Medical Aid for East Timor

Medical Aid East Timor (MAET) is an almost ten year old project which raises money for East Timor's flagship clinic, the Bairo Pite Clinic, located in Dili the capitol of a half island nation, which only recently became the worlds newest country. The Bairo Pite Clinic is a full service acute care clinic, operating in one of the ten poorest countries of the world, East Timor, or Timor Lorosae, translated as Timor of the Rising Sun.

On this beautiful island of dry tropical forests and high mountains, in the coastal capitol city, Timorese medical students , nurses, midwives, lab staff, pharmacists, paramedics, dentists, AIDS social workers, laundry room and clinic facility staff, kitchen staff, visiting volunteers and other support members in consort with Dr Dan Murphy attend daily to an average of 350 to 400 people, with a small group of inpatients. The actual number of clinic visitors on any given day is probably even higher.

Many visiting or short term doctors from countries worldwide see and treat patients on any given day. The clinic's small inpatient wards are seen twice daily and no one leaves unseen by the end of a day. Dr Murphy is still in his office often into the evening, on call, or returning to check on patients and unresolved details.

For many years now BPC staff have provide trusted and quality healthcare on request, often in local language and or dialect. Patients with diseases we in the west may be only vaguely aware of are a regular feature at BPC, diseases like resistant and non resistant forms of malaria, variants of dengue fever, tuberculosis in its many forms. Other health problems include enteric dysentery, parasites and opportunistic diseases often attributed to malnutrition and lack of simple vitamins.

The new and improved addition to the maternity clinic at Bairo Pite, will allow for more specialized care for pre-natal and post natal care. Both mothers and infants will benefit from the addition. The building is emblematic of the commitment to women's health at the Bairo Pite Clinic.

On a recent visit to BPC, volunteer doctors from Thailand, Ireland, Portugal and Australia worked as volunteers. Pre-med students from South Korea and the US and medical students from Australia and Great Britain provided support services and actively worked and consulted with clinic doctors. Two volunteers from New Zealand worked full time on administrative duties. With two film crews from New Zealand and California via Ireland, working on educational and promotional videos, it becomes clear that BPC is a vibrant international effort!

Do you have the financial capacity to make a monetary contribution? Do you have skills, material resources or time to volunteer for these island people? Can you motivate others to make a contribution to benefit this small project? Can you organize an event or campaign to raise funds and awareness? Can you help this internationally supported project? Will you join hundreds of others from around the world in support? Will you make a commitment against world poverty?

No matter if you have a couple of hours, a couple of dollars or a couple of boxes of vitamins, MAET maximizes your support in benefiting the Bairo Pite Clinic in East Timor/Timor Lorosae.

It takes a bare minimum of over $3,000/month to maintain basic services at the clinic, but the reality is we need far more to continue giving, improving the quality of care at BPC and training the next generation of Timorese health professionals. Medical staff are paid a pitence of $25 to $30 per week and may have to go without pay if monetary resources are short of expenditures. If monetary resources exceed expenditures, that allows for much needed pay raises and perhaps the delivery of rice, beans or other food to patients with their medical care.

The Bairo Pite Clinic staff, with support from the Governments Health Department, have worked hard to try and begin building the foundation for a healthcare service which improves the poor health of these impoverished people. The government of the former Prime Minister and the Health Minister, made tough decisions, sometimes controversial, which today benefit the health needs of rural Timorese. Even with seemingly insurmountable odds, much has been achieved. More doctors than ever before operate on the island, the number of clinics operating is increasing and the opportunity to see a physician is not as difficult as before. Hundreds of Cuban doctors dot the countryside, albeit in somewhat isolated conditions with limited resources. Hundreds of East Timorese medical students are receiving a medical education in Cuba and others are receiving an education elsewhere. Finally, an impressive central pharmacy was set up as a more reliable source for basic medical supply needs of the islands medical community.

For sure there are unchecked health problems and events such as the recent May and June 2006, civil unrest don't help long term continuity of healthcare programs. But on a positive note, during the unrest, Bairo Pite Clinic treated victims and was the temporary home for over 600 people seeking refuge from the violence. The unrest stretched clinic resources to even thinner margins all around, and yet BPC is still providing much needed safety and health services as it has since the 1999 referendum on independence.

