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Here is a staff
photo to show all of the happy smiling faces of
the team at Clinic Bumi Sehat Samatiga Aceh.
Bumi Sehat Aceh
Report Jan-April 2007
Thanks to the
funding from Direct Relief International, Rotary,
Sakthi Foundation, YKI, Trend Solutions, BBC, IDEP,
Vitamin Angels, and many many generous
individuals, we have been able to continue giving
much needed direct relief the people of Samatiga,
Meulaboh, Aceh with our medical services. Sadly
the operational funds Direct Relief was able to
provide last year are no longer available. Bumi
Sehat is actively seeking help so that our clinic
services in Aceh and in Bali
will continue uninterrupted. We hope some of the
stories below will show just how precious this
help is and how it does directly save lives.
Good
progress has been made in 2007 with the new Rotary
sponsored clinic building almost complete. Now it
just awaits furnishings and solar power. The
Vitamin Angel shipment finally cleared customs and
they are being distributed to the local community
as well as reaching other health clinics in Aceh,
Bali & Nias.
Midwife Louise
has been working very hard to educate the younger
midwives and is concerned that her one-year
commitment is not long enough to accomplish all
she has set out to do. She has urged us to
continue for at least one more year, so we are
looking for another experienced midwife to take
her place, please spread the word that Bumi Sehat
Aceh is actively seeking an experienced midwife to
make a long term (minimum 6 mos.) Commitment. Also
keep in mind as you read that we need funding for
operational costs for 2007- 2008.
Dr. Eman, Louise
and Robin decided to give Ibu Saidia and her
mother, Ibu Bulan, two traditional birth
attendants in our area, hand phones. Bumi Sehat
will also provide them with phone time, so they
can call us to births or for transport, before
there is an avoidable grave emergency.
Here are some excerpts from Robins Diary… April
2007
I am so in love
with this project. It is so worthy of the donor’s
efforts and the hard work of the support team at
Bumi Sehat Bali. The Bumi team here in Aceh is
sterling, every one of them. Even the construction
crew is hard working, polite and well just
wonderful.
Wil and I
arrive in Aceh, and it has been a year for me.
Last year I was here in Samatiga more than at home
in Bali,
so this was a wonderful homecoming. The staff
where radiant. Midwife Louise had been here six
long hard months, and I could immediately see the
fruits of her heartfelt labor.
Dr. Eman had
more recently come aboard, and his light was
shining here in our little Tsunami relief clinic
by the sea in Aceh. Since the staff ashram was
now finished, it would be much more comfortable
than all those long months of sleeping on the
clinic floor, 6 or 7 to a room. The new maternal
health clinic that the Rotary is building for us
is astonishing, a beautiful celadon green gem in
the swamp.
I mourned that
the crew that graded the land and prepared it for
construction had cut so many trees. This left the
clinic grounds even hotter than before. In the
following days our maintenance team, Pak Sudung,
Adi, Jal and Hendra, would plant two dozen fruit
trees to restore the shade and perhaps someday
give food to the people. Earth Day 2007 inspired
people to purchase more fruit trees to plant on
the Bumi Sehat clinic grounds in Aceh, where the
Tsunami swept almost all of the fruit trees away.
63 more fruit trees have now been planted at Bumi
Sehat Aceh. How I wish the kind, anonymous woman
who donated the funds for the purchase of the land
could see the clinic now, and the fruit trees
growing!
Normally within
24 hours of arriving at the Bumi Sehat Clinic in
Samatiga, Aceh, I am called to a birth. This time
proved the same I awoke before first light to bid
Louise, our "Mother Midwife", goodbye, for she
would be traveling to Singapore to renew her visa.
"You have a birth at the barracks in Pucuk Leung
this morning." Louise said. Our young midwife Devi
and translator Lea were in the car with the birth
bag in moments, and we sped off to the barracks.
Just
before leaving Bali
I had read in the paper, that there were no more
Tsunami survivors living in tents or barracks
buildings, that all had moved to nice new houses.
