An opening ceremony, held before the start of operations at the Parama Sidhi private hospital in Singaraja, was attended by: Pak Ketut Bagiada (Social Welfare), Pak Made Swita (hospital owner), Sukma (Yayasan Senyum), Dr AA Asmarajaya (surgeon), Dr Made Pustaka (Regional Health Dept), Drs Made Arga Pynatih (Deputy Head of the Buleleng Regency), Dr Komang Katrini (Hospital Director) and Oki (Yayasan Senyum).

Reaching out...

Yayasan Senyum staff have realized for a long time that simply paying for operations is not enough. Consequently, we are delighted to have been able to establish the first of our Outreach programs and the resulting operations in Singaraja - see page two...

Prof David David from the Australian Craniofacial Unit in Adelaide has again visited Bali. Another busy clinic was held on 9th November, identifying many craniofacial patients in need of operations...

Our Patients

Thirteen New Craniofacial Patients
 

Also home again...

Rumiah looking wonderful after reconstructive surgery in Adelaide. She is particularly happy as, after a short recovery period at home in Lombok, she has now secured a job in Bali.

Thirty four patients attended Prof David David's clinic at Sanglah Hospital on the 9th of November. Patients came from Bali, Lombok, Sumba and Nias.

Check-ups were held for six 'Adelaide returnee' patients as part of the continuing monitoring program.

Working with Dr Asmarajaya, Prof David identified 13 new patients with serious craniofacial problems not easily treated locally. This number is far greater than the number of operations available to us in Adelaide in 2008.

Arrangements are underway to bring a specialised medical team from the Adelaide Craiofacial Unit during 2008 to perform these operations in Bali. Not only will this provide much-needed treatment for our patients, but will be an opportunity for training and skills sharing with local medical teams.

Home again: meeting up with Dad at the Smile House after two months in Adelaide.

'Wonder' Baby Nyoman Mangku

Yayasan Senyum staff have been holding their breath for two months while this little baby has been in Adelaide. He was brought to us at just one month old with the serious condition frontal naso encephalocele, where the brain is not fully enclosed within the skull.

Neurosurgeons here reported that he could not be treated in Indonesia, nor in Japan or Singapore.

They agreed, however, that there was a chance that Prof David David could help. We sent photos and a CAT scan down to Adelaide and to our relief Prof David replied 'bring him to Adelaide'.

The operation was successful. Nyoman Mangku, however, will need further operations and when he is a little older he will return to Adelaide for more corrective surgery.

Donors...
 

Dr Asmarajaya taking pre-op photos for Singaraja operations

Seminyak Rotary

Yayasan Senyum is especially delighted to have entered into a partnership with the Rotary Club of Seminyak for the funding of cleft lip and palate operations in Bali. On the 16th and 17th of November eleven cleft operations were performed at Parama Sidhi Hospital in Singaraja under our first grant of funds from the club.

Dr AA Asmarajaya and his medical team from RSUP Sanglah travelled to Singaraja to treat these patients who were all from the Singaraja area. The Parama Sidhi Hospital, although private, takes poor patients under the ASKES system, the government funded scheme which provides funding for poor patients. The costs were, therefore, kept to a minimum while avoiding the long waiting list at Sanglah.

All patients were found by Yayasan Senyum's new Outreach worker - see story below...

How You Can Help - Donating or Volunteering - contact
Mary Northmore
Ketua Yayasan Senyum, Ubud, Bali
0361 975568 or hp 0811 395 963
Email: Click here

In Bali:
dedicated Rupiah bank account:
BCA Ubud, A/C No 1350249555 a/n Mary Northmore
dedicated US Dollars bank account:
Bank Permata, Menara Ubud branch, A/C No 5804194233 a/n Mary P. Northmore

Thanks to our generous donors who have contributed since the last Update:

Volunteers & Staff

A Smile Train grant has enabled us to produce these posters and stickers.


Outreach worker, Gede Roby, discussing his work with Yayasan Senyum's patient co-ordinator, Oki, at the Smile House.

Pilot Outreach Project

A generous grant from The Smile Train, an American foundation, has enabled us to produce posters and stickers advertising the fact that cleft conditions are treatable and that Yayasan Senyum can help patients obtain operations.

To effectively use these posters, we have hired Gede Roby as our first outreach worker. After training at the Smile House, Gede obtained a list of all Puskesmas (local health centres) in the targeted area. Using his home as a base, Gede made day trips out to villages, returning home each night.

Interestingly, the Puskesmas, although responsible for health, proved generally not to be the most supportive, although always happy to put up a poster. On the other hand, Kepala Desa, the village heads, have a great interest in the welfare of everyone within their jurisdiction. Gede has found that they also know their people and are a great source of information about potential patients.

It is well known that some people hide anyone within the family who has a disability. Gede is well aware of this. He found that by sitting in the local warung (small shop), having a coffee and chatting he was able to overcome this reluctance to admit that a family member had a problem. This may yet prove to be the most effective method of spreading the word that help is available.

This feedback from Gede has reinforced our belief that the outreach workers must be local, not just Balinese but reasonably local to the area. People open up to a local. The number of patients found and the resulting operations confirms our belief in the worth of having an outreach worker in the field. We hope to continue with and expand this work.

And its farewell from me... this will be my last Update as I will shortly be returning to Australia after two years voluntary service in Bali. Update, though, will continue...

Sue Frost, ed.