Newsbriefs and Highlights from PNG Outreach 1

A 15 year old girl came into the clinic with her family. For the last number of years she has not being able to walk due to tuberculosis in her spine. On top of this, she was incontinent as well. Her dad and mum had to carry her everywhere but she has the most amazing smile.
After checking her over, we realised there was not much that we could offer. We had some sweet smelling soap and a prayer but really felt quite helpless. It was at that time we thought that perhaps we could get her some crutches. We rushed back to the ship to get them only to find out that they didn’t work for her as she did not have the strength to bear her own weight.
Then we remembered a wheelchair we had on board the ship. It was one of those things that we don’t usually have space for or need but was randomly donated while in Australia and this time we had the space to take it. We were able to adjust the wheelchair for her at the correct height.
It was amazing as at the end, some of the team were able to wheel her around pretending her wheelchair was a hotrod which brought a great smile to her face. Her family was really grateful and it was very rewarding to be a part of improving her quality of life.
From flat to cheeky
A family with 3 children turned up at the clinic. One of the children was about 5 years old and had been sick for about 5 days. Her heart rate was down and her breathing was up due to pneumonia. She was flat and sad as we put her on the drip, and asked them to stay overnight.
The next day, we went to see how she was feeling. With a bit of rest and medication, she went from being a really sick kid to being healthy and playful. We quickly realised that this was not a flat little girl but a rather cheeky one!
Going the Distance
We had a canoe that arrived, traveling 6 hours during the night to see our dentist. It only took one minute to pull out her teeth! With all the effort to see us, our dentist decided to give her a deep clean and even pitched in a song and dance.
Life in PNG
There are a lot of harsh realities here, like the lady whose arm was broken 30 years ago in two places and never healed in the right way…or the child who died during the night due to respiratory problems on top of malnutrition. This child was being raised by his auntie, as his mum during child birth.
Generating Help
People here rely so much on their generators and they find that they aren’t the most reliable. Some of the ship crew (although they haven’t had any experience fixing these) have been able to fix them. They have done this alongside the locals, teaching them how to fix their own generators and outboard engines.
Water
One particular village has recently been given a whole lot of water tanks, but was not given any taps! The crew decided to find local products such as bamboo, to show how to access the water in the tanks. The best part of the story is that there is a huge water shortage in this village and it hasn’t rained for 3 months. During the last rain, the water that filled the tanks but had been totally inacecssible. Today, within one hour of creating the taps, the heavens opened up and rain began to fill up the water tanks.