My name is Ida Wilona. I am a doctor who graduated in 2016 from the Faculty of Medicine, Tarumanagara University, Jakarta. Initially, it never crossed my mind to join doctorSHARE.

One day, a friend of mine who had joined earlier was so excited to share his experiences as a doctorSHARE volunteer that he invited me to “just come first” to the doctorSHARE secretariat office with an invitation to accompany him. If I didn’t like it, there was no need to come again. That’s what he said.

After I came to the office and got acquainted, it turned out that doctorSHARE members were very friendly and welcoming. At that time, I still didn’t really have an idea about this organization.
My first experience in doctorSHARE was being part of the Hospital Visit team that introduced doctorSHARE’s second floating hospital, RSA Nusa Waluya I, to colleagues from the Faculty of Medicine of Atma Jaya Catholic University, Jakarta.

Furthermore, I also became a doctorSHARE ambassador several times in various activities aimed at raising donations for the organization’s activities. Being an ambassador really gave a new experience for me, who is actually not articulate and tends to be stiff. Not only did I learn to master the material, I also honed my ability to communicate verbally in front of the public.

Later, I was invited to participate in medical services by Dr. Herliana Yusuf, who was then the field coordinator of medical services in Tambrauw, West Papua. My feelings at the time were both excited and a bit scared. I asked myself if I would be able to blend in and follow the work rhythm of my fellow volunteers.

After being involved in the activity, I found that I really fell in love with doctorSHARE. I met a lot of great people with amazing work ethic but at the same time so humble with a sincere soul to serve.

The proverb “heavy is carried, light is carried” is very appropriate to reflect the teamwork that works together without differentiating professional backgrounds. Indeed, there is a division of labor during medical services. But once the task is over, no one hesitates to immediately help other volunteers’ unfinished work.

All activities are started together and completed together. There is never a hint of “this is my part and that is your part” but “everything is our part”. And this indiscriminate initiative is shared by all team members.

My second medical service took place in Riwang Village, Batu Engau District, East Kalimantan Province. My third medical service took place on Seram Island, in West Seram District, Maluku, which is a very remote area.

Basically, doctorSHARE’s health service model is a “pick up the ball” action to remote, underdeveloped and border areas. As a result of these conditions, sometimes there is no signal to communicate and send short messages during medical services. Let alone the internet network.

A little story, my third medical service on Seram Island coincided with the day of the selection of internship rides chosen online by about 1,500 prospective internship doctors in that period. When I chose to go for medical service, some of my friends were very surprised and couldn’t believe that I was desperate to depend on other people.
But I firmly believe that God never owes us when we do good. As it turned out, the vehicle (location) that was chosen matched perfectly with my first choice.

The experience I gained during medical service was not only in medical terms. I also learned to put myself physically and mentally in perspective, culture, environment, and relationships with others.

Activities with doctorSHARE are not work but service. When we serve, we are doing our responsibilities and showing our commitment in achieving a common goal for the good of others. On the contrary, seeing ourselves as merely “working” means that we tend to only try to fulfill personal targets.

Being involved in various service actions with doctorSHARE made me more aware of the many things that I am not grateful for and have not done. There are still many people out there who have difficulty getting access to health. They need to walk for days to get medicine that we might think is not much.

Not to mention, there are still many areas where health facilities and medical personnel are still so minimal. Once when examining a child at a medical center, the child came after walking for five days. Imagine, walking five days to get treatment and then having to walk another five days to get home!

I am grateful to have been “forced” to try joining doctorSHARE. The pride I feel as part of doctorSHARE is not because of my physical presence but because of the opportunity to serve those in need together. Keep going doctorSHARE. Be a blessing to many and continue to serve those in need!

“We can do no great things; only small things with great love.” (Mother Teresa)