BY THE NUMBERS: 14,000 patients treated in Health in Harmony’s Indonesia clinic since 2007
WHO'S IN CHARGE: Kinari Webb, 39, a graduate of the Yale School of Medicine
WHAT IT DOES: Gunung Palung National Park, a 222,000-acre swath of rainforest in West Kalimantan, Indonesia, harbors one of the last major wild populations of orangutans and other rare species such as gibbons, crested fireback pheasants, and clouded leopards. It’s also the watershed for 60,000 people who live in poverty on its margins, often engaging in illegal logging. When Webb first visited as an undergrad studying orangutans, she realized that the high cost of medical care for subsistence farmers was what drove them to log the forest for cash. She returned in 2005 to start Health in Harmony and its Indonesian counterpart, Alam Sehat Lestari—both of which are driven by the philosophy that better health care for locals could improve the health of the forest. She opened a small medical center in the remote town of Sukadana, a mobile clinic, and an ambulance service, and started several projects to help locals develop sustainable alternative livelihoods as farmers and herders. Though no one is refused care, the clinic offers discounts to communities that agree to stop illegal logging.
EXTRA CREDIT: Health in Harmony is supported by a host of foundations and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Great Apes Conservation Fund; members of the board include professors and doctors from Yale, Dartmouth, and Johns Hopkins.
LOOKING AHEAD: Health in Harmony plans to build a $1.2 million hospital in Sukadana, which will provide surgical care for people who now must travel 12 hours or more to get it.
A doctor examines a child at Health in Harmony's Klinik ASRI in West Borneo, Indonesia. Photographer: Lauren Tobias
Comments
As a volunteer at Health In Harmony's ASRI program in rural Borneo for over two years, I can attest to the positive changes that are taking place in the corner of the world due to the efforts of this non-profit organization. Health-care is only one of many programs this group sponsors and coordinates. They also conduct organic farm training, animal husbandry, forest restoration, free eye-glasses, weekly mobile medical clinics and MORE! If you are interested in learning more, check it out at www.healthinharmony.org and www.alamsehatlestari.org Good people doing good things. Spread the word!
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