Tidak semua saran yang benar itu baik

There was one day in the past,

 

few months after the Aceh tsunami, someone sought my advice because he wanted to go for helping Acehnese farmers amending their ruined farming area. As a (good and holistic approach-minded) GP, I searched a lot about Aceh’s condition and through the research I found that the potential diseases for a field worker in Aceh were illnesses like malaria, and those caused by flies and bacteria from the deceased bodies.

An Aceh image, featuring a large ruined area covered by mud,  not long after the 2004 tsunami. This photo is taken from http://seputaraceh.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Masjid-Rahmatullah.jpg.

So, I advised him to take some prevention doses of malaria drugs before leaving home, and bringing some other medicines. Another thing that I asked him to bring led to a sort of funny disputes.
“What else I should carry?” He asked.
“You should find a pair of boots, because the area must be muddy. And there must be many bacteria on such a site”
“OK, that makes sense. I put it on my list. What’s next?”
“You should bring a sort of water resistant clothes, so that they can help you from flea bites, and from being exposed to the contaminated mud.”
“OK. Next?”
“Buy a  pair of gloves.”
No sounds from the other side. I bet he was writing.
“Don’t forget your glasses and your hat. You are going to work under the sun. That keeps you from melanoma. “
Silent.
“”Mm…” His voice sounded as if he was examining something, “ I am looking at my list, doc. It seems like, you want me to be like ‘a new alien in town’ “.
His last account came to my surprise.
“Why?”
“Yeah, I am sure Aceh farmers will be very happy to see a new robot wearing all these beautiful stuffs coming and going around, giving them instructions to do this and that while they, their own, are barefooted, wearing no hat, no glasses, no this and that. “
Now the silence was with me. Mm, that made sense. Field workers do know more about how to approach a community then someone who mainly stands in front of the class like me at the time.
So, he went to Aceh. Around a month later, he sent me his picture. He was hugged by an Acehnese farmer friend. He looked happy with his jeans, his cotton t shirt, his tongs, his usual glasses, and his hair beautifully waved by the wind. They stood near a muddy area. And nothing happened. No malaria, no amputation for harmful bacteria infections.
Today, he called me from Queensland. This is his first week to be in Australia. He is doing his PhD. He is seeking my advice for coping with his first winter ever.

Winter clothes, taken from http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/clairev/clairev0910/clairev091000090/5682228-winter-clothes-collection-illustration.jpg

At the moment, when I start to think about advising him to buy winter boots, gloves, hats, coats and all those winter items, the Aceh memory is coming to me un-expectedly. And I am smiling now; I am waiting what he is going to say.

Adelaide, 24 June 2013.