On Sunday, 8 May, 2011, MCK once again organized what is now an annual outing to Ragunan Zoo for children receiving treatment for cancer at Dharmais Hospital, along with their families. As in previous years, the outing was timed to coincide with the Jakarta Free Spirit (JFS) running club’s Zoo 5k and Family Fun Run and this year, as previously, JFS very generously covered the costs of logistics for the day out. JFS volunteers also did a great job of making sure we were all made very welcome on arrival, and ensuring that our time at the zoo went according to plan.
This year, MCKs group totalled 59 people, made up of 24 young patients ranging from 2-13 years old, along with their parents, three volunteers from Yayasan Pita Kuning (Erwin, Rani and Tias), two nurses from the hospital (Yuni and Umi), and MCK volunteers Tessa, Inge and Sara. We were delighted that the mother of Valentinus, a young boy who had previously been treated at Dharmais but who sadly passed away last year, and his younger brother, Gilberto, were also able to join us.
MCK was very happy too that joining the group – as has become something of a tradition — was 14-year-old Abiyyu, his younger sister, Ines, and their parents. MCK supported Abiyyu to receive treatment for retinoblastoma (eye cancer) at Dharmais in 2005-2006, since when we are delighted to report that he has been confirmed cancer-free. He is currently in the second year of junior high school and is an ardent football player. Below you can see a photo of Abiyyu collecting on behalf of MCK the generous donation provided to us by Wintermar, which was also sponsoring the JFS run.
Abiyyu receiving a cheque from Wintermar on behalf of MCK
Fortunately, the rain that greeted us on arrival cleared after a while, and we were all able to enjoy a couple of hours wandering around and spotting the animals. Below is a photo of the group on the steps of the primate centre.
MCK zoo outing participants on the steps of the primate centre
By late morning some children were beginning to get a bit tired, so we all headed back onto our buses and back to the hospital, where cuddly toys (courtesy of JFS) were given to all the children who joined the outing as well as to each of the children on the children’s cancer ward who were sadly unable to come. The photo below shows some of the proud recipients.
All the children on the outing, and also the children from the hospital who could not join, received a cuddly toy courtesy of JFS
MCK sincerely thank everyone who made this outing possible and such a success!
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