I leave with a team of nine for Indonesia in less than seven hours. It is exciting and also a very long trip. I have done it many times and I always have the an excitement about going to serve at our base and to see lots of my Indonesian friends. The team of volunteers is the bonus. What a privilege to be with such amazing people.I have an update on the two burn victims (I mentioned in an earlier post). Yulens and her husband have made it to...

Yulens and Nur are two woman who share a tragic past–they are both burn victims. I am not talking about a burned finger or even a hand. These women were badly burned–their photos are so shocking I have not included them in this post. They are both as bad or worse than Yulce (read her story on our web-site).A door has opened for both of them to go to Bethesda Hospital in Borneo for treatment. They will need extensive skin grafts and...

Vino and his family are on their way back to Indonesia. I remember when Vino’s father brought him to our clinic (see photo) with some very bad burns–his chin, chest, ears, neck and right arm were effected by the kerosene fire. Arrangements were made to bring Vino to L.A. where the Grossman Burn Center would provide the needed surgeries and therapy. He was accompanied by his father to America. It took about four years and several...

Adrian an Antonetta are both very smart and committed young adults. I have admired both of them and knew they had high potential. They both took the entrance exam to medical school and passed. We already had two of our staff in medical school. Nius and Melly are doing well and now will be joined by these two. It is very costly to start school. We are planting seeds for the future. Someday we will have four amazing doctors running our clinic and...

We call him a prince because he seems to have a domain of his own–he has a northern and southern kingdom. He was six years old when I first saw him. He came in the back of a pick-up truck. He had just had a very bad burn injury and was in a lot of pain. I remember him crying that first day and threatening to have his uncle, a police man, come a shoot the nurse who was treating his burn wounds. He needed urgent care and was in for a couple...

It was raining hard and then the skies cleared so I walked to the leper treatment center. I wanted to see Hendrik who was the first leper in our care. He was sitting in front of his unit. I called out his name and heard his call back to me. He inspired the building of these units to help other lepers. He was rejected by his village and lived like a dog for 15 years. He is now happy and loved by everyone.Hendrik was not alone at the Tamariska...

Tison (pronounced Tee-sone) is seven years old and is so full of life and is always smiling. He runs and plays with his friends. He is a kid who will grab your heart very fast. He is normal in every way except is he badly burned over a big part of his body. He was standing a few feet away from his father who was holding a container of kerosene when it exploded in flames. His life changed in a moment. This little boy who has the beautiful smile...

It is time to see if after fours years of growth we can start harvesting coffee from our base in Northeast Indonesia. Jim and Cindy Aldrich set out to get some of those precious beans. It was not as easy as it would been and believe me every cup of coffee I drink now I savor it. It is a tremendous amount of work when you consider the experimentation to get the beans off the husks and the drying process. Jim studied about the process of...

Cat 5e cable, crimping tools, switches, plugs and much more–these are the parts we need to build a computer network at our clinic in Halmahera. This will greatly increase our ability to keep records of all of the patients that come to the clinic. Last year there were over 10,000 who came to our clinic for help. The intake form was done hard copy. That is a lot of records and sometimes difficult to find needed information. This network...

We have not had a door open for Yulens yet. Yulens is the 23 year old mother from Indonesia who was tragically burned. She is a mother of a small child and has a supportive husband. We are pursuing all our options in hopes that she will get the professional care she needs. She is burned on her face and chest. She also has some burns on her legs. It is much easier finding help for a child than an adult. I am still hopeful she will get the help...