It was no surprise when, Nur, a mother of a toddler, expressed hesitance about bringing her child to the revived health posts - called posyandu - in her community in Nagan Raya. Nagan Raya had been isolated both geographically and due to 30 years of civil war and had a health care system notoriously dilapidated even before the tsunami.
But slowly, residents in the community have begun to see changes. For three years, Project HOPE has worked with the Nagan Raya District Health Office and PKK (Women's Family Welfare Group) to rebuild the local health care system severely damaged by the tsunami and to restore trust in the community to use the available health care. Project HOPE worked diligently with staff at the health posts, providing the best medical training in the areas of maternal and child health services. And soon the improved practices and HOPE's emphasis on communication skills began attracting attention.
"Initially I brought my child to posyandu because I saw the neighbors did so," Nur admitted. "I only allowed my child to be weighed at the first time, not be immunized."
The staffs of the posyandus - backed by Project HOPE - are proving their reliability to the mothers of the community by conducting outreach campaigns on a monthly basis.
"Upon listening to the explanation of the [volunteers] and health workers on the importance of obtaining immunization, I eventually allowed," said Nur. "Nowadays I regularly bring my child to the posyandu although she is already 16-months old."
Nur's story is just one example of HOPE's fundamental strategy when dealing with humanitarian crisis such as the Indian Ocean Tsunami. HOPE's goal is to provide long-term access to vital medicines, supplies and health services, even after the immediate crisis has passed and the world's attention has refocused.
After immediately responding to the Tsunami with millions of dollars worth of humanitarian aid, and hundreds of medical volunteers, Project HOPE continued its Tsunami relief efforts by reestablishing health posts damaged by the Tsunami. From 2005 to 2008, Project HOPE's work in the Nagan Raya has included an Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses program that has helped improve care for 3,332 infants, 13,866 children, 4,122 pregnant women, and 16,146 women of reproductive age. HOPE has also worked to reestablish services and improve the general level of medical care at the Abidin Hospital, a facility crippled by infrastructure damage and loss of life following the Tsunami. In addition, HOPE programs have helped to strengthen pediatric clinical care by procuring and installing equipment for obstetrics and neonatal intensive care units in four hospitals in regions affected by tsunami.