Mission Blog
Team One Vanuatu - 2011
Posted July 30, 2011
This is an edited version of an email sent by Brian Dodds off "Another Angel" in Vanuatu.
There has been one island in the Vanuatu chain that had so far eluded the sleek white hulls of Another Angel and her crew but before departing to return to Australia in 2010, initial plans were laid to include this island in the July tour in 2011. On our way north to Santo in June this year, we pondered the idea of a brief stop over, while anchored at Laman Bay on Epi Island. The Volcanic Island of Ambrym lay just 28 miles to the north and as we looked in that direction we could see the smoke trail to the North West causing the setting sun to turn a brilliant blood red with the South East trade wind in full flight. Craig Cove on the Western tip has a small harbour sheltered from the SE prevailing wind so that would be our next stop. As we dropped anchor we were reminded of the treacherous conditions one could face with the rusting hull of a coastal passenger and copra boat stuck firmly on the rocky shore. There was a misty rain falling and as I looked toward the cloud my eyes were stung with an acid rain from the volcanic activity. Pretty soon the mist cleared but it was in the morning that I noticed the stainless steel railings and fittings had small dark spots all over them. This acid is absolutely deadly for the rigging and deck fittings.
We were in full preparation for the arrival of our three volunteers from Australia. Barbara Woodhouse had been in phone contact with me over the past several days and as the weather had been quite blustery with 25 knot winds and 2 - 3 meter seas she was becoming quite apprehensive. I assured her that if conditions did not improve we would wait until it improved. Jan had friends around Australia praying for the weather to improve, and God, true to his Word worked another miracle for us on the day of their arrival. The Rural Health truck was to take me to the airport to meet Doctor Barbara, partner Richard and Registered Nurse Shirley Leacy. I stood waiting on the street in Luganville for the Health truck but as time passed it became evident that it was not going to arrive on time and I needed to be at the airport. I flagged down a small bus, as I had been told by Barbara that they would have lots of luggage. A small taxi would never cope. For once the flight was on time and within 5 minutes of my arrival at the airport I met the three volunteers. The bus was almost filled to capacity and we were to collect Jan from the market with last minute food supplies. The black sand beach at Red Corner that we have used in past years has been fenced off, so the only solution for loading the luggage and supplies from the beach to the yacht by tender is at the Beach Front Resort beach. There were small waves but we managed to get everyone aboard Another Angel in a dry condition. Miraculously the wind had died down to about 10 knots from the SE. Very soon, the dentist Dr Julie and her assistant Axelle, and Rachael the ear, nose & throat (ENT) nurse arrived. Yacht orientation and rules were talked about and a prayer was offered and we were off for a 13 hour sail to Ambrym Island.
Shekinah, the yacht that would accompany us on this tour, had sailed from Villa to Norsup on Malakula arriving Monday July 4 and picked up the vaccinations, pharmaceutical supply and four local health workers. Gideon was the pharmacist, Sam and Anton worked in TB and Malaria and were the vaccination team and Elroy was to do maintenance on the clinics. We didn't see much of him for the tour as he mostly slept ashore. This gave a total of fourteen people. On Another Angel two of the local ladies slept on the lounge in the saloon and one slept on the floor under the tables. The Expats slept in the the cabins. The sea conditions were pretty mild during the first night but Shirley was the first to feed the fish and then Richard could not keep his dinner down. They got over it and eventually went to sleep. I was on watch all night but did manage to get a couple of fifteen minute naps while the auto pilot did its job. Before the morning dawned we could see the red glow in the sky from the active volcano waxing and waning as the activity increased and then receded. We were headed for a small break in the fringing reef on the Northern tip of Ambrym.
The first clinic was to be at Olal which is a Roman Catholic village with a very dominant large church perched on the best real estate in the area. Where ever we get R.C. villages the people mostly speak French. That becomes a bit of a problem as our expat volunteers speak neither French nor Bislama. The break in the reef was marked with two very thin saplings which only became apparent when we were 100 meters off the reef. Shekinah had not yet arrived but as we approached we could see her anchored about five miles to the west. They had encountered a strong adverse current the previous day. The little harbour at Olal was just big enough for the two yachts but we had to be careful as there were several coral heads inside the anchorage.
The team was ashore by 0800hrs and setting up for work. There is an estimated population of 3,000 in the northern area, and from the start it was busy. Barbara was frustrated because the interpreter would disappear on her and things would come to a stand-still in her section. This went on day after day and became a major frustration. The village people from the eastern area either came by truck or walked for several hours. The hill people heard the news and came also.
One boy had to be evacuated to Villa with a dislocated elbow. There happened to be some Australian surgeons in Villa and were able to operate and repair the damage. Another serious case was a boy of about 11 years with a huge abscess on his shin between the bones. When Barbara lanced it there was about a cup full of puss and blood released. A drain had to be put in and we had to return after several days to check his condition. I asked the localsif they knew anyone that was crippled. After a short pause they told me of a 46 year old man that walked along the ground with his hands and went on to say he lived on the east coast. We asked them to bring him by truck the next day and we would set him up with the wheel chair that the Rotary Club at Surfers Paradise in Queensland had so generously donated to us before we departed Australia. Sure enough, the truck arrived the next day but there was no cripple man to be seen. Instead his brother had come to talk to us about him. He told us that his brother had fallen over a rock ledge into the sea when he was about 3 years of age and had been a paraplegic ever since. There was no help for him back then and he had been in this condition for 43 years and had never received any help of any kind. People just accept their destiny in this way. My heart went out to him and I made the presentation to his brother on behalf of the Sunrise Rotary Club and Pacific Yacht Ministries.
