“No good deed goes unpunished.”
A group of doctors, health workers and UNICEF officers have witnessed how Claire Booth Luce’s words still ring true up to today.
A team of Saumlaki Community Health Center staff and UNICEF officers departed the small harbor of Saumlaki, a small sub-district in the western part of Southeast Maluku, on that Monday morning of October 1, 2007 to carry out routine vaccination and health check ups, as well as to give prenatal care for pregnant mothers at the remote areas and isles under the sub-district’s jurisdiction.
Saumlaki sub-district is the capital of Maluku Tenggara Barat District, a new-established district that consists of 133 islets. However, the district’s over 160,000 residents live only in 88 of those islands.
“This is our routine agenda. Every month I and my team set up schedule to give health care by touring the sea,” said Doctor Yuliana Ratuanak, the head of the Saumlaki Community Health Center
UNICEF communication team, consists of four specialists, took part of the trip to document the situation of health services in those areas.
After spending about eight hours on boat to visit three small isolated villages, jumping on and off a wooden boat to reach the shores, meeting dozens of young pregnant mothers, the group of 12 people was about to conclude their trip.
“Now you see by yourself, how difficult it is to reach people in these isolated and remote villages, where access to basic health care is hampered by geographical condition and expensive transportation costs,” dr. Yuliana told UNICEF officers.
About 30 minutes after leaving the Shore of Matakus Island, a small isle in the southern part of Saumlaki, the boat that carried the group lost its direction.
Somehow, instead of heading back to Saumlaki, the boat was heading to an open sea, the Arafura Sea that lies in the west of the Pacific Ocean overlying the continental shelf between Australia and New Guinea, at which its waters are a breeding ground for tropical cyclones.
Realizing that he lost control of the boat, the captain of the ship and his men jumped to the water and examined the ship’s wheel.
As the Sun slowly disappeared, the captain came up to the surface and hopped back in to the boat.
“It’s too dark down there, I can’t see. I can’t fix the wheel because I can’t see,” he told the group of anxious passengers.
The captain’s remark turned the adventurous trip into an emergency situation. The boat, the passengers and the ship’s crew were about to get lost in the ocean.
The four-meter-height wave and strong cold breeze carried the boat further from its original destination, Saumlaki, to the Arafura Sea , where some marine experts believe it is the home of grey nurse shark (Carcharias taurus).
All the boat’s passengers picked up their mobile phones and quickly called whoever they could reach to notify their situation.
Doctor Yuliana called the local marine authority and high officials of the Maluku Tenggara Barat District, while the UNICEF’s team leader, Anton Susanto, pulled out his satellite phones and started calling UN officials, including the United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS).
The others turned their flashlights on and started distributing life vests.
As the day gets darker, help was still no where to be seen.
Doctor Juliana and Anton Susanto maintained between communication both with the rescue vessel and UNICEF officials in Saumlaki while the boat was moving further away. It could not send any kind of signs to the rescue vessel as there was no light or any communication tools attached to the boat.
After three hours of waiting, the rescue vessel approached the boat’s location. Flash lights were continuously dimmed toward the rescue vessel and whistle was blown, the rescue boat managed to locate the ship’s whereabouts.
“You’re saved, be calm. Everything’s going to be alright!” said one of the rescuers as the rescue vessel approaching the cast away boat.
Hugs and tears of joy filled the atmosphere at the rescue vessel as the waiting game is over. All the 12 people at the boat were rescued unharmed.
District senior officials, port authority and UNICEF officers gathered at the Saumlaki Port
Both the survivors, their families and their colleagues enchanted prayers as the rescue vessel dropped its anchor at the port.
“Thank you God. Thank you all for the support and tireless efforts to find and save us,” said Suzanna Dayne, one of the UNICEF officers on the ship.
Had hand phones, satellite phones, flash lights, whistles were not available, the boat and its passengers could be stranded somewhere in the Arafura Sea for days before they could be found.
“Lessons learnt--Having a good heart and noble intention are great, but never forget to always be prepared to any kind of circumstances,” said Anton Susanto.
Most importantly, had only the persistence and the courage to survive were absent, the team might fail to overcome their anxiety and fail to focus on getting help.
“Being stranded at the ocean, gives you amazing experience. It teaches you to see life differently,” said Suzanna, who also serves as the chief of the UNICEF’s Avian Influenza Communication Team.
“Could you imagine how many pregnant mothers who were about to deliver baby had to go through such challenges? We all should seek how to improve health care services for people living in remote and isolated islands,” she added.
But the survivors have not lost their courage and determination. They all agree that the experience would not deter them from taking risks or go to challenging places to carry out their duties in the future.
“I have vowed to give my best to execute my tasks. People in those areas need us. Their need for health care exceeds any of my fear,” dr. Yuliana said.
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