Ever since he was a little boy, Dani had always wanted to visit a waterpark with his family. Before he had a chance though, he was diagnosed with a rare kidney cancer. He was only eight years old. When first visited by Nurse Yuni from Rachel House, Dani was silent and withdrawn, spending most of his […]
Nara was diagnosed with advanced stage neuroblastoma, a cancer of the nerve cells, at just 4 years old. She received several rounds of chemotherapy – but each time her cancer would come back stronger. Soon her parents were faced with heartbreaking choice: another round of painful chemotherapy with no guarantee of success, or end chemotheraphy […]
In June 2014, we posted a story on GlobalGiving about the “Groundbreaking Roundtable Discussion” initiated by Rachel House to explore alternative pathways to introduce palliative care in the nursing curriculum in Indonesia. This is part of Rachel House’s hope of training a new generation of nurses equipped with palliative care and homecare skills, to ensure […]
Adam is seven years old and living with HIV. He lives with his family in a home made from cardboard boxes in a dumpsite in north Jakarta. Adam shares the space with his ailing mother, father, and a 15-year-old sister. His father’s meagre income – from collecting used plastic bottles to sell to recyclers – must […]
Ever since she was little, Ocha has dreamed about becoming an actress. Ocha lives in North Jakarta and recently celebrated her 15th birthday. But only a mere four years ago, getting to 15 would have seemed like an impossible dream. At the age of 11, Ocha was struck down by a life-limiting illness and was suffering from […]
On 21st of April every year, Indonesia celebrates Kartini Day, commemorating the birth in 1879 of Raden Ajeng Kartini – a pioneer in women’s rights and a champion for the emancipation of women, opening the first school for women in Indonesia. This year, ConocoPhillips hosted a lunch to celebrate the courageous spirit of Kartini, and […]
Students of Sekolah Pelita Harapan (Pelita Harapan School or “SPH”) in Karawaci, Jakarta recently participated in 30 Hour Famine, an event where the students fasted for 30 hours to get a glimpse of what it was like to be without a basic necessity. The 30 Hour Famine is a World Vision program that seeks to unite […]
Sharif was 2 years old when he was first diagnosed with Retinoblastoma. The cancer was first discovered on his right eye, and later spread to the left. By the time Sharif was admitted to Rachel House for palliative care, he was 5 years old and had sadly lost his sight completely. Sharif’s oncologist referred him to Rachel House […]
What do we imagine we’ll be doing in our fifties or sixties? When our knees may ache when we walk and our back struggle to straighten when getting up. Will we still be buzzing around the city with the same verve we do now in our youth? Or will we have slowed our pace, perhaps […]
Posted on March 30, 2015 Community-based volunteers play an essential role in reaching out to Jakarta’s marginalised population who are sick at home without access to basic healthcare. In the month of March, coinciding with the International Women’s Day, Rachel House provided basic community-based palliative care training to 52 volunteers from the Kalibaru neighbourhood in North […]