“You are on-call. The nurse, by phone, has reported a patient with the following information: . . . What will you tell her?” the professor asked us. Everyone answered with our best medical knowledge but none of us was correct. The correct answer is “I am coming.” I have never forgotten that answer, and that…
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Interesting (environment and people), meaningful (for others and myself), kind boss, and adequate compensation –in that order—are the criteria of the job I want. The first job in Asmat fulfilled the first two criteria, but periodic malaria infection was too much for me. The second job seemed fulfill all four criteria. Although exhausted from flying…
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“I am sorry that only one person has applied for the position you advertise,” the personnel staff of the US Embassy in Jakarta told Gary Pachovsky, the Admin Officer of the US NAMRU-2 (Naval Medical Research Unit), by phone. “It’s great!” Gary said. Of course, it perplexed the Embassy staff, but not for long. “That…
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“Are you feeling cold?” I asked the people sitting next to me in the living room of the Mission complex in Sentani, Papua. “No,” the same answers from them. Positive. I must have had stowaways from Bayun, Asmat, because I arrived here only three days ago. The next day other familiar symptoms followed the chills:…
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One afternoon, Sister Priscilla, the hospital nurse, reported that a patient was in labour. The patient was admitted in the morning but the progress was slow, with no sign that the baby was ready to come out anytime soon. Usually Sister Victoria, the senior nurse who was also a midwife, who evaluated women in labour,…
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“Who is it?” I was sure it was not the Ursulin Sister because they would have knocked the connecting door instead of the window. “I am,” a woman’s voice. “What do you need?” “My daughter wants to unload.” I jumped out of the bed and opened the front door of the presbytery. Three Asmat women…
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Flowing river is the best view on reflecting upon our life. I sat by the mouth of Kronkel River at the end of afternoon jogging almost every day. It would have been better without mosquito veil, but the mosquito bites were very disturbing. I covered my body from head to toe in any weather outside….
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The engine started ‘coughing’, the boat was moving forward haltingly. ‘Please, please, don’t break down here,’ I talked to the machine. We almost reached the mouth of Betz River, and the next would be the most turbulent water in the region. It was the spot where Betz met Siretz (two of the largest rivers—cruise-able by…
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According to the official statistics from the Indonesian Government, in 2010 Indonesia had 85 million hectares forest. When I came to Papua in 1989, it was 144 million. Within 22 years, almost a half of the forest disappeared. Assuming the deforestation rate constant, all the forests of Indonesia will be gone in 2035—like in Java…
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I sent him to Wamena, the center of Highland, for fixing his broken jaw a week ago. Dr. Vrinjs, a senior Dutch doctor, had fixed the bone so that he could eat with some support. But he was back now; too early, his bone operation wound still needed thorough care. If it returned to the…
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One week on water, one week off water: my initial life schedule in Pari. The schedule had never been met because I was down with malaria every two months. Thus, my bi-monthly schedule was 3 weeks on water, 3 weeks off water, and 2 weeks on bed. Pari has three major rivers and hundreds tributaries….
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For normal delivery, the Sisters never asked me to help them. Thus, for two years, I only handled abnormal delivery, while during the internship I had never been allowed to manage complicated deliveries. The one in front of me now was obviously abnormal. On palpable, I knew the fetus was in transverse position; Cesarean Section…
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“Doctor, there is a sick woman at the beach?” one of the boys at the yard told me. “Why did not she come to the hospital?” I said from inside the house. I did want to be bitten unnecessarily by mosquitoes outside. “She cannot, Doctor. She is not able to walk.” I took my stethoscope…
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“Come quickly, Doctor,” Sister Priscilla called me through the window. I got up from the desk and walked out. She was still out of breath from hurrying up; she needed that exercise to reduce her weight, about 20 kilogram heavier than me. “Looked at his chin, Doctor.” Pris pointed at the child on the lap…
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“Read this line,” I pointed at the first line of the page. She looked at it. One minute passed but no word came out of her mouth. I waited another minute before saying “It is OK,” and called the next woman. The result was a little better. She could read the first paragraph of the…
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It sounded like knocks at the door, but I doubted. I did not think any sensible people would leave their house under the ongoing rainstorm and thunder that crashed one after another. They had begun since the Sisters brought me dinner. The crackling and flapping tin roofs were eerie; the shaking house kept me awake…
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She must have been at least 3, but her weight was only 5.5 kilogram—3 kg more than her birth weight. Both international and national standards would classify her as severe malnourished. Bones wrapped by skin. I asked her mother to bring her to the hospital every day for feeding; they lived just 5-minute walk. They…
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“Do you have a poison, Doctor?” asked Sister Pai. “What for?” I imagined rat. “To poison Swinging Chair.” That was the parochial priest of Bayun. I did not like him either, but I had never thought of killing him. Well, giving him a lesson might be justified. “I have, Suster.” I fetched a tin of…
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Casuarinen Coast is a dream laboratory for tropical diseases researcher. They can find almost all tropical diseases mentioned in textbooks plus undiagnosed ones. Sampling size—the most common and difficult problem of medical research—will not be an issue here; they can get the patients as many as they want, with one condition: they do not mind…
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Through the window of the examination room, I saw a group of people carrying a stretcher. They put it on the floor of the hospital veranda. “Where are you from?” I asked them. “Simsagar.” Four-hour rowing decreasing tide, 6-hour the opposite. The stretcher was made from rough sticks tied with rattans. The woman—around 20 maximum—was…
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