Crash

We had one of our vehicles involved in a roll over near our base. The pick-up is know as a hi-lux. It would be a total loss here but the truck will be fixed as best they can. It is expensive to purchase a vehicle on this remote island. The prices new are as high as a car here in the U.S. but even a well used vehicle can bring a big price tag. These vehicles do not even have to run and will come with a big cost.

It took us over a year to raise the funds to purchase this truck. It took only a moment to be involved in this wreck and it will take a bit of work to get it back on the road. The best part of this is the driver was uninjured. We are very thankful of his protection.

Dishes and Modems

If you think it is frustrating waiting for your slow computer to boot up, then try being in the middle of the jungle attempting to find a satellite somewhere low in the eastern sky. That was the dilemma Peter Scarborough and I were facing. We were trying to upgrade the internet connection in order to get the internet speed increased to a level where we could show detailed images of patients to doctors anywhere in the world via the internet. It would greatly increase our ability to help patients with the advice of specialists.

We were advised to purchase new equipment and then to connect to a satellite on the “C” band. Sounds simple enough for a couple “tech-challenged” but willing characters. The new dish and modem arrived in good shape. It did take time to get it assembled and set on a stable base—this is not a small dish. Peter and I adjusted the dish and used the basic alignment tools we had and finally connected with a satellite. We were excited and amazed at ourselves—we did it. The next day we realized we were aligned with the wrong satellite, so we were back to where we started. It took a few hours, and several trees were cut until we finally locked into the correct satellite. We were reluctant to celebrate too soon but were pretty sure we had found the right one this time. Now the next challenge was apparently the modem we had did not have the right settings. So we were now at a standstill—it honestly made us wonder if it was going to happen. It did have some humorous moments—what else could we do other than laugh.

The provider recommended we purchase a new modem for the new satellite dish and come to Australia to retrieve it. We were in the jungle of northeast Indonesia, and the part we needed was in Australia. It was a costly and hard decision, but I went to Australia to get the new modem. That might sound like an expensive way to get this modem, but if we were to have it shipped to Indonesia, it could have been months and had a good possibility of getting caught in customs. The flight was easier and assured us of getting the equipment we needed. We did not have anyone else who could pick it up, and I also had some business I did at that time in Australia. Finally, I returned two weeks later with the new modem. It was installed, and we were now using the new system. We were all excited and proud of our perseverance. We now had the connection and were testing its speed and capabilities. The next day I noticed a red light on the modem. It was now off, and we worked for a couple hours trying to find the problem. We had the connection for only 24 hours, and we were now offline. After two more days of frustration, we realized the new modem must have failed. It was run thru a check, and it was not working. How could we get this operating? We had to take the new modem back to the provider in Australia for testing and repair. We knew of someone who was going to Australia in the next weeks and asked them to take it back for us. The tests proved the unit had failed, and it was not our fault—it was a problem in the unit. It had to be rebuilt and then brought back to Indonesia. It was about three weeks ago that it was hand carried back to the base and installed. The connection was made with the satellite, and the system was back online. We have been testing it for the speed needed to show the live video of patients. We have found that it is too slow, and the speeds that we need (and were promised) just cannot be reached. It is hard enough to get technical equipment to work when you have all the support in the same city, but we are in a very remote area and can get equipment and help from faraway places. We either need a miracle that will give us the speed we require or an open door for a new system or provider who can help us—such is life at the end of the earth.

Volcano

When you live on the "ring of fire" you might see fireworks. There were many at the base who were awakened at around 2 a.m. yesterday by the rattling of windows as a volcano erupted. The volcano, Mt. Gamkonora, is only 20 miles from the base and it shook the place in a display of its power. The ash blasted over 10,000 feet and then showered the area with a white coating.

This is not an everyday or every week occurrence but it is a reminder of the awesome power that is not very far away. The base is just far enough away and yet close enough to feel the energy it can produce in its eruptions.

This region is also very fertile due to the rich ash that has fallen over the island in millenniums in the past. There is a positive outcome to the violent eruptions.

