Bayside Advertiser (Australia)

May 26, 2008 Monday

Kindness is his remedy

AUSTRALIA'S hospital system is often referred to as ``in a crisis'', but this is nothing compared with our nearest and newest neighbour, East Timor.

The East Timorese face daily struggles to be treated for simple problems. Luckily, these people have one volunteer to thank: Dr Dan Murphy.

Dr Murphy, an American, founded the Bairo Pite Clinic in 1999 and sees an average of 300 patients a day. The clinic has a strict policy that everyone must be seen, no matter what their illness.

Bayside Leader photographer Jason Sammon took a flight north in April to visit his father, Frank, who works as a paramedic contracted to the Australian Defence Force in Dili.

``As a photographer, I am drawn to situations of people helping people. The clinic . `Dr Dan' works at is just over the road from my dad's base. We all saw the wonderful work he does there,'' Sammon said.

Sammon said the sheer enthusiasm with which all the clinic's staff went about their work was amazing.

``Travelling international medicos go and visit Dr Dan to see how he works his wards and what he does with such basic equipment. This trip gave me an opportunity to see the amazing work of volunteers and the impact they have on those requiring care,'' he said.

``Having travelled a bit, I wasn't surprised at the conditions there, but the sheer scale of the medical issues and they way they treated the people of East Timor was overwhelming.''

Donations: bairopiteclinic.tripod.com/donate.html  

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