Text & Photography ©Nayan Sthankiya

Medical teams of varying sizes have been pouring into Banda Aceh offering aid in many forms, local clinics and traveling clinics making there way to the tiny scattered villages, often by helicopter or sporadicly by vehicle, which has only happened recently as the roads and bridges are finally being reconstructed.

The Korean Medical Association, from South Korea, arrived in Aceh shortly after the Tsunami hit bringing with them a genuine dedication to help those in need, setting up two camps staffed by doctors and interns and also operating a mobile camp. traveling to remote villages that have been unable to seek medical attention in Aceh city.

Some of the interns that accompanied the group were leaving Korea for the first time and traveling to a country where communication would be a problem and would have to deal with new cultures, customs and the trauma of a natural disaster. Many were able to pick up simple phrases in Indonesian, which helped in putting patients at ease.

 

The Korean Medical Association was able to treat more than 200 patients daily at each of their camps over the 4 weeks that they were in Banda Aceh providing follow up visits and providing an over all package of medical care beyond just disaster relief.