I was to find out just how untrue the newspaper
reports were.
Sliding
in the mud and trash we climbed to the wobbly
rotting porch of the barracks. Inside the dark
room, no electric lights here, a vapor of urine
and odors emanating from too many humans living
too long in the post tsunami shelter, I found
Murniati. She had been sweating and laboring for
two days, the family worried, the traditional
midwife, Ramlah was exhausted & the young
government midwife, loosing confidence. As my eyes
adjusted I found the young first time mother was
pushing. She had been pushing for many hours, I
was told. The young government midwife told me
gruffly to put an IV line in, "She can't do it,
she's too lazy and tired."
I
nodded, "Let's just see." I asked the elder
midwife, schooled only by a lifetime of
experience, "Have we any honey." Her eyes blazed,
"Yes, honey, my mother used it in cases like
this." A family member jumped to find some. The
young government midwife scoffed. "It won't work,
you'll see." I straightened Murniati's tired legs,
massaged her and advised her to
rest as much as
she could. Within minutes of ingesting about two
tablespoons of honey mixed with a glass of water,
Murniati began good strong productive pushing. "We
must make an episiotomy , or the baby will never
fit out." The young midwife said insistently. 'Hummm,"
I said, "Why don't we leave it and trust the
mother” The younger midwife, scoffed. The elder
traditional midwife tenderly squeezed my hand in
the dark.
In less that
half an hour we had a full crown and I was
protecting the perineum with my gloved hands to
ward off the episiotomy scissors. The baby wailed
once as I placed him up on his mother's belly,
Devi, the Bumi Sehat midwife, tenderly covered him
with a soft cotton blanket. I stopped the young
government midwife from cutting the cord too soon
and received the
placenta. There
was a minimal bleeding. Devi, the elder midwife
Ramalah and I helped Murniati put her baby to the
breast. It was a happy scene. I returned later
that evening to find Marniati resting on her side
and breastfeeding her 3.25 kilo son.
Later
that day I made home visits. In Cot Amoen I saw
Lismawati. She had been mixing breast milk and
infant formula, and was worried that her milk was
not enough. We spoke of supply and demand, and
encouraged her to breastfeed baby when he was most
hungry, instead of giving the bottle. She said
she was now exclusively breastfeeding, but I saw a
newly emptied bottle rolling on the floor under
the baby sling. We gave her vitamins, one of our
new breastfeeding books and encouraging words.
In Alue
Raya I saw Ibu Rosnizal, recovering from an
emergency cesarean birth due to placenta previa.
This was a case in which, had Bumi Sehat's
midwife, Louise not been called, the mother and
child would most likely have been lost. The baby
girl, born 3 weeks early and weighing only 2.5
kilos, was very yellow and dehydrated. I felt she
had lost weight. I did observe that this baby had
a strong suck. I advised breastfeeding on demand,
more frequently and for longer periods and gave
the mother some vitamins and dressed her cesarean
wound.
Lastly
that evening after a very long day I visited with
Misda Marie, who had lost her baby at birth about
one month earlier. She was also post cesarean
surgery. Misda was laying in the dark, on a
mattress soaked with her own urine. Her parents
said she would even defecate on the mattress. She
had not been speaking and had hardly been up since
the ordeal at the hospital. Louise had
transported her for arrested labor, the baby's
heart tones were strong and normal. The hospital
did not take her to surgery until 22 hours later,
by then the baby had died between worlds.
The
young mother's broken heart had left her
paralyzed. I was able to get her to answer
questions. She told me that her legs hurt
unbearably, and she was weak. A look at her eyes
told me she was anemic. I left her with vitamins
and some massage oil, which her mother would use
to rub her legs. I discussed the fact that the
baby's spirit could not be free if her mother
would not even resume living. I suggested that
getting up, going to toilet and bathing were very
important to the spirit of her child.
