Gift of an Ambulance to the North Kayong Community from the Japanese Embassy to the Republic of Indonesia
On Friday, November 7 2018, an official handover ceremony for ambulance assistance was held in North Kayong Regency between the Japanese Embassy to the Republic of Indonesia and the Alam Sehat Lestari Foundation (ASRI) at the ASRI Clinic.
The event was attended by the Regent of North Kayong Regency, Drs. Citra Duani, representative of the Japanese Embassy Mr. Kazuho Yoshida and Mr. Sasaki Shinpei, Head of the Health and Family Planning Service, representatives from Sultan Muhammad Jamaluddin I Kayong Utara Regional Hospital, community leaders and all ASRI staff.
The Alam Sehat Lestari Foundation (ASRI) is a non-profit organization that has a unique and innovative approach in efforts to preserve forests and improve public health. ASRI believes that human health and the environment are closely related and inseparable. In the last 11 years, ASRI has worked to improve public health and preserve the forests of Gunung Palung National Park in the North Kayong Regency area, West Kalimantan. ASRI Clinic is one of the health programs at the ASRI Foundation and has been established since July 2007. ASRI Clinic ambulances serve people who need to be referred to more complete health facilities, especially the Hospital in Ketapang which is a 2 hour drive from Sukadana.
"The Japanese government has a project called grassroots, namely special financial assistance/grants to areas that need financial assistance that the central government still cannot reach. So that grassroots projects like this can be implemented in villages that need help. Previously, this grassroots project focused on the education sector, such as building schools. "We decided to choose ASRI's proposal and implement it quickly because if people in North Kayong Regency have to receive serious medical treatment, generally they have to go to a hospital which is quite far to Ketapang," explained Kazuho Yoshida as Second Secretary of the Japanese Embassy to the Republic of Indonesia.
The latest UN report states that the world community only has 12 years to limit climate change. Forest preservation by curbing the rate of deforestation and increasing reforestation is the most effective and low-cost way to reduce carbon emissions. ASRI has been working on this almost 12 years ago, namely building health services based on forest conservation.
At the ASRI clinic, patients can pay for treatment costs with plant seeds. Throughout 2018, the ASRI Clinic has received almost 15,000 seedlings that will be used in the replanting program.
“ASRI Clinic provides health services based on forest conservation. "This ambulance donation actually not only helps save the people of Kalimantan, but also protects Kalimantan's forests which play an important role in reducing global warming," impressed Nur Febriani as Executive Director of the Sustainable Natural Health Foundation (ASRI).
Written by: Oka Nurlaila (ASRI Communications Marketing Staff)
