Speak Out Digital Version June 2016

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50 Speak Out June 2016
Northern
Territory
NT 43
Members
After 400 years of occupation and
25 years of civil war, Timor-Leste (East
Timor) officially became an independent
nation in May 2002. This small country lies
640kms northwest of Darwin—less than
an hour’s flight away, but the difference
in health status, education opportunities
and economic success compared with
Australia’s, could not be more different.
This developing nation is still recovering
from years of militia occupation and
the decimation of lives, culture and
infrastructure was the price paid for
independence. But the Timorese are
resilient, and over the past 17 years, with
the help of the international community they
are slowly rebuilding.
Mr Mark Moore is a cleft surgeon who is
part of the Royal Darwin Hospital Cleft Lip
and Palate Team. He has been travelling to
East Timor and other Asian countries for
over 15 years, providing plastic surgery,
with the support from the Overseas
Specialist Surgical Association of Australia,
an NGO dedicated to providing surgical
services around Asia. In East Timor, Mark
has conducted and supervised over 800
cleft surgeries and trained local surgeons in
cleft surgery and management.
Mark invited me to go to East Timor in 2013
on one of his surgical missions and I have
since participated in two more missions.
The team (plastic surgeon, theatre nurse
and anaesthetist) works from the Hospital
Nacional Guido Valadares, located in the
capital, Dili. Timorese travel from all parts
of the country for their consult with the
visiting cleft team. Many children, and the
occasional adult, present with a variety
of unrepaired clefts. Those that can have
surgery are offered an appointment and I
am in awe of the hope these teams give to
the patient and their families.
Alotu is the first and only practising speech
pathologist in Timor who graduated in 2012
from Akademi Terapi Wicara-YBW Jarkarta,
Indonesia. With the assistance of Rotary,
Alotu has visited Australia to observe
speech pathologists in a number of
clinical settings, including Darwin.
Alongside Alotu, I have conducted feeding
and speech assessments for children pre
and post-surgery. Breast feeding is the
norm in Timor and trying to explain the
mechanics of sucking and suction and
the impact of clefting can be a hurdle. The
availability of appropriate feeding equipment
is also problematic. I have seen teats with
tops chewed off to increase flow and
mothers expressing into spoons to feed
the baby. Another challenge is convincing
families to return after cleft repair for speech
follow up. One of the major barriers is
distance, as Alotu is located in Dili and
the travel from districts to the capital can
be tough. Helping families understand the
purpose of therapy is another challenge—
many do not comprehend that one session
with the therapist (and no home practice) is
not going to change a speech problem.
There is much work to be done to raise the
awareness of communication problems and
the impact upon the individual and their
families in East Timor. Alotu is very keen to
build up the speech pathology services in
East Timor. If anyone has an interest in East
Timor or is heading there, please let me
know and I can put you in touch with Alotu.
Celina Lai - Speech Pathologist
Speech Pathology in Timor-Leste
Speech Pathologist Alotu
Branch News
as at April 2016