The Work We Support:
Health In Harmony supports project Alam Sehat Lestari (ASRI) in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. ASRI's health care work is tightly linked with conservation efforts to preserve Gunung Palung National Park --one of the last places where orangutans still live. Alam Sehat Lestari is an Indonesian phrase meaning "healthy and everlasting nature." The acronym that has become the common name for the program-ASRI-is itself an Indonesian word meanting "harmoniously balanced." These combined references to health, nature, and balance are fitting for the program, whose activities lie at the interface between healthcare and environmental conservation.
In 2007, the Alam Sehat Lestari program was established in Sukadana, a village that lies between the foothills of Gunung Palung National Park and the South China Sea in southwestern Borneo. The ASRI program has three integrated components. First, ASRI operates a health clinic in Sukadana that provides high-quality, affordable healthcare to local people and training to Indonesian doctors and nurses. Second, ASRI offers healthcare incentives to communities bordering Gunung Palung National Park to encourage them to protect the park from illegal logging. And third, ASRI makes available ecologically-friendly and conservation-promoting work opportunities to healthcare patients or their family members as a non-cash means of paying for services at the ASRI clinic. Guided by a model that recognizes the intersection of human and environmental health, together we are working to provide a long-term, sustainable solution to a crisis of human disease and environmental destruction. The leaders of this team are listed below.
Kinari Webb, MD: Dr. Webb first developed the vision for this work when studying orangutans in 1993 at Gunung Palung National Park. There she encountered not only a beautiful and threatened natural environment but also the dire health needs of the people surrounding the National Park. In parts of West Kalimantan 25% of children die before age five, mothers often die in childbirth, and even "simple" injuries like a cut on the hand can lead to death without access to tetanus shots or antibiotics. After her experience in Indonesia, Kinari decided to become a physician and return to Indonesia to work together with local communities to improve both their health and preserve the natural environment. Dr. Webb graduated from Yale University School of Medicine with honors and then completed her residency in Family Medicine at Contra Costa Regional Medical Center in Martinez, California. Dr. Webb has traveled to Indonesia numerous times since 1993 to study orangutans, do research on child mortality and malnutrition, and work as a physician. She responded soon after the tsunami in Aceh and was one of the few foreign physicians there who spoke Indonesian. Kinari is married to Cam Webb, who she met in Indonesia and who specializes in Bornean rain forest trees and now works with Harvard University and the Center for Tropical Forest Studies in Indonesia. Cam Webb is an integral part of this work through his support and technical expertise.
Medical Team Leaders
Hotlin Ompusunggu, Docter of Dentistry, CeHE: Program Manager, Dentist, and head of the ASRI non-profit. Dr. Hotlin comes originally from Sumatra. She has four years expeierence working for the Indonesian government in a rural part of Sumatra, she coordinated medical and dental teams after the Tsunami in Aceh, and lived in England for one year doing a Diploma in community development and higher education. Before working with us she was the director of a mobile clinic on a boat in Southern Sumatra for two years as well as working as a dentist on this boat. She feels that her role in life should be to assist the poor and is excited to be part of a project where she is doing community development as well as practicing dentistry.
Julfreser Sinurat, MD: General Practice Physician. Dr. Jul also graduated from the University of Indonesia and sees his time here as a continuation of his passion for helping poor people through medical care. He is committed to serving in rural areas and says he is very excited to have joined the ASRI Clinic team. He is committed to life-long learning and is a joy to work with.
Made Parulian Tambunan, MD: General Practice Physician. Dr. Made received his medical degree at the University of Indonesia, which is the highest ranked medical school in Indonesia. His father is from Sumatera and his mother is from Bali but Made chose to come work in Kalimantan because he was excited to work with a program that is commited to both health care and conservation. In his own words, "Hundreds of millions of people live and work in forests across the world. One vital aspect of their lives, yet largely unexamined, is the challenge of protecting and enhancing the unique relationship between the health of the forest and the health of people."
