Adhitya Wisnu Mahadewa, a Jakarta-born physician, first arrived in Agats, the capital of South Papua’s Asmat regency, in 2012, when he was a fresh general practitioner looking for a challenge.

“I thought at the time that If I really wanted to push myself, I had to go to Papua,” he told The Jakarta Post. “I heard about an opening in Agats. I didn’t know anything about the place. I just packed my bags and left.”

The reality when he arrived was jarring. Despite housing the seat of the regental administration, Agats is a city built entirely of wooden planks over an expansive network of mangrove and mud. It had no electricity and no phone signal, let alone internet.

Adhitya’s assignment at the Agats community health center (Puskesmas) focused on maternal and child health, including going on outreach trips by boat to isolated villages, where many residents still favored traditional practices, like bloodletting, and relied on village shamans. Some villagers often refused treatment, while others even issued threats.

To build trust, Adhitya quickly improvised. He began bringing snacks for children and kitchen staples like coffee and sugar for mothers, on the condition they agree to basic check-ups and immunizations. Slowly, the resistance waned.

By his fourth year, he and other health workers at the Agats Puskesmas managed to push immunization rates to above 70 percent. And somewhere along the way, Adhitya realized he did not want to leave.