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Story From The Field: Long Bedian Sarawak |
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Sunday, 14 August 2005 |
Izzat, a Malaysian studying in United Kingdom with an ambition to
become a doctor. He joined our MERCY Malaysia outreach mission in Long
Bedian, and returned with an experience he will never forget.
I went on a mission to Sarawak with MERCY Malaysia on the 11th of August 2005 to 15th of August 2005. We flew out from KL on the 10th and arrived at Miri airport at about 10pm as we wanted to get an early start on the next day in order to arrive in Long Bedian during daylight. We stayed in a hotel in Miri for 1 night where we got to know the other volunteers from outside of Sarawak. We had a briefing on the 11th during breakfast on what we should expect from this mission. We also were introduced to volunteers from Miri during breakfast. In the group there was an optometrist, three doctors, a dentist and also a matron. There were also a number of non-medical volunteers who joined the mission, my self included. We set off for the 5 1/2 hour drive to Long Bedian after breakfast on 4x4’s. We had 2 stops for stretching our legs and get some food & drinks. The journey was rough as there were no proper roads; only logging trails. When we finally arrived to Long Bedian, there was plenty of sore heads from the rough ride in the 4x4’s. We unloaded the medicine into the building where the clinic was to be held and then went to put our baggage away.
We stayed in the ketua kampong’s house for the 5 days that we were there. The kampong was fairly modern and houses looked fairly comfortable to live in. The ketua kampong’s house had electricity which came from a generator; which MERCY Malaysia paid for its use, when we were staying in his house. After we sorted out our baggage, we had tea (supper) and then made our way to the clinic in order to get everything prepared. We all helped to pack the medication ready for dispensing and I also helped to set out the furniture arrangement for the clinic. The clinic had a GP section, an eye test section and a dentist section. The non-medical volunteers were allocated jobs to help the medical team and I was assigned to help Miss Lee (the optometrist) with the eye section. I was informed on how to assist in the eye clinic. Miss Lee showed me how to test peoples’ eyesight with a wall chart, and also on how to use the auto refractor machine (to determine lens power needed).
On the morning of the 12th, we woke up fairly early, around 7 o’clock and got ready for the days work. We had breakfast which was prepared ourselves, but mainly by Martin, who was a non-medical volunteer and a competent chef. Then by 8 am the clinic was open and patients went through registration process before being seen by the medical team. We were extremely busy from the beginning until the end and we saw every single person who came. The day was fairly hectic for the eye and dentist section as there was only one specialist in each department whereas there was three GPs. We only had time for a half hour break for lunch in the day and I finished work at around 6 pm as opposed to the planned 4 pm. In the entire day, the eye department saw in the region of 110 to 120 patients. We (eye section) gave out free reading glasses to those who needed them. We were also able to prescribe glasses to those who were short sighted, by letting them choose the frame they wanted and taking the frames away for fitting of the lenses.
The dentist section performed a lot of teeth extractions and the GPs worked hard to diagnose patients’ illness and were also able to prescribe patients medicine which were given to them free of charge. As soon as we saw the last patient, we headed back to our residence and had our evening meal. We were invited by the ketua kampong to a special performance orchestrated by the locals that night. The performance was staged because a group of tourist from Europe happened to be passing through the village, so they wanted to welcome them. When it finished, we headed back to the clinic where we had to pack up all the things as we were going to a different kampong on the next day,
On the 13th, the same morning routine started again and as soon as we finished breakfast, we loaded the equipment & medicine onto the 4x4’s and set off to the next kampong; Long Bemang, which was an hour’s drive from Long Bedian. We arrived about 9.30 am and clinic was open by 10 am. Again, the clinics were extremely busy but everyone managed to cope under the huge number of patients and also with a smile on their face through out the day. Again, we saw at least 100 patients. We finished at about 5 pm and arrived back at Long Bedian at 6pm.
Every night after the work was over, we just talked to each other and I got to know everyone better and find out why they are doing this mission. For some, it was their first mission, for others, they have been on most missions, not just with ‘MERCY Malaysia’ but with other organisations as well. We all bonded very well and everyone got on with each other. Most of us would talk until past midnight, so we got to know everyone fairly well.
We went to two different kampongs on the 14th; Long Watt and then Long Atip. We could fit in 2 kampongs on the 14th because both kampongs have fairly low population. When we got to the last village, Long Atip, unfortunately we ran out of glasses. So there was no eye section in Long Atip but Miss Lee did see some patients who were in need of attention, for example patients with cataracts. So at that village, I went to help the pharmacist to dispense the medication.
At every kampong, there were hand outs which were brought by us. We gave out clothes and household needs such as pillows, blankets etc. There were also a few people feeding the people with medicine (to ill worms). There was also someone; usually matron, who would have a talk with the school children on correct teeth maintenance techniques.
After the last kampong, we went to a waterfall, which was 20 minutes away from Long Bedian. There we all had a chance to unwind from the hard work we did over the past couple of days and have a little swim. Afterwards, we decided to stay at the waterfall and have our last meal at the restaurant nearby. We all had a good laugh during the meal and afterwards, there was a performance of a traditional dance by the locals. When the show finished, out came the karaoke machine and everyone just let their hair down and laugh, dance, sing and generally being merry. We stayed there until about 1 in the morning.
The next day, we said our goodbyes to the locals of Long Bedian before setting off to Miri. We made the 5 hour trip back and met up at a hotel in Miri city. There we said our goodbyes to each other, exchanged contact details so we could keep in touch with each other, as we have grown close to one another and I have kept in contact with a few people from the mission.
I think the mission was extremely beneficial not only to the residence of the 4 kampongs, but also for me personally, as I would not have thought I had it in me to go into a jungle, with a group of strangers and help the kayans and penans. I felt that I have achieved a sense of enrichment through this experience. It has also showed me the vast difference of cultures which exist in just that one state; Sarawak. This is one of those life experiences that I would never forget, and I hope I would be able to do it again.
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