Project visit to Ambon (Moluccas, Indonesia), board member Marjolein Ruys.
A big wish to visit an FCF project. You can read about it, hear about it, but when you see it yourself, you really understand what happens and how big the impact is for women.
Erwin Rahakbauw, doctor, showed us the clinic (puskesmas) in Ambon. A clinic where all women that day were educated by doctor Lita. Where patients are screened for the pre-stages of cervical cancer by the midwives and if necessary treated by doctor Erwin. Through the church or mosque, the women were informed about this free information, screening and treatment.
When the women arrive, they are received at a table outside the building for registration, the completion of a questionnaire and the first tests such as measuring height, weight and blood pressure. Then they have to wait inside, talking to a friend, looking after a baby or on a mobile phone, until their name is called for the uterus and breast examination. On this day, there were about 50 women who received a see & treat treatment. This treatment consists of a screening with vinegar and if necessary a treatment with liquid CO2.
FCF and its local partners started the pilot in Ambon at the end of 2017. By now, doctors and midwives have been trained according to plan, and many women have been educated, screened and treated. Obviously, FCF wants to reach and screen more women and facilitate the team. For this we need, among other things, an expansion of the team, more cryo machines and perhaps a more mobile way of offering care, so that we can help even more women in the less accessible areas.
Marjolein Ruys (board Female Cancer Foundation): "What a contrast with the care in the Netherlands if you look at the method, privacy, means and circumstances. Great admiration for the team and Erwin Rahakbauw who work there. What sweet, involved, special, hardworking professionals.
I am proud to be able to contribute to the mission of the Female Cancer Foundation. I now know even better what I am doing it for. Thank you to the donors of FCF who make this possible".
Coen Ruys (physician, photographer and donor): "You can read about it, hear about it, but when you see it yourself, you really understand what happens and how big the impact is for women. You can really do something with a relatively small financial contribution. Actually, every donor should visit a project once.
