Caltex provides free harelip surgery for local kids<\/p>\n
Rahmat was 12 and Juniati was 11. Like the other kids in their
\nvillage of Aur Sati in the Tambang district of Bangkinang, Riau,
\nthe two could often be found playing cheerfully in their
\nneighborhood.<\/p>\n
As could Kurniati, 7, who lives in the small town of Kuala
\nEnok, Indragiri Hilir, Riau.<\/p>\n
But their parents could not hide their grief, looking at their
\nhappy-looking children, who were "different" from other kids
\nbecause of their harelips.<\/p>\n
These destitute parents expressed their anguished feelings
\nneither through words, nor attitude. They did not even seek
\nsolace from God.<\/p>\n
They freely admitted, however, that their hearts often grew
\nheavy when they pondered the situation.<\/p>\n
"The saddest part was when I wanted to breast-feed her,"
\nrecalled Kurniati's mother, Darlis.<\/p>\n
But again Darlis, like many other parents whose children have
\ncleft lips, simply kept their sadness deep inside, while holding
\nout for one desperate hope: that someday, someone would be able
\nto help her beloved little girl's appearance.<\/p>\n
Hope, pray<\/p>\n
Rahmat's mother, Siti Saodah, said both she and her husband
\nwanted to take her son to the hospital for an operation.<\/p>\n
But there was a problem. "I couldn't financially afford it,"
\nshe said.<\/p>\n
After 12 years of hoping and praying, Saodah's dream has come
\ntrue, thanks to a surgical procedure performed by a medical team
\nsponsored by PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia (CPI).<\/p>\n
"I'm extremely delighted," she said, after the successful
\noperation to remove her son's harelip took place late last month.<\/p>\n
Rahmat, Juniati and many other villagers with the condition
\nunderwent similar free procedures, which are carried out
\nregularly under CPI's community partnership program.
\nIn the Tambang area, there are still a number of locals awaiting
\nthe same free medical operation.<\/p>\n
Kurniati and several others, including a nine-month-old boy
\nnamed Cipta Nugraha, also underwent a CPI-sponsored operation.
\nBetween 1995 and 2000 alone, CPI has treated 227 harelip patients
\nthrough its regular free mass medical services, which are
\nconducted in the regions near its bases of operation in Riau,
\nCentral Sumatra.<\/p>\n
In any of its medical services, a senior doctor leads the team
\nfrom the University of Indonesia, or leading hospitals in
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
CPI is an oil company, which operates in Indonesia under a
\nproduction-sharing agreement with state oil, and gas company
\nPertamina, with operation areas in Riau, Sumatra. The company
\nemploys around 6,500 people, 200 of which are based at its
\nJakarta headquarters. The rest, meanwhile, can be found in CPI's
\nCentral Sumatra operating area, where it explores for and
\nproduces oil and natural gas from more than 100 oil fields,
\nincluding the world-famous Minas and Duri fields.<\/p>\n
CPI also has many business partners, whose employees number
\nclose to 26,000. More than 98 percent of CPI and it's business
\npartner's employees are Indonesian nationals.<\/p>\n
CPI today produces around 650,000 barrels of oil per day,
\nwhich represents roughly half of the country's total oil output.<\/p>\n
Proud to offer<\/p>\n
In addition to offering operations to people with harelips,
\nCPI -- together with the Riau Coordinating Body for Social
\nWelfare through the Pekanbaru Tryni Foundation -- also provides
\nexpenses for local children suffering from different types of
\ndiseases. Some have had to be flown to Jakarta for treatment.<\/p>\n
Nelda Srinopita, 9, who was diagnosed with a malignant tumor,
\nand Miftahul Hasanah, 6, who was born without an anus, underwent
\na successful medical operation at Harapan Kita Hospital in
\nJakarta in November of last year.<\/p>\n
CPI president director Humayunbosha said the free medical
\nservices were just a part of the company's community partnership
\nprograms that CPI was proud to offer with the aim of assisting
\nboth the public -- living in and outside Riau -- and the
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
"Community partnership has become a CPI tradition and core
\nvalue we expect to continue through programs that focus on what
\nthe people urgently need," Humayunbosha said.<\/p>\n
The three pillars of CPI's community partnership program, he
\nnoted, "are education, health and income generation".<\/p>\n
"With significant increases in new local government revenue,
\ndue to regional autonomy, we hope to better target our community
\npartnership goals and programs and reduce any possible of
\noverlapping with local government programs", Humayunbosha further
\nstated.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/caltex-provides-free-harelip-surgery-for-local-kids-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}