Lucy Nofrida Siburian, MD: General Practice Physician. Lucy graduated from Padjadjaran University in Bandung, Java in 2009. She was drawn to the integration of human and environmental health at the ASRI clinic and came to do a two month volunteer internship. She says that after the two months she felt like the staff at ASRI has become a second family and she was so impressed with the wonderful relationship between the staff and patients. For all of these reasons and because she is excited about the opportunities to learn and increase her professional skills, she has decided to complete her required year of government service at the ASRI clinic. Lucy says her goal in life is to help gladden the hearts of others and heal their ills.
Wilfirimus, Amd. Kep.: Head Nurse. Wilfirimus comes originally from a small Dyak village in the upper reaches of the Kapus River. He received his nursing training at Bethesda Hospital, West Kalimantan, where he then worked for two years on a village health care program that provided immunizations, pre-natal care, and health education to extremely remote villages. He also helped with Tsunami Relief in Aceh. As part of our team, Wil is not only the head nurse but also our global warming expert. He is passionate about protecting the environment. On a given day Wil might attend a mobile clinic where he cares for patients, does lab tests on our mobile lab and then also teaches communities about the importance of rain forest protection not only for their future but for the future of all people on earth. This is just another example of how integrated the ASRI program is.
Conservation Team
Antonia Gorog, PhD: Conservation Director: Dr. Gorog is an ecologist and conservationist with a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. She worked for two years as the Scientific Advisor and Species Conservation Coordinator for the Wildlife Conservation Society in Indonesia, where she coordinated programs for the conservation of Sumatran tigers, Sumatran elephants, and the maleo bird. Dr. Gorog has done extensive research at Gunung Palung National Park on mammals, has lived and worked as a biologist in Indonesia periodically since 1998, and speaks bahasa Indonesia fluently.
Romadoni Angorro:Reforestation Coordinator: Romadoni graduated from the Bogor Institute of Biology (IPB) with a degree in forestry. Doni worked in Bogor doing for-profit reforestation work before being drawn to Kalimantan to use his skills in ways that would help improve the planet and the lives of local community members. Since coming to ASRI, Doni has traveled to both Java and Malaysian Borneo to learn from other reforestation projects and about organic gardening. He is a wonderful asset to the team.
Etty Rahmawati:Community Outreach Coordinator: Etty came to ASRI with almost ten years of experience teaching English including in the top-ranked English language school in Bali (English First). She is an amazingly gifted teacher and has been delighted to be able to use her skills to directly help people and the natural environment. All of us at the ASRI team feel so lucky that she is using her wonderful skills to spread the word about the importance of protecting the natural environment.
Adi Bejo Organic Farming and Conservation Coordinator: Adi graduated from Tanjung Pura University in Pontianak, West Kalimantan where he majored in Biology. He came to work with the ASRI team because of his passion for conservation. He feels that there is real clarity in the ASRI apprach and that the work is extremely well-integrated. He has been enthusiastically learning about organic farming and helping teach the community because he feels that organic farming has real benefits for the community: cheaper to start, healthier, and actually returning a higher income than slash and burn agriculture. He says for all of these reasons he really enjoys his job being the Organic Farming Coordinator.
We work together a total of 43 full-time and part-time staff members including five nurses, an ambulance driver, accountant, cleaning staff, 18 women in the villages who help cure patients with tuberculosis and seedling and organic farm workers.
Health In Harmony Staff
Brita Johnson: The work in Indonesia is supported by our new executive director, Brita Johnson, and a committed board and group of volunteers. While on sabbatical from work and life in Portland, OR, Brita spent a life-changing week as a volunteer with Health In Harmony. Seeing the beauty of the human and natural communities around Gunung Palung National Park, and the difficulties those communities face, she was deeply moved by Health In Harmony's mission and impact that HIH's work is having there. Brita has been working with non-profit organizations, on environmental, public health and education issues, since 1997. Her personal commitment in life is to work toward balance and justice, and she is delighted to be putting that passion to work for this innovative effort.
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