhaps even the world. Most have not been to school or received basic compulsory training. They were trained for three months in teaching in the ultra-rural areas by a partner association called Charis Sumba.

So you have to imagine their pride to have succeeded in becoming one of these health workers, the person in the village responsible for providing first aid in an emergency, the possibility of illness in the event of an injury, an adult or a child. So when they received this certificate, tears flowed. Their tears flowed ours too, and it was a moment of incredible strength, but above all, very emotional.

In principle, here, and related to local culture and traditions, a woman takes care of household chores, fetching water, cooking for the children, and caring for the family. These three female superheroes are not only teachers within the framework of Charis Sumba, but they are also now – and for more than four months – the health workers of the PMC program. They are the ones who can save a life in the absence of a medical centre, medical care or a doctor in the village. This is not anything in terms of enhancing the role of women in ultra-rural villages; this is immense and important progress.

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Evaluation of 8 Kawan Sehat agents, in Mbinudita

Evaluation of 8 Kawan Sehat agents, in Mbinudita

In the village where it all started for us: The #rebuildmbinudita program is the construction of a school, and the construction of a drinking water network for more than 2700 people, 60% of whom are children under 12 years old . It is really the (re)construction of an entire village or learning to live healthier, healthier all together, within the framework of the creation of innovative programs. Access to primary medical care is part of this program here in Mbinudita and it is only natural that we have included it in this Care program.

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PMC program pre-assessment in Mbinudita

PMC program pre-assessment in Mbinudita

Fair Future teams examine and investigate more than two hundred cases of various illnesses or injuries treated under the primary medical care program by health workers. We also take stock of what will happen next week to accurately assess the supply of new equipment, drugs and medical devices. We also tell them that three will be part of a “test” screening program for high blood pressure and, in this case, the “prescription” of treatment and an appropriate medical procedure.

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Inventing toys when you don’t have any

Inventing toys when you don’t have any

This "Picture of the Day"  shows two children from Tanah Mbanas, Sumba Tengah, who have created a kitchen with waste from the plastic they found around their houses made of earth and bamboo. They are playing cooking. Here, families do not have access to water and even less to clean water.

Here in Sumba, in these ultra-rural villages, it is not uncommon for children of all ages to invent toys and games from natural materials or objects from waste or old. In these areas, children rely on their creativity and ingenuity to find new forms of play and have fun.

For example, children can make their toys from natural materials such as sticks, pebbles and leaves. They can use these materials to create games like building forts or playing "tag" with modified rules. Likewise, old items like cans, tires, or ropes can be repurposed to create new toys, like a toy truck, makeshift soccer ball, or swing.

These types of imaginative play experiences are very beneficial for the development of children. They encourage creativity, problem-solving and social interaction as children work together to develop new ideas and adapt the rules of their games. Additionally, playing in nature can provide opportunities for physical activity and exploration, positively affecting physical and mental health.

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