dr. Jamaluddin A.M.M - At the end of August, as many people experienced their bad day, a chaotic day, full of panic, full of cries and full of dead bodies, yes, Indonesia was crying, a 7 richter-scale earthquake gempa rocked central Sulawesi. Palu, Sigi and Donggala cried, the motherland cried, as we still had scars from the earthquakies in Lombok, now the scars extended to Palu, Sigi, and Donggala.
Indonesia was saddened. At the end of October, all of a suden without much preparation, I decided to go to Palu as part of the medical volunteer. This was my first experience working on the field after I graduated from highschool and became a volunteer during the Merapi volcano eruption in 2010. I was ecstatic.
On 21 October 2018, I landed in Palu safely. Sad? Yes, afraid? A little, worried about subsequent earthquakes? Yes often, when I came out of the airport, I saw many people, busy under Go’s grace, many volunteers who cared for people’s suffering in this country, be they domestic or foreign volunteers. My trip from the airport to the volunteer post passed through many ruined buildings, destroyed by the earthquake and many refugee tents, as well as refugees who could do nothing.
The first day in Palu went well, where we started our medical services in Palu. Ah yes, before we touched on a very personal issue about my presence in Palu I wanted to tell you a unique story. What was it? Okey be patient, we started with a statement that there were many interesting staff on the dark bitument that day, a waving fatamorgana as the Sun embraced the equator, that’s right, it was extremely hot, and I sweat so much, sure it was not unique, bu the “Kings”of the road here were not motorists, or car or inter-province truck or bus drivers, but hordes of goats and cows who were on the road, which I found it unique as I never saw such thing in Java.
Medical services, back to the topic, Yes I was a doctor and I was very thankful to God, because God gave me the ability to help others in this country. I learned many lessons during my involvement with the medical team, the first lesson I got was about life and death which noone knew except God. When I thought about my presence in Palu, I realized that it was God’s will, why? Yes, in fact, there is no such place as a safe place on earth, not in Palu, not in Jakarta, or Yogyakarta, or Makassar, or overseas, when God wills, then therw ould be an earthquake, a tsunami, a flash flood, liquifaction or other major disaster wherever or whenever. And we were weak, small and we were nothing comnpared to the will of God.
The second lesson was that I was thankful, that I had the opportunity to serve in so far away place, far from the City of Palu, that took me 3 hours to get and navigating the traffic that saw the “Kings”of the road, and hordes of cows and goats. This time, we went to Lobonga, Balaesang Subdistrict, Donggala District. We were greeted by the nature, in the form of a tremor, an earthquake.
Here, I convinced myself, I was blissful of God’s grace, I was given the opprtunity to serve as a doctor and help so many people, to see so many smiles on this other side of Indonesia, a side so remote, a smile full of perseverance, a patient smile that reflected patience in the heart of the survivors, a tsunami that knocked my heart and let me served, a service done with a full hearth and prayer just like in the past, a beautiful smile so serene just like the white sand beach and the crystal blue sea in Lobonga Village. Upon returning, I thought about a small child who had coughs and came to me for an examination. I was impressed by the child’s toughness, always smiling even when everything was in ruin, and it gave me a sense of pride that I could be of help to a child smile in this beautiful place, where the sea was so tranquil, after sucha turmoil that devastated so many people.
The last lesson was about brotherhood on this land of ours, where we did not distinguish people on the basis of religion, ethnicity, place of origin or other such things. We worked together to help as many people based on our sense of being together as citizens of Indonesia, which should have been evident in Indonesia, not otherwise. In short, on 4 December 2018, I returned to Java, to pursue another dream so that I could help more people in this country.