When I went back
to see her three days later, she was up. Her
father said she had taken to heart my words and
was bathing 4 times a day and 3 times per night. I
am concerned that she sits and rocks and moans all
the time. Gave her 'Hope' oil and a Bach flower
remedy for trauma and to give courage. The next
week Louise took her to the hospital and Misda
Marie was diagnosed with a fistula and nerve
damage. Bumi Sehat must raise the funds for her
surgery two months from now.
It began as a
slow day, patients coming into the morning clinic.
Nurse Jo and Dr.Eman were covering, so I was quite
relaxed. Then just before
5 pm,
I was summoned, by a young girl on a motorbike, to
help with a birth emergency in Gampong Cot. We
flew and as it is our same village, we arrived in
moments. I found many family members outside,
crying. Inside, Elisa laying on her back, a tiny
baby between her legs in a pool of blood and
kerosene. The traditional midwife, Juariah was
applying ice and kerosene to the new mom's belly,
in an attempt to bring out the as the retained
placenta. I took a deep breath and suggested
everyone in the room do the same. First I wrapped
the baby in a blanket, she was shivering, but
otherwise healthy. I was able to discover that the
baby was approximately two hours old.
I felt the
mother's belly, behind the retained placenta blood
was building up. She looked shocked. I gave
rescue remedy and asked Lea to mix four capsules
of Yinan Baiyao with water. This seemed to calm
Eliza, this was her fourth birth. Her first
pregnancy produced twins who died upon birth. The
second baby was swept away with Tsunami. There
was a living toddler and now this baby girl 2 .25
kilos. "I am afraid I am dying." She told me,
"help me, please help." There seemed to be no
significant contractions, and this mom was
hemorrhaging. I asked midwife Juariah to do
nipple stimulation, put on a sterile glove, washed
the area with betadine and went after the
placenta. It was quite adhered to the top left of
the uterine wall. I slowly peeled it off, and
prayed. 15 minutes after our arrival the placenta
was born, well with help, I gave 2cc pitocin and
after the initial gush there was no significant
bleeding. Two and a half hours later her blood
pressure was normal, 100/80, she had bathed, peed,
and eaten a big dinner. Eliza has been well at all
subsequent postnatal checks. She named her baby
Brenda, after my dear and courageous Islamic
friend.
I am called to
Darmiati's house, she is 22 to 23 weeks pregnant,
this her 4th pregnancy, she has three sons. There
has been bleeding since 19 Jan.(10 weeks ges.). I
was happy to hug my dear friend, Ibu Bulan, the
elder Traditional Midwife in this region, who
called me to Darmiati's premature labor. Ibu
Bulan quickly let me know that already a tiny 2.5
cm. long foot was being born. I listened for
heart tones. The baby was still alive. I
explained that this baby would most likely not
make it through the labor, and certainly would not
survive outside the womb. Darmiati cried, "I just
know it's a girl, and I so wish for a daughter."
She then decided to get up, walk, and eat. An
hour later she came back into her bedroom, and
birthed a tiny 1⁄2 kilo lifeless baby girl. We
all cried.
Wil, Lia and I
went into Meulaboh to visit Ibu Elly and the twins
I delivered, a year and a half ago. We stopped at
the hospital and gave all the midwives there small
gifts from Bali, a 'thank you' for receiving the
patients we often transport for intensive care.
Sadly we were informed that two women who recently
birthed twins in the Meulaboh hospital had died.
The Bumi
Sehat twins, Mawar (Rose) and Bunga (Flower) have
grown to be active, naughty wonderful toddlers.
They both were suffering from many infected skin
sores, which I treated. We heard that their
grandmother had recently died. Elly was a glowing,
as if her life were not lived in a shack, behind a
black greasy motorcycle repair shop. I was happy
to see that Elly was still breastfeeding, and gave
her vitamins.
Aspiring young
Acehnese midwives- left to right: Yenni, Ibu
Robin, Devi, Oni. Yenni has been sponsored for
midwifery academy and we are seeking sponsorship
for Oni.
