Up Country

More busy days here on Bali. Yesterday I was picked up by Dr. to make community home visits to Balinese individuals unable to access services. As we turned off the main roads, up narrow winding roads toward the mountains, we saw fewer and fewer automobiles. From our 4-wheel drive truck, we passed rice, roots, and cloves drying on the roadsides. We saw 6 clients on this day. We followed a man on a motor scooter (I was told a human GPS)to know which road to follow through the switch back roads. Each client we saw was suffering from chronic mental illness without services or resources. To see our last client of the day, we drove up a steep hill(getting stuck twice), then we parked and walked the remaining 15 or so minutes up a small dirt path (approximately 12 inches wide) through thick jungle-like foliage. The path was unmarked, steep and slick. We came upon a small group of very small homes. There was a young man living there suffering from mental illness and quite paranoid. He was given donated medication from a suitcase, ...as it is not available from the health system. Dr. is not only a psychiatrist, but a social worker, nurse, teacher, etc. While we were there, a distressing situation occurred. We noticed a bedroom window nearby with bars and when we looked in, we found the man's small 8 year old daughter on a bed. She weighed no more than 20 pounds and could not walk or speak. She presented more like a 3 year old. They brought her out for Dr. to examine. It was so very sad. Dr. spoke with the family on how to feed, stimulate and communicate with her. She also left them 100,000 rp ($10.00) of her own money because they were so lacking of means. Needless to say, it was a long walk back out, and a sobering experience. There is indeed a dark side to the beautiful island of Bali.