Outside the main islands of Indonesia, the inhabitants of smaller islands suffer from a poorly developed infrastructure. For example, there is a lack of comprehensive medical care. Many families cannot afford traveling the sometimes long distances to the nearest hospital. During our missions, we repeatedly come across many older cleft children who have not yet been treated.
In recent years, our operations have focused on the province of Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT), part of the Little Sunda Islands in eastern Indonesia. Compared to other areas in Indonesia, the number of children born with cleft lip and palate is strikingly higher there. The target regions have so far been the islands of Flores and Timor with missions in Wolowaru, Labuan Bajo, Ende (Flores) and Atambua, Kupang and Kefa (Timor). At the beginning of this year, the first assignment took place in Serang, the capital of the West Javanese province of Banten.