Voices of the Unheard from Ujung Gagak: “We Want to Be Healthy Together”

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 Protecting our family against COVID-19 makes us feel reassured. "People say that vaccines cause damage but that's not true. I've proven it."

- Ningsih, 56 yo, a Resident of Ujung Gagak Village, and mother of a son with intellectual and physical disabilities.

Monday, 12 September 2022, Ujung Gagak Village, Kampung Laut Subdistrict, Cilacap District in Central Java. On this afternoon, at around 13.00 (Western Indonesia Time), health workers from the Kampung Laut Puskesmas (community health centre) walked to residents' homes to provide COVID-19 vaccinations to vulnerable residents who have difficulty accessing the vaccination centre.

Vaccination activities in Ujung Gagak Village are carried out regularly with the support of the Australia Indonesia Health Security Partnership (AIHSP) through the Indonesian Red Cross (Palang Merah Indonesia: PMI) in collaboration with the Provincial Government of Central Java and the Government of Cilacap Regency. Vaccination is carried out in one of two ways‒at the vaccination centre or by visiting residents' homes door-to-door.

Ujung Gagak Village is one of a group of small islands that are connected to each other by a large lagoon known as Segara Anakan. To reach the village, residents use small boats to travel the two-hour distance  from the public port in Cilacap City.

In one corner of the village, the AIHSP documentation team met Ningsih, a 56-year-old woman. Together with her son, Yuliarto, who has a physical disability, they have just received their third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine through a door-to-door vaccination activity.

Ningsih is very happy that the vaccine program has reached her home. Although she did not expect to be infected by the COVID-19 virus that she had heard about on television, it was in fact found in her village.

"We saw on television, more and more people being affected. We were scared too. So when there was a vaccine program, the health workers came to socialise it and I trusted them. I'm taking care of myself and my family," Ningsih explained when she and her family decided to get vaccinated.

Ningsih, lives in a humble house near an orange orchard and a plot of rice fields. The drainage is bad so, if it rains, her yard will be inundated with water as high as 15 cm. She has three children, two of whom live outside the village.

Yuli is 27 years old. He is paralysed and his ankles have shrunk. When he moves, Yuli drags his legs, and his knees take his weight. His speech is unclear and only his mother can understand him. Nevertheless, Yuli is an energetic person who likes to explore the village and can't just stay at home all day. For Ningsih, this proves that her son has passion just like everyone else.

When the vaccination health worker came to her house, Ningsih greeted her warmly. "I have been vaccinated three times. Yuli too," said Ningsih.

For Ningsih, protecting her family against COVID-19 makes her feel reassured. "People say that vaccines cause damage but that's not true. I've proven it," she said.

On the other side of the village, an elderly woman who is blind also said the same thing. Her name is Asringatinah and she is 58 years old. "I want to be healthy, so I got the vaccine," she said.

"If you have a vaccine, at least there is a little self-protection. If you also get the virus, you can fight it. If you don't get a vaccine, it's hard to fight it, right?”

Asri, as she is called, is an elderly person who believes that enjoying a healthy lifestyle until the end of her life will help herself, others, and her family to live more peacefully.

Asri has seven children. All of them are married and live outside Ujung Gagak Village. Her husband passed away in 2017. For Asri, Ujung Gagak is her home that she knows really well and is filled with people who care about her.

While sitting on the terrace of her house, the village has remained a constant and familiar place since 2006 when her eyesight was still functioning properly. This means the environment and people around her remain the same in her memory.

Asri considers herself something of a nomad. She always visits her children, both those who are still on the island of Java and those in Kalimantan and Batam. "The voices of children and grandchildren make me happy," she said.

She received the second and third doses of vaccine from health workers who visited her house. The visit, for her, was very helpful. Waiting at home, she did not have to walk to a health facility. "I tell people, I'm too old to get a vaccine, yet I still get vaccinated. You guys are still young and we don't know when this virus will disappear."

"If you have a vaccine, at least there is a little self-protection. If you also get the virus, you can fight it. If you don't get a vaccine, it's hard to fight it, right?” said Asri.

 

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