Saying Yes

The little three letter word we use so often has so much power. It is the word “YES”. I can see myself as a child anticipating that word after asking a hope filled question. It might have been: Can I go to the lake? Can I have some candy? Can I stay overnight at my friend’s house? I can remember waiting to hear that little word — "Yes". When you think about it, it is a very powerful word. It can bring a smile and the hope of a good experience. That little word has been used to start the process to help so many in need: "Yes, we can help you."

I can think of six families who have heard that word when they have asked the question regarding the possibility of sending their children to the U.S. or Australia for extensive medical care. Their future became bright, but if these children are to be helped, so many people have to say yes. I am so grateful for the amazing people who make it possible to change a person’s life. If a number of people agree to help, then it is a shared effort. A life can be changed if we can find a way to say, "Yes".

Clean Water

Clean water is vital to good health. There are several ways to transform marginally safe or contaminated water into drinkable water. A common practice in the remote islands of Indonesia is to boil the water. It takes time and fuel to boil every drop of water a family drinks. A well (bore) can be drilled at a per-foot cost. It can be too expensive for some villages. Another option is to hand dig a well. This is a lot of work and the well remains open to future contamination. Roof catchment systems can also provide drinkable water. The challenge with this method is that you only get water when it rains. In a region that has a wet and dry season, there can be long stretches of time between the rainy days. Using water out of streams and rivers is also common. The rivers are used by everyone who lives near the river for everything including bathing, toilets and washing clothes. The water from these rivers can be just full of disease. These are all methods used by the poor to get drinkable water.

Recently we had a wonderful portable hand pump water purification system donated. It will be very valuable for our teams to use on mobile clinics. The medical and dental teams go to remote villages to serve the needs of the poor in their villages. These teams will stay in the villages for one day or as much as three months. In many villages the challenge is having clean water to use for the medical and dental work. This portable purification system weighs only 20 pounds and will be used by the mobile clinic teams to guarantee they will have good water. It doesn’t take a lot to help in big ways.

Extreme

I would confidently say that minus 50 or 60 degrees Fahrenheit is extreme cold. How about over 300 inches of snow accumulation and the winter isn’t even close to being finished? That is an extreme amount of snow. Alaska is beautiful by any measure and it is a place of many extremes. It gets dangerous to drive in these extremes. There are plenty of documentaries and reality shows about life in the Great North Land. The crab fisherman, gold miners and State Troopers show the rest of the world just how extreme this place is. If you are still not convinced, just take a walk near a salmon spawning stream when the brown bears are filling up before they hibernate. I guarantee you will feel very small and vulnerable.

I guess it might take some extreme adventurers to volunteer to go to the medical base in remote Indonesia. It might take people who see extremes almost every day to board a series of flights and fly 35-40 hours to serve the needs of the poorest-of-the-poor. I look forward to serving with six volunteers from Alaska. We will join together and put our energies into making a difference in the lives of the poor. I have a core belief—it doesn’t take much to make a difference. There will be two things for sure—there will be no piles of snow or minus temperatures on the islands of Indonesia.

Staying In Touch

When I was a child we used to take two opened tin cans, punch a hole in the bottom of the cans and put a string in the holes. We would stretch the string out until it was tight then we would talk into one can and the other end was placed on the ear. This was a lot of fun as we would play for hours with our home-made phones. It hardly seemed possible that within my lifetime we would be able to not only talk to people anywhere in the world but now we can even see them as we are talking. Staying in touch has reached new heights. I am sure all of you know what skyping means. I am still astonished at the technology that is available to the average person at a reasonable cost.

The importance of staying connected with our work in Indonesia is a high priority. We are in a remote area of the planet but in a few moments and a couple clicks I can be talking live with one of our staff. It is also a challenge keeping every system operating. The next step for us is to get a “tele-medicine” system operating. This will require a very fast internet connection. Once this system is up we will be able to get the advice of medical professionals from all over the world. They will be able to see the patient live and consult our medical staff as far as the best care for the patients. It is amazing that we can go from cans and string to satellites and C-bands.