Manokwari (AsiaNews) – The St Augustine Parish and the St Monica Clinic in Manokwari (West Papua) turned the local church yard into medical outreach centre for a day, on 11 February, World Day of the Sick. Local residents benefitted, especially 54 seniors who were able to get a full check-up.
After the Eucharistic service led by the local parish priest, Fr Hendrikus Yuli Kurniawan, a Vincentian missionary from East Java, the medical staff from the clinic, which is run by Sister Jaftoran Stefani, gave patients a physical.
Dozens of women from the parish, who had worked on setting up the outreach clinic, helped the patients along the way. Locally, alcoholism and gout are major problems.
Speaking to AsiaNews, Agustinus Lebang, a local Catholic, said that the outreach was very much appreciated by locals.
“Fr Yuliawan’s story struck us,” Lebang said. “He told us about his illness, how it was both a tough time, but also a time of hope,” drawing parallels with Mary’s act of faith at the Wedding of Cana.”
The activities organised for the Day of the Sick "are the first public initiative of the Catholic community of Manokwari”, Sister Jaftoran said.
“I ask the staff at the clinic, including the doctors, if they could join in, to explain to people about the dangers of diabetes and gout.” And many doctors actually did, providing valuable information to raise awareness about illness among the patients.
Gout is a major local health issue because of easy access to red meat and fish rather than fruit and vegetable.
St Augustine’s Catholic Church is located in the Diocese of Manokwari-Sorong, one of Indonesia’s remotest regions. To reach the city, it takes five hours by plane from Jakarta to reach Sorong and then 12 hours by boat to Manokwari, which does not have an airport.
