My colleagues used to tell me about flying with helicopters
they're frightened of bad weather and other things.
But I'm motivated to do it and feel the challenge.
Way before I returned to Papua, I had a dream
that some day I would become a doctor who flies all over to remote areas.
And that dream came true.
PEARL IN THE NOKEN
I joined the Baliem Mission Centre (BMC)
In the organizational structure, I'm the medical manager.
We have a bimonthly schedule.
We visit some areas already under BMC's purview and try to expand to more.
First, we go North,
to the Kaimana area.
There, we'll find Esrotnaba lake.
It's the center for our services. And second, to the South, the Korowai area.
We have strong connections with Helivida.
Helivida is an organization that serves and helps all of Papua's remote areas.
In one of my trips, I flew with a Helivida pilot, Pilot Erwin.
We were flying at around 12 noon
because there was an emergency Medivac (Medical Evacuation) mission
to one of the small villages
near the border of Oksibil and Boven Digul.
It's about 2 hours and 20 minutes from Wamena.
And the trip to Boven Digul requires passing a mountainous area near Kurima,
Iberoma, Tama, and there are strong winds.
Suddenly, many clouds blew in and covered the mountains, so we couldn't see anything
and we couldn't fly any higher.
So we followed the river of Baliem, followed it up. But it was raining heavily.
I stayed quiet.
Then the pilot said "Doctor Mia,
please do not worry, we need to thank God for giving us this heavy rain.
That means I don't have to clean this chopper anymore
because God is cleaning it from heaven".
Yes, immediately my stress disappeared.
Everyday, I'm working at the hospital and if suddenly there's a
Medivac calling from Helivida
I have to be on stand-by.
And at any time, whether it's good weather or bad, if there's a call
if there's a pilot ready, I need to get ready to fly to evacuate patients.
Mum, here mum.
He and I were nurses
who helped patients
up in remote areas.
Even in the remote areas
where people are afraid to enter.
But he and I
we have given our all to serve these people.
I get my spirit from my parents.
Ever since I was a child, there was always a request for my father at my house to
conduct operations
He had to travel from night until morning, often without rest.
If there was a patient who needed an operation, and the doctor called
he needed to leave to help assist.
Besides these complicated operations, there was often a Medivac from the
MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship).
He went straight away and left us for days.
So here's a community, they've gathered so I can conduct an examination.
I've given them basic immunisation.
I stayed and worked there.
This is the local medical centre where I worked for them.
It's from the old days, so only black and white, not colour like mine.
There was a journey from Karumbaga to Bokondini. That's far.
It's quite far.
So we needed to put Mia inside of a noken (a cloth to carry a child).
Because she was still so small.
If she was thirsty
I needed to put her down and feed her some milk
and then continue to walk.
We put her in a noken, and we climbed a mountain.
It was hard to carry her on the shoulder.
To climb, it's difficult. And the path was covered by trees.
So many trees hit our heads, and many other things.
So we couldn't move fast.
But with the Noken, we can walk fast.
Even when we climb up a mountain, we can hold on to a root.
Easy, right?
I have an story from when I was working in Wamena in 2009, and began to work in the
Emergency Hospital there.
Suddenly a fight occurred between some tribes.
And many of these victims were carried to the Emergency Hospital in Wamena.
A senior nurse came and just touched my head like this.
Yes, I understood what it meant.
She just held and touched my head like this.
It means that she has once carried me in her Noken.
And that her head had once carried me.
I need to return all the kindness that's been given to me by my sisters and
brothers, who I call the hands of God.
Money will never be enough.
I must return all the kindness and love that they've given to me.
I'm giving it back to all the people I've ever treated.
I don't have any passion to start my own medical business
to make money from my patients
just to take care of my own welfare.
No.
For me, a doctor is a healer.
That's all.