Papua New Guinea

2010

During the most recent school holidays Eighteen Senior School students were escorted to the Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea by staff Sandra Sanders, Kirsty O’Rourke and Ryan McCluggage, and two College-parent doctors, Nicholas Kimpton and Michael Whitehead.

The students lived as villagers in a grass hut with no running water, no electricity, no flushing toilets. Everything they ate came from the village garden or was caught in the beautiful water of Milne Bay.

The main objective of the project was to provide medical assistance to the people of these remote communities, and while the students worked in the villages the staff and doctors travelled to each centre holding large clinics where the doctors treated many people with conditions including malaria, asthma, and disfiguring tropical skin diseases such as ‘white spot’ , ‘grillier’ and ‘sipoma’. Some villagers live with a skin condition for their whole life that can be cured with a course of strong antibiotics and a bottle of Selsun rubbed on the skin.

Group leader, Sandra Sanders commented, “It was good to go back after last year’s first visit to see the results of that initial work. It was observed that people were generally healthier than last year with a lower incidence of malaria and skin diseases. The effects of the medicines and treatment clearly were evident.”

In the lead up to the visit major fundraising activities were undertaken by the students. Funds raised went directly to buying medicines and medical equipment for the villages and the ‘local hospital’ that has no mattresses on the beds in its maternity ward and a bark hut with dirt floor and campfire for a hospital kitchen. It is a day’s walk or more away from many of the villages. The harsh realities of life in this part of PNG meant that a week before our group arrived this year a three-year-old boy died of dehydration because the ‘local hospital’ did not have an IV cannula to help rehydrate him. Our group arrived with 100 of them, but it was a week too late.

Sandra Sanders, made two further comments that are of great significance:
“What did the students learn from this experience? Students learnt that personal wealth has nothing to do with how much money you have or how many material possessions you have. It has to do with the strength of relationships, family, community and good health. The people we met had all these things in abundance, except for good health, and this is where we can help.”

The enthusiasm from those involved, in wishing to develop this program further, is inspiring. It falls within the “overseas” component of our Service program, and there will be discussions between those responsible for the PNG Project and our Service Program as part of planning for 2011 and beyond. Those involved now have deeper understanding of Christian teaching about “Who is my neighbour?” and this undoubtedly has changed their lives forever.

2009

During the June 2009 holidays students travelled to Paupa New Guinea. Two of the participants share their experiences.

Sam Hishon writes:

Over the two weeks in Papua I experienced an entirely new culture and way of life. The cheerfulness of those I met and talked to along the way and the genuine friendship and overwhelming kindness I traded with the locals of Agura, the village Ryan Dodgshun and I stayed at, was unexpected and heart warming.

The people of Agura do not have electricity, furniture or an average house like us; nor do they need it. They are subsistence farmers, which means if they work hard they get to eat and if they don’t work they don’t eat. During the evening they sit around and share stories with each other and eat simple food such as fish, potato, leaves and bananas. 

As part of the trip Ryan and I took over basic playing equipment such as pick-up sticks, balloons, story books and soccer balls. All of these the children and adults appreciated greatly as was shown not through words but the hours the kids spent playing beach soccer or frisbee. We were the first white people Agura had ever hosted; many of them had never seen a digital camera or spoken to a white person before. 

The hospitality and friendship the entire village provided us with was unexpected and deeply moving. We took with us bags of clothes and school supplies for the community but we learnt most from interacting with the 100 or so people of the village, trading many stories through the days and into the nights, learning each others’ culture and very different ways of living. On the last night of our stay all of Agura came together for a party; we traded stories and they sang songs from late afternoon until early morning. This proved quite emotional for we had helped them physically and mentally, changing their lives even if only a little. They had helped me to experience a new culture and to realise how easily you can become lifelong friends with someone you have only known for five days and could only communicate with using the most basic English.

The second part of my experience was having the privilege to walk on the Kokoda trail. The small group members who experienced five days trekking the Kokoda trail were Mr Moneghetti, Mrs Sanders, Emma Werner, Taryn Coxall, Eliza Vincent, Andrew Ham, Tom Nash, Ryan Dodgshun and me. 

The experience proved a challenge both physically and mentally. I was a little ill during the first couple of days which took a massive toll on my ability to persevere. However, my sickness gave me a greater understanding and deeper respect and admiration for the 800 diggers who pushed against 10,000 Japanese soldiers in the mountain province. What was more gut-wrenching was the realisation that the soldiers did not have the track to walk and fight on but instead had to claw their way through the intense jungle surroundings with little more than a bush knife. The track really was an individual challenge where you did have to push yourself on some parts to keep going. The constant support and mateship of the people in front and behind me was amazing and a thank you goes to all those with whom I shared the memory. The great support of Monas, always at the back pushing those who were feeling the burn to keep going, and Sandra’s mother-like guidance helped. The challenge was great and I enjoyed every minute of it, even the tough bits, because they made me realise I have the mental strength to deal with any tough situation.

During the 12 days in Papua New Guinea I traded stories with many people and broadened my communication skills. A big thank you goes to Monas for his smooth talking under stressful conditions and the patience he learned. The mighty Mr Bishop successfully organised the humanitarian trip, giving all those who crossed paths with him some wisdom; he always managed to bring a smile or a laugh to the children and adults alike, giving them balloons or just creating chit-chat. Dr Nick Kimpton examined around 500 men, women and children in less than five days, which was a great success.

In all, the trip could not have worked better, every day being an adventure and a memory.





Peppe Cavalieri writes:

Outside of the news, most of us never really get an insight into the lives of people in developing countries. Sure, we sigh and comment on how terrible the problems facing third-world countries are, but the majority of us never take it past our living-room settings to do anything about it.

Last term holidays 18 students from Ballarat Clarendon College embarked on a humanitarian trip to Papua New Guinea with three teachers and doctor, hoping to make a difference. On 27 June the 22-strong group finally left Ballarat after an organisational process that extended back into Term 1, which involved the collection of clothes, books, stationary and the trip itself.

When two plane trips eventually came to an end, we were greeted with a warm, 35˚C Port Moresby blast, a pleasant change to what we’re used to in Ballarat. Emotions ran high after visiting the Australian War Memorial, but a day, another plane trip and a ride on a PMV (people moving vehicle) drew us closer to our destinations, where nine pairs of students would each make a small, coastal village their homes for four days. We felt comfortable with the endless sea of smiling faces as we twisted and jolted along a road which was in desperate need of repair.

By the first day of July each pair had been dropped at their village, with many lucky people the first to be attended to by Dr Nick Kimpton. Over the next four days the remaining villages would be visited by Nick and the three teachers Martin Bishop, Denis Moneghetti and Sandra Sanders. Each pair carried 24kg of clothes for the less fortunate and in a magical experience we were thanked with great compassion and bombarded by children who showed us their culture and way of life. We were treated like kings by such generous people who couldn’t afford to be so generous. It was so rewarding to be able to help people who had nothing but what the habitat around them provided. In emotional farewells that brought tears to our eyes, we felt happy and content that we had sacrificed just a little to give them so much.

Sometimes we just need a small ‘wake-up’ call to realise just how lucky we really are, and those who experienced this definitely got that, and so will future students who take on this adventure. A pitying comment is sometimes not enough and we need to stand up and make a difference and help those who will always welcome it when it is offered.