MAET is particularly proud of the Timorese medical staff who everyday continue to increase their knowledge and apply it in serving the sick, the ill, the infirm and those in failing health. BPC staff have a commitment to these people seeking healing and understanding and respect for their plight. We now have a better trained Timorese staff, a wider range of services and a tradition of service to the poor, sick and needy of this island. Medical Aid East Timor is gratified that in ten years so much has slowly changed, a credit to all the support which Bairo Pite relies on and the persistence of a small core group of people worldwide.

MAET guarantees that 100% of all donations go directly to East Timor to benefit the staff and patients of the Bairo Pite Clinic. MAET does not raise money for itself or for its operating costs. MAET relies only on longtime friends and small in kind grants to cover its limited expenses. We encourage any and all donations for BPC, great and small, wether monetary, material or volunteer. Your address will only be used by MAET in house and only in rare cases, if at all.

Please also understand that even a few dollars can mean some medication is purchased, or another village will benefit from a mobile clinic, or another bandage, medication or lab-test is available to a patient. We appreciate the small as well as larger contributions equally.

Material supplies in high volume are best, but any donation is graciously appreciated if we can accept it. Date expired drugs and material medical supplies, in particular can be a disposal problem and are disrespectful of local needs, MAET will not accept such donations. Material supplies in volume may require shipping a particularly expensive venture so please contact us first.

To volunteer resources, time or skills to the Bairo Pite Clinic, please contact MAET or visit the BPC website (see below). BPC's non medical needs include but are not limited to plumbers, heavy equipment operators, electricians, computer specialists (hardware or software), auto or diesel mechanics, gardeners, videographers, construction workers, water engineers, solar energy installers... There are very few skills which cannot be utilized somewhere at sometime. In the medical field, BPC needs volunteer registered nurses (maternity or other) medical staff in all fields, from nurse and paramedics to surgeon and general practitioners, dentist, dental assistant, ER staff, lab technicians, medical administrators, pharmacists, medical and nursing students, pre med students, nutritionists, midwives, social workers, specialists and educators in sexually transmitted diseases.

It will be a while before the East Timorese will be completely self sufficient enough to control their own affairs, but it can and will happen. In a decade the oil money will afford a better future for this 'Spice Island'. East Timor will no longer be in the bottom ten countries of the world. In the interim they desperately need your help surely we can send aome help in the interim.

Needed Desperately: MAET is seeking a grant writer, someone who can produce grant proposals and fundraising letters that any appeal requires. (Posted 7/2006)

All donations may be sent
U.S. Mail to:
M.A.E.T.
Medical Aid East Timor,
C/O Stokes,
PO. Box 3382,
Madison, Wisconsin.
53704-0382

E-mail: elliotisaacstokes@gmail

Phone
cell phone 303-895-9128 Elliot
home phone 608-241-9135 Tom Foley

websites
BPC's www.bairopiteclinic.tripod.com

Medicine in East Timor

The importance of monetary and material support for the East Timorese cannot be overstated. In the post-election violence of September 1999, many medical facilities were looted, trashed or burned. The Motael clinic and most other clinics of East Timor were destroyed.

Preventable diseases, often precipitated by malnutrition, like tuberculosis, malaria, fungal, and bacterial infections and water borne parasites are common. Mental illness is also present. Vicious and inhuman assault and the ravages of continuous conflict round out these and other medical problems present in everyday medical and emergency needs of East Timor. The following items provide more current information about the state of medical care in East Timor:



MAET's Purpose & History

Medical Aid for East Timor was started in 1996 by individuals in Madison, Wisconsin, who saw a particular need for medical supplies and financial assistance to the ravaged communities of East Timor. We have worked for over a decade to deliver medicines and other useful supplies to doctors and medical professionals in need.

While primarily focusing on aid to the Bairo Pite Clinic, MAET also does the following work:


How You Can Help

MAET is always looking for committed individuals who wish to help bring quality medical care to the people of East TImor. If you'd like to help, consider lending your time in one of these ways: