July 2002 - Annette Culpan

From reef injuries and electric shocks to rabid dogs, village visits and wheelchair deliveries. This month has been unbelievable. It has also been our biggest yet for donations. Amidst the blood, sweat and tears we are achieving results & setting records. Somewhere in there we also achieved charitable trust status in New Zealand, a true milestone in the organisation’s development.

Highlight of this month was delivering 14-year-old Ngh his very first wheelchair. A chair designed specifically for the village environment, of dirt tracks and uneven surfaces. Never able to walk, for 14 years Ngh has dragged himself along the ground by using his upper body. When he tried out his new wheels he looked as if he may burst. I’m not sure whose smile was bigger!

Another joy was sourcing local artwork for an exhibition being held at the Devonport Art Space from August 9th. Made Kiswara’s distinctive antique style has made him something of a legend in this part of the world and he is a true Asian Mystic. Before each painting he meditates for inspiration and each piece draws on the Hindu tradition. Funds raised from the exhibition will be used to support these disabled Balinese children.

Preparations for Kuta Remembrance Week continue slowly but surely with our first auction item was donated this month by Australian artist Paul Ryan. If anyone would either like to donate an item for auction or lend a hand over this time the support would be invaluable.

For every step backward there are three or four steps forward. Two such steps this month was the growing support offered from a NZ based pharmaceutical company and a major product donation – one crate of zinacef antibiotic. We have given this product to a free women’s sexual health clinic, an important relationship for the Trust in Bali.

The reef injury referred to in the opening paragraph was in actual fact suffered by my partner John, who despite a dropping tide decided the barrels were too good to miss. On seeing the open wound I nearly fainted. For the first time in my life I felt sick from the sight of blood and once I could stand I had to take a cold shower. Luckily a rather skilled local doctor sewed him up on the nearest ping-pong table. True Bali-style health-care and service with a smile.

For the record my own surfing is coming along slowly. Last week I was well and truly acquainted with an underwater washing machine. I have never been submerged for so long in my life. The interesting thing I discovered was when you run out of air, you can actually still swim for quite some time. It was only by pulling on my leg-rope that I finally propelled upwards to sky and oxygen… just in time for one short gasp before another wave crashed on my head.

Surfing aside, preparations for our volunteers coming up next month have kept me frantic over the last 10 days, with so many balls in the air I’m afraid one or two may soon fall to the ground! Despite the lack of medical volunteers in Bali this month I have been heartened by August’s turnout – we have four medical professionals coming including Dr Paul Sutherland from Australia. It will be superb to return to the northern villages and continue our work there. As a start up organisation it can be frustrating at times that we lack a solid infrastructure in Bali. This will no doubt come with time and careful planning.

We soon pick up volunteer Sue Cowie from the airport. It will be brilliant to welcome her back to this third world contradictory paradise, where you never really know what will happen from one day to the next. Somehow it all seems to fall into place, but never as initially planned.

Annette

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