A Very Special Visit with the Rotary Club of Medan Deli

A recent trip to Sumatra, Indonesia provided me with the opportunity to visit with one of the sister Rotary clubs of my host club in Malaysia.  The Rotary Club of Medan Deli was so kind to welcome me and show me around many of their service projects and sites of Medan, and of course include me in some wonderful fellowship and good food.  It’s always a treat to be able to visit a place and be shown around by locals.  Medan is only about a 50 minute flight from Kuala Lumpur and is a city of about 2 million people with five Rotary Clubs.  RC Medan Deli went so far as to re-schedule their usual weekend meeting to a different day so that I could meet everyone!  They kindly greeted me with a delicious vegetarian Chinese dinner and we shared information about our clubs and projects as well as our cultures.  They really welcomed me and made me feel like a true ambassador J 

Fellowship with RC Medan Deli members.

The next morning Rotarian Sui Kim greeted me nice and early for a local vegetarian noodle breakfast and then took me to the outskirts of the city to visit one of several clinics that the club built and helps run.  This one was a specialized optometry clinic as well as being a general clinic.  Daily they conduct eye exams and are also able to treat other ailments and give out prescribed medicines.  The clinic is on a sliding scale of pay what you can. 

The major activity that takes place here is cataract surgeries.  Twice a year a doctor comes over from India and in three days performs approximately 150 cataract operations!  This is an amazing and very important service as cataract prevalence in adults rural Indonesia is among the highest reported in Southeast Asia.  Cataracts are the primary cause of blindness worldwide, even though this can be treated with a relatively simple, cost-effective operation. Cataracts particularly afflict people in East Asia and South Asia. The main cause is high exposure to UV sun rays and in coastal areas the tropical sunlight reflecting off sand and water. Smoking, poor nutrition, and aging are also contributing factors.  I also learned how the club was able to apply for and receive a Rotary International Global grant to purchase supplies for these surgeries by partnering with co-sponsoring clubs in Taiwan. The ability to give 300+ people per year the gift of site is only one of the many great projects of RC Medan Deli.

Rotarian Sui Kim and the nurse at the clinic.

 

Next I joined Past President Sarkunadas to visit a second clinic.  This one was completed just six months ago in November 2011 and acts as a general clinic and also as a dental clinic on two days per week.  It was great to meet the doctors there that volunteer their time to help others.  Another great thing is that these clinics are built right in the communities that they serve so people can walk to ride a bicycle there and not have to travel long distances just for basic medical care. 

The volunteer dentist in the new clinic.

Soon after we met up with President Pa Bie Bie who is the driving force behind the Rotary club and also has his own charitable foundation.  He used to work in the palm oil industry and has now “retired” to full time charity work.  He gave us a tour of the home for the elderly that he is in the process of constructing which will open later this year.  Compared to old folks’ homes that I’ve seen in America, this one is turning out to be quite exquisite!  There was a lot of effort put into the gardens and landscaping including a meditation garden with shaded sitting areas, ponds, and fountains.  It was looking more like a resort than an elderly home, so the geriatrics that live there will definitely be comfortable.  

Past President Sarkunadas, myself, and President Bie Bie.

Constructing the meditation domes.

We were able to meet the landscape architect who explained to us his vision of creating a forest there.  I can’t wait to return in five years and see how it all looks.  Also included on the ground are housing for monks, a vegetarian kitchen and herb garden for them, and a Buddhist temple that will be used for ceremonies.  When it is finished, it will house about 110 people and include and community type center and maybe someday a school.

The visionary landscape architect with us in front of one of his creations.  He was fascinating
as he's also been a journalist, opera singer/composer, artist, and has lived in NYC and Texas and Jakarta.

One more of RC Medan Deli's projects to help the community.

Different community groups and members sponsored construction of some of the
units in the elderly home, including two by RC Medan Deli.

The great thing about cruising new places with locals is the chance to indulge in delicious and unique food that you would have never known where to find otherwise.  We were in a seemingly industrial area when they pulled over and walked right into what looked like someone house, no sign, no anything.  A few minutes later we were presented with some very yummy nagasari which is a steamed cake made form flour, coconut milk and sugar, filled with bananas and wrapped in a banana leaf.  Other delights were presented and I was informed that more was cooking and in another hour or two the place would be packed with people coming way out of their way from the city just to visit this place.  Who would have known?  Rotarian Sarkunadas, although I found out that it was his birthday, was then kind enough to take me to a vegetarian restaurant in the city which was buffet style, allowing me to try and bit of everything.  It’s always fun to compare type of cuisine with people from around the world as they are very interested in what is the norm in America.  I have to always remind them that I don’t indulge in the typical American diet as I am a vegetarian (with the exception of wild Alaska seafood J). 

Indonesia, even more so than Malaysia, is famous for its batik.  You can read a description of the craft in my earlier post here.  Batik actually comes from an old Javanese word meaning “to dot" and I decided I couldn't leave Indonesia without taking some back with me.  It’s a fine man who agrees to accompany a lady to the market for some shopping to pick out some batik pieces especially on his DOB, haha.  I tried not to take too long, but the prints, patterns, and designs were all so amazing that it was hard to choose!

Also, a big thank you to Past President Sugoro for coordinating my visit and arranging for me to stay in his guesthouse.  I hope that I can meet some of these lovely Rotarians again before I leave SE Asia.    

Displaying my new batik blouse with Past President Sarkunadas and
his wife over a yummy Indian meal.