For Jan. 6/FOCUS ISSUE - bsr

For Jan. 6/FOCUS ISSUE - bsr

Caltex provides free harelip surgery for local children

Rahmat was 12 and Juniati was 11. Like the other kids in their village of Aur Sati in the Tambang district of Bangkinang, Riau, the two could often be found playing cheerfully in their neighborhood.

As could Kurniati, 7, who lives in the small town of Kuala Enok, Indragiri Hilir, Riau.

But their parents could not hide their grief, looking at their happy-looking children, who were "different" from other kids because of their harelips.

These destitute parents expressed their anguished feelings neither through words, nor attitude. They did not even seek solace from God.

They freely admitted, however, that their hearts often grew heavy when they pondered the situation.

"The saddest part was when I wanted to breast-feed her," recalled Kurniati's mother, Darlis.

But again Darlis, like many other parents whose children have cleft lips, simply kept their sadness deep inside, while holding out for one desperate hope: that someday, someone would be able to help her beloved little girl's appearance.

Hope, pray

Rahmat's mother, Siti Saodah, said both she and her husband wanted to take her son to the hospital for an operation.

But there was a problem. "I couldn't financially afford it," she said.

After 12 years of hoping and praying, Saodah's dream has come true, thanks to a surgical procedure performed by a medical team sponsored by PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia (CPI).

"I'm extremely delighted," she said, after the successful operation to remove her son's harelip took place late last month.

Rahmat, Juniati and many other villagers with the condition underwent similar free procedures, which are carried out regularly under CPI's community partnership program.

In the Tambang area, there are still a number of locals awaiting the same free medical operation.

Kurniati and several others, including a nine-month-old boy named Cipta Nugraha, also underwent a CPI-sponsored operation.

Operation

Between 1995 and 2000 alone, CPI has treated 227 harelip patients through its regular free mass medical services, which are conducted in the regions near its bases of operation in Central Sumatra.

In any of its medical services, the team is led by a senior doctor from the University of Indonesia, or leading hospitals in Jakarta.

CPI is an international oil company which operates in Indonesia under a production-sharing agreement with state oil and gas company Pertamina, with operation areas in Riau, Sumatra.

The company employs 5,800 people, 200 of whom are based at its Jakarta headquarters. The rest, meanwhile, can be found in CPI's Central Sumatra operating area, where it explores for and produces oil and natural gas from more than 100 oil fields, including the world-famous Minas and Duri fields. More than 98 percent of CPI's employees are Indonesian national.

CPI today produces over 700,000 barrels of oil per day, which represents half of the country's total oil output.

Proud to offer

In addition to offering operations to people with harelips, CPI -- together with the Riau Coordinating Body for Social Welfare through the Pekanbaru Tryni Foundation -- also provides expenses for local children suffering from different types of diseases. Some have had to be flown to Jakarta for treatment.

Nelda Srinopita, 9, who was diagnosed with a malignant tumor, and Miftahul Hasanah, 6, who was born without an anus, underwent a successful medical operation at Harapan Kita Hospital in Jakarta in November of last year.

CPI president Humayunbosha said the free medical services were just a part of the company's community partnership programs that CPI was proud to offer with the aim of assisting both the public -- living in and outside Riau -- and the government.

"Community partnership has become a CPI tradition with core value which we expect to continue with programs that focus on targets that are urgently needed by the people," Humayunbosha said.

The three pillars of CPI's community partnership program, he noted, are education, health and public welfare -- the latter being a priority which the company will zero in on for the coming years.

"But the other two categories also have to be carried out in effective ways," he said.

"With a significant increase in local government revenue, in line with autonomy, we have to project our community partnership goals further, to help reduce any possibility of overlapping" with local government programs, Humayunbosha said.