West Timor Report
14-25th MAY, 2008

TRAVEL
We were very comfortable with the travel arrangements, both in and out of country. It is definitely good to go through Denpasar; it makes the trip more manageable than the Singapore route. Going at a slightly higher fare rate on the international legs was definitely useful with our equipment and baggage allowance. The trip from Kupang to Atambua is arduous, but there is no way around it. It is reasonably safe to do this during daylight hours.

ACCOMODATION
This was all very satisfactory. The Hotel Permata in Atambua is a very welcoming place and the family go out of their way to look after us.

STAFF
We were very grateful to the Oxfam staff in Kupang, they were very good to us. We also helped them out with their colleague, Yomi, who was critically injured the day before we got there. Sr Yacinta is a wonderful person to have with the team, she is a good negotiator, has political intuition and played many different roles for us on the trip. She was untiring in her energy to help us out, and is an excellent source of information when we get confused.

RSUD ATAMBUA
Most of the issues have been covered in last years report and in comments below.

EQUIPMENT
We were very grateful to the various companies who have donated equipment, particularly Smith and Nephew for their internal fixation equipment, which is extremely expensive and with which we cannot function as an Orthopaedic team. In addition Stryker donates battery powered equipment, which again is fundamental to our trips.

We have had a bit of an ongoing problem with the provisions from the College of Surgeons, with equipment and materials missing or reduced when we have specifically requested it. It is a real problem when we are on the ground and we run out of Plaster of Paris or we have not been given the sizes we requested, or gloves, sutures, and dressings are missing or significantly reduced in quantity, and we run out. We plan to become more responsible with the checking of this, but we feel this is an area that could be improved on from our end.

PROJECTS

Bali Training
Program

Cook Islands

East Timor Project

West Timor Report

Fiji - Labasa

Fiji - Lautoka

Fiji - Suva

Fiji - Suva and Lautoka

Kiribati

Papua New Guinea

Samoa

Solomon Islands

Tongan Footclub
Program - 2005

Tongan Footclub Program - 2007

Tuvalu

Vanuatu