Mobile clinic serves poor in Yogyakarta province
Tarko Sudiarno, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta
"Bedes, come here quickly. What are you afraid of. How come a street kid like you is afraid of a little needle? If you aren't scared of being beaten by city public order officers, how come you are afraid of the doctor?" a street kid said to his friend, Bedes.
Bedes, who would be in sixth grade if he attended elementary school, then entered the tent and sat on a plastic chair beside the young doctor.
"Wow, I'm a star. A star who's poor," exclaimed Bedes when he saw the TV cameras focused on him.
The mobile clinic, the first of its kind to provide free basic medical care to poor residents of Yogyakarta, was operating on Jl. Urip Sumaharjo last week.
"There are around 2,000 street children who are susceptible to dental, oral and other diseases in Yogyakarta. Only one hospital in the city is willing to treat them. So, with the setting up of the mobile clinic, street children will be able to access free medical treatment," said dentist Mochammad Agus Ramli, the director of the Gaia Foundation, which is responsible for pioneering the mobile clinic program.
He said the foundation was working together with the Humana Foundation, the Yogyakarta Friendship Clinic (KKY) and the British Embassy in providing the mobile clinic.
The vehicle used is a Land Rover equipped with medical equipment and supplies. It is painted bright red, with the words Mobil Klinik written on the windshield. It is equipped with a large tent.
What makes the blue tent particularly interesting is that it is decorated by paintings by famous Yogyakarta painter Popok Tri Wahyudi, a former member of the Apotik Komik Yogyakarta (Yogyakarta Comic Pharmacy).
The mobile clinic operates on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays in five places that are easily accessed by people forced to live on the streets, such as the north ringroad, the Gramedia and the IAIN campus intersections, and Lempuyangan railway station.
The medical workers consist of students, health professionals and other volunteers.
The mobile clinic only provides basic medical treatment and patients in need of further treatment are referred to the Panti Rapih Hospital, which has always been prepared to provide medical treatment to street children.
"But we have not given up on the possibility of collaborating with state hospitals. We are currently working on this," said Agus Ramli.
According to Agus, most street children and poor people in Yogyakarta suffer from upper respiratory tract infections and skin ailments.
There are also some suffering from sexually transmitted diseases, he said. Only two persons were found to have contracted HIV/AIDS, with one of them dying in June and the other in July.
Lila Dwilita Sari, a small grants scheme officer with the British Embassy, said the mobile clinic program was very interesting and was best suited to big cities that were home to many street children.
"It's probably the only one of its kind in Yogyakarta. There are other kinds of mobile clinics in other places, like the "Floating Nurse" in Kalimantan, but it's not specifically intended for street children like this one," she said.
The British Embassy has provided funding for the clinic so that it can supply medicines and pay staff. The aid program will last for two years, and may be extended as required.