Student of KKN-PPM UGM Period 2 Year 2024 Sarmi unit, Muhammad Ivan Pratista (Ivan) calmly assisted the delivery of a mother named Nice Isabel Kondi in the middle of the ocean on Liki Island, Papua. Liki Island is one of the outermost islands in eastern Indonesia located in Sarmi Regency, Papua Province, has a population of approximately only 300 people with 92 heads of families who mostly work as fishermen.
On Saturday, August 10, 2024, Ivan and the KKN-PPM UGM team were carrying out their program as usual, but suddenly he was surprised by the scream of a posyandu cadre woman who was not far from them, “Ivan’s son, please there is Mama Nice about to give birth!”, hurriedly Ivan ran to Mama Nice’s house. Quick to provide help as one of the students from the health sector, Ivan, who is a student of the Medical Profession study program in his unit, immediately checked the condition of Mama Nice who had experienced opening three. Seeing Mama Nice’s condition, she could still be taken to the nearest auxiliary health center (Pustu), in order to get immediate help, but unfortunately the health worker who was only one in the area was not there. There was no other choice, Mama Nice had to be immediately taken to the hospital on the main island which could only be reached by crossing the sea. For a while, before heading to the crossing dock, Ivan took the makeshift equipment to bring with him, and sure enough, the available tools were limited, only available for wound care and infusions.
Ivan hurriedly ran to the ferry port which is approximately 2 Km from the pustu. In the speedboat , Mama Nice was seen with the help of several posyandu cadre mothers in a state of contraction and weakness, and Ivan was the only KKN PPM UGM student who accompanied her to the main island. Only about thirty minutes later, Mama Nice experienced severe contractions, the opening was getting bigger and had to be helped to give birth immediately. Using the makeshift equipment he brought from the pustu and the confidence in his abilities, Ivan, with the help of the posyandu cadres, decided to stop the speedboat and assist in the delivery of Mama Nice.“Thankfully, the delivery went smoothly, around two o’clock in the afternoon, a healthy baby boy was born and the mother was healthy,” Ivan sighed, relieved. Thespeedboat eventually did not head to the hospital, but returned home to Liki Island and everyone looked happy. On the way to the island, Mama Nice decided to name her newborn son Ivan Maureets Teno. “Ivan is my name, Maureets is the name of the speedboat driver , and Teno is his surname,” Ivan said.
Ivan’s heroic story spread widely, how a young student dared to face the situation to save the lives of mothers and children in a very remote area became an inspiration for many people. For him, this is not just a task in carrying out KKN-PPM, but a humanitarian call, with the spirit of continuing to learn, doing the best that can be done, and happy to help others, that is the principle that led him to remain calm in facing difficult situations like the story he experienced. Ivan’s story made Ardhya Nareswari, ST, MT, Ph.D. as Field Supervisor (DPL) proud, and received appreciation from the big family of Universitas Gadjah Mada, including the Director of Community Service (DPkM) UGM, Dr. dr. Rustamaji, M.Kes who manages KKN-PPM at UGM. “Hopefully this story will give a positive impact that KKN-PPM UGM, which almost reaches all parts of Indonesia to the outermost regions, provides a lot of experience that becomes the provision for students to love Indonesia and serve the country more,” he concluded.
(Author/Editor: Dn Halimah/Humas DPkM, Photo Source: KKN-PPM UGM Team Sarmi Unit)