HEARTBREAK AND HOPE When medicine and doctors can no longer help a dying child, it helps to have knowledgeable and empathetic support. Indonesian NGO Rachel House is showing the way, with a little help from Singapore friends. By Kimberly Kraft and Elaine Foo (Source: http://singaporemagazine.sif.org.sg/heartbreak-and-hope/ ) The child was screaming. He was screaming […]
Blog
Rachel House’s 1st Public Seminar on Palliative Care
With a vision that no child should ever have to die in pain without love and care, Rachel House has set itself a seemingly unattainable goal. With only a handful of nurses on our team, it was clear to us that as soon as the first team is sufficiently confident in their knowledge of palliative […]
My diary as a volunteer at Rachel House (by Gemma Rhodes)
“I have started this diary to record as accurately as possible not only what I have seen at Rachel House but the way it has struck me emotionally. I first got involved with Rachel House because, after working in the corporate world for seven months, I found that I had developed a desperate need to […]
Field Visit Report by GlobalGiving
What happens after treatment stops? Palliative Care in Indonesia POSTED ON JULY 31, 2012 BY JACQUELINEINTHEFIELD On July 24, I accompanied Rachel House on a home visit to one of its patients – a 7-year-old boy who has leukemia and relapsed just before he was supposed to start the new school year. After visiting Rachel House’s office to meet […]
Jane McCredie: Miracle Impasse (MJA InSight)
“When children are dying, religion & medicine can clash….” IN most Western countries it is generally accepted both legally and by the community that parents do not have the right to refuse potentially life-saving treatment for their children because of their own religious or other beliefs. The best known example relates to Jehovah’s Witness where parents cannot […]
What Rachel House Means to Me – A Mother’s Perspective
Lala, my daughter aged 6 and half, was diagnosed with advanced stage Neuroblastoma on January 12, 2009. At the time, we were still living in Canberra where I was pursuing further studies on a scholarship. When Lala had a relapse in April 2010, we (Lala, Chandra and I) decided to return home to Jakarta for […]
A Day in the Life of a Rachel House Nurse – Jasmine Cross
It takes Susi two and a half hours to reach Rachel House’s satellite in North Jakarta. A long, tiring journey by motorbike through the heavily congested streets of Jakarta, but it is essential. Her motorbike provides a lifeline to her patients. It’s the only way she can pass through the extremely narrow streets of the […]
Sylvia’s Story
Patient history “Mom, I know I am dying. What is the point of spending more money on chemotherapy when we know it will not make the cancer go away! Please save the money for a business you can start when I am no longer here.” These words, spoken with such wisdom from a 14 year-old, […]
Siti’s Story
Patient History Siti was the only child of a young couple from West Jakarta. She was first diagnosed with cancer in July 2007, a year after she had fallen in the shower while still learning to walk. According to Siti’s parents, the fall had resulted in a bad wound around her coccyx that never healed, […]