UNAIR NEWS – East Indonesia Community Service (Bakti Indonesia Timur) Ksatria Airlangga Floating Hospital ( RSTKA ) is entering its second month with target areas including Lembata Island and Timor Island. After one week of providing services in Lembata Island and one week in Malacca District, RSTKA continued to provide services in North Central Timor and South Central Timor regencies.

This service is sponsored by Protelindo, Amman Mineral, Northstar Foundation, Frans Seda Foundation, Investree and ASKI (Astra Component Industry), and supported by Dr Soetomo Hospital, Universitas Airlangga, Faculty of Medicine UNAIR, and IDI Surabaya, as well as Pelindo, Pelindo Marine Service, and Aperindo.

Stunting Phenomenon in NTT
dr. Wigit Kristanto of Pediatric Specialist Education FK UNAIR RSUD Dr. Soetomo has joined RSTKA services several times, including in the Madura Islands.

He felt time flies, and it is already a month in Lembata Island and Timor Island in East Nusa Tenggara to meet mothers with stunted toddlers. Stunting is related to chronic nutritional deficiencies for various reasons, generally due to the wrong diet.

This month, we found interesting reasons behind this incident, including the irony in fishing villages selling fish to buy rice or instant noodles. Children often only eat plain rice or rice with vegetables. The people are so dependent on rice even though there are other sources of carbohydrates, such as corn, sorghum, or sweet potatoes, which can thrive in NTT.

While on duty in Lewoleba, on the north coast of Lembata, we also received visits from residents in villages on the south coast. One of them is the village of Lamalera, which is famous as a whaling village. During the dry months, the people there do whaling and have known the technique of preserving whale meat since a long time ago. Is the stunting rate low? No, because the whale meat is also sold to buy rice or instant noodles. What an irony.

Moving on to Timor Island, we explored more villages in the mountains. Getting fish is certainly more difficult. Apart from that, it is interesting that we met several groups of people who believe that they should not eat all marine animals. There are even other groups who think eating eggs or pork is taboo. It is another unique habit and custom of the people in Indonesia. In this case, we have learned a lot from the people of Lembata and Timor dealing with it is so complicated. They hope few things we have done can overcome stunting for children in NTT. Thank you Lembata and Timorese people, Uis Neno Nokan Kit!

Various OHNS cases in So’e
Soe is a sub-district and the capital of South Central Timor Regency. The weather in this city is much colder than other cities on the island of Timor. This regency became the coldest place during the East Indonesia Bakti 2023. RSTKA volunteers came just in time for winter in So’e. Fog, rain, and wind accompany the daily commute.

One of the RSTKA clinics is the OHNS (otolaryngology – head and neck surgery) clinic. dr. Hayyu Fath Rachmadhan of OHNS Specialist Education FK UNAIR RSUD Dr. Soetomo provided services in this clinic. He recounted his experience in a short article.

Most people have unique habits that may rarely occur in other places. It is common to pick their ears daily from childhood using various tools (wood, iron, keys) until the eardrum is torn. Even for small children, when their ears itch, they put stones/pebbles in their ears until the itching goes away.

Ears festering, clogged with dirt, cotton, and stones left behind, is very natural. The cold weather and the dust blowing contributed to vasomotor rhinitis, allergic rhinitis. A deviated septum (crooked nasal wall bones) is also included in the OHNS case.

As a volunteer, she was very grateful to have this opportunity, because she made many friends, learned the local culture and language, especially being able to apply the knowledge she gained so far. Someday, So’e will have its own specialist.

During the five days of service, RSTKA opened a clinic at So’e Hospital and served 267 OHNS patients, 27 cardiology patients, 194 neurology patients, and 126 rehabilitation patients. At the puskesmas and posyandu there are ANC and USG services for 224 pregnant women and stunting screening for 227 children. They have also held counseling on stunting, ultrasound training for general practitioners at puskesmas in the South Central Timor district, and PPGDON training which midwives and doctors attended.

Valuable lessons for general physician volunteers

“Through traveling with RSTKA I saw the archipelago’s natural beauty that cameras cannot capture. I got experiences and happiness that we can’t buy with money. My greatest joy here is when post-op eye patients in Lembata send us a video with a thank you note even though we have moved islands several weeks later. Relief and smiles can be seen on their faces. Maybe they don’t remember or even never see our faces. However, I will remember them for a long time,” said dr. Nadia Carolina Notoprawiro, who has been studying for a master’s degree at Udayana Bali had the opportunity to join Bakti Indonesia Timur Period 2.

“One of the interesting experiences was during a stunting screening in Kolipadan village, at the tip of Lembata Island. We found many cases where parents with little income and less education had more than five children. Although many work as fishermen, they catch more fish for sale than for consumption to fulfill their children’s protein nutrition. The importance of detecting stunting cases earlier allows stunted children to be treated more quickly, achieve optimal growth, and develop normally according to their age,” said dr. Yosua Timoto, a volunteer general practitioner from Bandung.

The Ksatria Airlangga Floating Hospital is still sailing across the islands in NTT until December 2023 with several missions: screening for congenital heart disease, screening for stunting, and reducing maternal and infant mortality. RSTKA cannot work alone, but it is open to all forms of collaboration and receive donations to create an equal distribution of health services for island communities. (*)

Source : unair.ac.id/en/stories-of-east-indonesia-community-service-volunteers