Elly's
teenaged daughter, Yenni, had made the ranking
necessary for her to enroll in midwifery school,
and we had found a friend, Michell Smith, who
would sponsor her education. Yenni guided us to "lapangan
III", where over a year ago we had looked after a
young woman, Rose, who had just had her 8th child,
living in a tent. We found the Tsumani survivors
living in this camp had received 3 X 2.5 meter
wooden temporary houses from Catholic Relief
Services. Sadly these people (approx. 1000 of
them) had not received a food delivery for over a
year!
Rose
informed us that her baby girl, Rosediana had died
at just four months of age. She had diarrhea and
they did not even have enough money, about 70
cents to get transportation to the hospital. Rose
is huge pregnant with her 9th child now. Bumi
Sehat is looking after her, as she is very high
risk. The camp she lives in is 2.5 hours away from
our clinic. The Bumi medical team is very worried
about her delivery, hunger, depression, unsanitary
living conditions and a ninth time mom, she
definitely will need skilled attendants. Louise
has been following up closely with Rose. We also
spoke with Ross from Catholic Relief Services to
find out how water and sanitation conditions may
be improved in this camp. Team Bumi will visit
World Food Plan and find out why they are no
longer getting food.
Last year Nursima,
birthed a beautiful baby boy into my hands just 29
hours after he had died in the womb. She comes now
to see me, 8 months pregnant, glowing, hopeful. We
cry and laugh. We pray for a hopeful future
together. In one week's time I have looked after
four women who have lost new babies and at the
same time have seen so many who bear the promise
of new life. This is Aceh 28 months after the
Tsunami.
Robin Lim April 2007
We end this
report with the sincere wish that we can carry on
with our work in Aceh.
Bali
Update… Ibu Robin… April - May 2007
I lost my first
baby the other night... A Sumbanese woman with
terrible high blood pressure came in pushing a
breech out. The premie baby had interuterine
growth restriction and weighed only 1.5 kilos.
About 3 lbs. She was completely flat at birth...
I did full CPR and got her heart to start back
up. But in the 1 1/2 hours or more that Nurse
Leman I worked on her... She never came around.
Towards the end she seemed like she was trying to
take a breath on her own. But then she died
completely. I have never had one like this – who
would not take to life. Her life would have been
so hard – displaced parents so poor, beyond what
we can imagine as poor. I went to her funeral...
Simple and sweet. I have not even been able to
cry about it.... They named her Tabitha.
The beautiful news at Bumi Sehat Bali… The first
week in May we had 13 waterbirths! May 7th I
received my new grandson into the world. Bodhi
Padma Edzra Banjo Bernhardt, was born in a pool of
flowers, he is divine. 2006 Bumi Sehat Bali
received over 400 babies, 2007 has been much
busier.
English and computer capacity building courses at
the Bumi
Bali
Youth
Center have been in full swing, thanks to Alice,
Kadek, Heather, Annie, Lee, Ruben, Jody, Tania,
Eka, our volunteers. Thursday High Blood pressure
group with Dr. Anne still meets successfully.
Monday free pediatric clinic with volunteers Dr.
Soma and Dr. Bobbi, is always crowded and joyful.
Twice a week Dr. Bobbi helps chronic pain and
seriously ill patients with acupuncture and herbs.
Three times a week prenatal care run by Bidans
Budi, Ayu, Ketut, Agung, Chandra, Mandy and Ibu
Robin… plus volunteers, Lydia, Katherine, Michele,
Mitzi, Makenzie, Chris, Kayla and more coming and
going all the time.
Huge thanks to our donors and supporters who make
it possible for the Bumi Sehat staff in Bali
and in Aceh to do this service in love. It is our
small way of contributing to Peace on Earth… one
baby at a time. Natural Family Planning and
Fertility help ongoing. 24 hour/ 7 days a week
birth services. Dr. Wayan and Nurse Leman provide
patient care 6 afternoon/evenings per week.
OM SHANTI
- IN GRATITUDE.
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