World Relief Stories
Day 4-Visit to local Hospital/other church leaders in Wamena, Jayawijaya
Last night, we had to ask for extra blankets at our hotel, it was so cold. The blankets here are so thin that the only difference between them and the bed sheets is the color!
Our first destination today was the hospital. We met with Dr. Charles Rutalangi to ask him about the HIV/AIDS cases at the Wamena General Hoaspital. He told us that he has had recorded three cases of AIDS, two of them have already died. He admitted that they were only suspected AIDS cases, because the patients had long illness, tuberculoses, and lost so much weight before they died. He said he thought there were more cases, but they have no way of finding out. At this hospital, which serves over 300,000, they do not havea facility for testing HIV/AIDS!
Our next stop is the home of Abraham Ongirwalu, the pastor of Gereja Kristen Injiri. Asking him what his congregation is doing about the AIDS problem, Abraham told us that they have quarterly seminars for the congregation heads to talk to them about the subject. But because even they have little information, they are not yet confident enough to begin sharing with the entire congregation.
While we were still chatting Bapak. Rudy Souisa, the former first assistant for the district of Jayawijaya, similar to what we would call the deputy Mayor. He told us that government was doing all it can, but the morality is individual responsibility. Rudy told us that the main cause of the spread of HIV here is prostitution. In the Papuan culture, men found to pay for a local Papuan prostitute are fined a minimum of 6 pigs. Pigs are often used as a form of payment in this culture. The cheapest pig costs about five million rupiah (approximately 500 dollars). Though that is expensive, because many men come from outside the Papuan culture, even if they are caught they are not often punished! While those involved find the cost of prostitution affordable, perhaps only $10, the consequences are silent and are only reflected in the increasing rates of HIV/AIDS infections in this town.
As we return to the hotel in the evening, we saw cottages of what used to be a hotel, now abandoned and surrounded by bush. Chris, our volunteer escort, and head of a local youth church group told us that the owners ran bankrupt, and the Hotel was closed. The driver stopped, and I took a photo on the road with the Hotel in the background.
Tomorrow is our last day here. No appointments yet, but we will meet some other people before we depart.
Our first destination today was the hospital. We met with Dr. Charles Rutalangi to ask him about the HIV/AIDS cases at the Wamena General Hoaspital. He told us that he has had recorded three cases of AIDS, two of them have already died. He admitted that they were only suspected AIDS cases, because the patients had long illness, tuberculoses, and lost so much weight before they died. He said he thought there were more cases, but they have no way of finding out. At this hospital, which serves over 300,000, they do not havea facility for testing HIV/AIDS!
Our next stop is the home of Abraham Ongirwalu, the pastor of Gereja Kristen Injiri. Asking him what his congregation is doing about the AIDS problem, Abraham told us that they have quarterly seminars for the congregation heads to talk to them about the subject. But because even they have little information, they are not yet confident enough to begin sharing with the entire congregation.
While we were still chatting Bapak. Rudy Souisa, the former first assistant for the district of Jayawijaya, similar to what we would call the deputy Mayor. He told us that government was doing all it can, but the morality is individual responsibility. Rudy told us that the main cause of the spread of HIV here is prostitution. In the Papuan culture, men found to pay for a local Papuan prostitute are fined a minimum of 6 pigs. Pigs are often used as a form of payment in this culture. The cheapest pig costs about five million rupiah (approximately 500 dollars). Though that is expensive, because many men come from outside the Papuan culture, even if they are caught they are not often punished! While those involved find the cost of prostitution affordable, perhaps only $10, the consequences are silent and are only reflected in the increasing rates of HIV/AIDS infections in this town.
As we return to the hotel in the evening, we saw cottages of what used to be a hotel, now abandoned and surrounded by bush. Chris, our volunteer escort, and head of a local youth church group told us that the owners ran bankrupt, and the Hotel was closed. The driver stopped, and I took a photo on the road with the Hotel in the background.
Tomorrow is our last day here. No appointments yet, but we will meet some other people before we depart.
posted by ReliefDev | 5:21 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home