Nembul village, 3 miles to the west, was the second clinic at which a Nurse Practitioner is stationed. Gabriel had only arrived there earlier in the year and this was the main medical facility for the northern area. The clinic and his house have no running water. This part of the island is relatively dry and there are no permanent rivers anywhere on Ambrym. The gullies only run when it rains. Elroy took measurements of guttering, down pipe, supply piping and connections and took photographs of the area. The situation was reported this situation to the provincial health manager and head doctor at Norsup,as they were unaware of this situation. This is quite typical of the things we find out here. We spent two and a half days at this clinic and returned to Olal Sunday for another one and a half days before moving to Ranon. As we arrived at the clinic there was a pagan dance in progress called a Rom dance. The men had dressed up in traditional costume and basically it is a stamp your feet dance. Captain Mike and Chris wanted to observe it and they were charged 3,000 vatu each. (That is $60. Ambrym has reputation of heathen worship but felt safe while there
On Sabbath Jan and I walked to church with elder Rubin's two sons. They arrived at 8am to help us carry the things for the church. It was a long walk around the points but very interesting. There were many gullies to cross, where the water rushes down in the heavy rain. The village has a beautiful view of the ocean in its elevated position. They made us very welcome. Jan took an ‘object lesson’ and I told them of our work with Pacific yacht Ministries. Jan took all the children out for lesson time, always having lots of fun with them. After church we walked to the village which has a magnificent view out over the sea. To the north Pentecost Island looked very close. Pr. Ferris worked in this area in the 1950's and they showed us the playing field that had been cut out of the side of the mountain by manual labour and the concrete steps that led up to his house. I had a fast walk back to the yacht to get the team ashore so we could start clinic by 1:30pm. Jan stayed to do a general health talk, and to talk to the ladies of the church before she joined us later in the afternoon.
Craig Cove is located on the western tip of the island and the area has a population of over 3,500. We arrived at Craig Cove on the Wednesday afternoon so had two and a half days to work before Sabbath and let the team unwind. Every one on the team worked hard and by Friday afternoon it began to ease off. During those couple of days villages from 30 kilometers to the SE came by truck and some even walked.
Jan & I went to church on Saturday, and while we were there I got a phone call from Barbara on board Another Angel who said that the yacht was drifting to the NW and was not far off the rocks on the other side of the harbour. The wind had swung the yacht in circles and had dislodged the anchor and dropped it into deep water. There was a very long phone conversation explaining how to start engines, raise the anchor, motor slowly back to the anchorage and drop the anchor again. The whole church was offering prayer for the situation. The team members on board had just completed a snorkel around the harbour and got back on board just as it happened. It would have been a very rude surprise to return to find Another Angel had disappeared. The current and wind was very strong and they said that she would have missed the rocks and gone out to sea. There were no other boats in the area and I thank God that it all turned out OK. I also thank the team for a great job for the rescue operation. Shekinah had sailed for Norsup that morning to return the boys home and was to meet their daughter on the flight from Australia on Sunday afternoon. We were waiting until Sunday morning for the flight which was to take them to Luganville. Jan and I returned to the yacht just on dark and was told that the same thing happened a second time but they knew what to do this time. I reanchored for the night and all was well after that. 
The flight was due to arrive at Craig Cove at 0845 so we were all off the yacht to go to the airport one hour ahead of time. We waited and waited but I said I needed to return to the yacht. They made me promise I would not leave for Luganville until the flight arrived. It finally arrived about one hour late. In the meantime a barge had arrived in the harbour to unload and load passengers and cargo for Villa. It pulled into the rocky shore and all had to go through the water up to their knees. We were able to leave and set the sails. The wind was from the SE but it was another one and a half hours before we got out of the lee of Ambrym into the trade wind, anchoring in Luganville just on dark. Shekinah was also arriving from Norsup and beat us into the harbour by three minutes
We were short on reading glasses for the last day at Ambrym so last Thursday we sailed around to Aore School to give glasses to a Pastor from Ambyrm to deliver. We had recorded names and done the eye tests so knew what strength of glasses each needed.
Some statistics of the Ambrym trip might be of interest to you. There are no tourists on our teams and I am sure the volunteers will affirm this.
Total of 6,014 individual treatments. Dental patients 1,065 which included 212 extractions and 47 fillings. Vaccinations 167. Eye checks 429 with 343 pair of glasses given. Dr Barbara saw and treated 339 medical cases. Blood Pressure checks 916. Health Education 1,747. Ear Nose and Throat checks 1,268 mainly school children. Physio treatments 83. Off to Big Bay and West Coast of Santo starting on August 2.
Comments:
Judy and Bob (ex-SV Siddiqi)
Blessings,
Heather & Tom
Just fantastic!
God Bless
Rob Latimer
Medical Sailing Ministries