Gania recalls WWII

Gania looks in her eighties, but like most adults in her region of Papua New Guinea, she does not know her age.

When asked about life during WWII, she recalls times when she would climb the coconut trees to hide as warplanes flew over. It was also a time when many of the young men went to fight for their country and some never returned.

Soon after the war, Gania married and moved to another village. There, Gania raised a family and lived life just as others do today.
Women still beat and make sago, the staple food in their diet. Young boys still climb trees for coconuts. Babies still die from malnourishment. Women still die in childbirth.
Yet times are changing. This year, YWAM Medical Ships Australia (YWAM MSA) were able to return to Bunigi—the village Gania lives in—for a second time this year.
Through the support of MSA volunteers, children were able to complete their childhood immunisations and women had antenatal checks.
While there is still a long way to go for healthcare in PNG, progress is being made, one step at a time.
If you were to tell Gania about these changes seventy or so years ago, she would not have believed it.
Now, the impossible has become possible.

Gania (middle) waiting in the clinics.