Mission accomplished

I just came back from Royal Belum. The mission went smoothly. It was so great to be back there again. I was surprised that Ema still remembers my name. I was there to conduct need assessment in February with wendy, my partner in crime. Ema was sitting on a bamboo raft washing her cloth the first time I saw her. She was abashed when I jumped on to the raft and tried to interview her. That is what we normally do during assessment- talking to the people, a lot of talking in order to dig as much info as possible.

The settlement is so remote. It took us one hour by boat to reach there. Of course, the boat journey itself is something to die for. Royal Belum is still a hidden paradise. In fact, you need to apply for permit to get into certain area because it is still considered as security area. On the way to the settlement, we stopped by at the army checkpoint to pass them our name list.

We basically brought most of the dental equipment with us including the dental chair and the compressor. So, one boat was loaded with equipments and another boat was loaded with us, the hot chicks...hehehe.

I was so thrilled to be back there again and I really wish that I could be the permanent team member. Ema and a few girls were teaching the kids singing and reading. Oh my God, the kids with afro hair were so so so cute that I went hysterical when I saw them. We were a team of nine members, strictly all female. Girl power! We basically transferred the community hall into a make shirt dental clinic. The super composed and cool dentist Goo was working hard. I felt exhausted just by looking at her treating one patient after another.

The first visitor to our dental mobile clinic was a middle aged mama with a boy tied to her chests. The boy was lying on her chests while she had her teeth examined and fixed by Goo. Ema was kind enough to take the boy away from her but the boy kept crying unstoppably. So, eventually, I offered to ‘take care’ of the crying child. He stopped crying the moment I held her in my arms. Everyone was surprised when they saw that. I was surprised too. Wendy came around to tease the boy, I quickly shooed her away. So, I ended up babysitting him til the mother was done with her dental session. I was doing registration most of the time.

The happily retired Dr. V was conducting pap smear in the store room. Dr. V asked us to take turn to see how she conducted pap smear. So, Wendy was going to the store room and gestured me to come along. So, I put on the surgical mask and went in after her. First time in my life that I witnessed how pap smear was done. I was shocked that how women have to go through this thing.

The Orang Asli women were just so cool, all of them sitting around in a group waiting for their pap smear session. I was the one who was more nervous than them. I held on to Ema’s hand when Goo was trying hard to remove her tooth. The kids pulled in after they finished school at 2pm. They were lead by their teachers. Goo managed to performed dental treatment for fifteen students but there was still a long waiting list. So, they were asked to come back again next month for their sessions.

I tried to borak-borak with the teachers, asking them whether they needed extra teachers. Well, I can imagine myself be a volunteer teacher there. This time I was so busy that I couldn't find time to sit under a tree and chill with the ultra cool old folks there just like I did during my last trip there but I know this is just the beginning for me.

`Indigenous peoples are entitled to self-determination'