Mission Log

Nick and James spent two weeks in Vanuatu from March 3 to 16. They had meetings with both government and church leaders during that time. Included were meetings with Dr Tim Vocor, the Acting Director General of Health, staff of both Vila Central Hospital, staff of Northern District Hospital in Luganville, the Acting District Health Manager of TORBA, the Secretary of TORBA Province, and Pr John Lehman, the Director of the SDA Mission in Vila. The updates to the Memorandum of Understanding for 2009 were presented and documents signed by all parties involved. At that stage it had been planned that two vessels would be operating in Vanuatu this year. Windango would be working for the full season and a second vessel through June and July only. The two weeks went smoothly. PYM’s work is well known now. At each meeting the two representatives were received warmly by all officials, and few explanations were required as to why they were there, and the business concerning this year’s activities was processed easily.

A lot of time was spent working on arrangements for Lorian to come to Australia for treatment. Lorian and her Dad, Amfrey were at Northern District Hospital waiting for approval to be gained. Unfortunately much of the paperwork required by Australian Immigration had not been processed. Nick and James found the lady handling her case in the Australia High Commission in Vila to be very helpful. With her assistance and the support of Dr Wari, the Director of Medical Services at NDH, most of the forms required were completed in the two weeks. With those done it was hoped that Lorian would soon be able to come to Australia. While there is an Australian High Commission in Vila, all Medical Visa Applications are processed through Fiji. This complicates matters as the people making the decisions are remote from the area a patient is from, and have little understanding of the difficulties in obtaining much of the data required on the forms.

1599 Medical Patients

892 Dental Patients
346 Extractions
222 Other Treatments

907 Immunizations

Health Education:
558 Dental Health
1534 General Health

440 Malaria Nets Distributed

14 Antenatal Patients

36 Packages of Clinic Supplies Delivered

1577 Blood Pressure Assessments

Drumbeat stayed in Santo for the time between tours and there were some changes in crew-members. The only expat  visitor for this tour was Ione, a nurse from Sydney, who flew into Sola.
This was probably the best team for the season, having all the bases covered yet still being fairly compact. Some of the Nivan staff stayed ashore each night so accommodation was easy. Dr Mark who lives on Gaua Island was able to carry out some surgery and use his portable ultrasound. Ione was great with the women’s issues and education.
Another Angel delivered 50 cartons of school books and supplies from Sola to Robin school on Loh Island.

Captain Brian on Another Angel reported on 27/08/08, ‘The Pacific Yacht Ministries work on Santo West coast concluded today with the safe return of all staff aboard SV Drumbeat and SV Another Angel. It was a very harmonious team with a very, very busy schedule. Including the days of travel, the team was away for 11 days. To return to Luganville the yachts traveled 17 hours nonstop in very average conditions.’

Immunizations 329

Malaria Nets Distributed 175

Dental Patients 589

Dental Extractions 116

Dental Preventative Treatments 67

Blood Pressure Assessments 592

Nursing Treatments 274

Health Education Attendees 558

Patients with Ear, Nose, Throat Problems 1013

Pharmacy Prescriptions Dispensed 104

As well two 2 HF radios were installed and one solar electrical system repaired at clinics. A Vanuatu technician who travelled on one of the yachts did this work. You would have to agree that they certainly had a very busy 11 days.

Following is a preliminary report of the work accomplished by team members traveling on the two yachts to six islands of the Banks group during September:

Immunizations 433

Dental Patients 121

Dental Extractions 177

Dental Preventative Treatments 15

Blood Pressure Assessments 623

Nursing Treatments 274

Health Education Attendees 861

Health Literature distributed 270 pieces

Delivery of Dispensary supplies 20 cartons

Because of the shipping difficulties to the outer islands, supplies for Health Centres, Dispensaries and Aid Posts are often delayed many weeks. When PYM boats are travelling to an area they regularly these supplies. Both central store staff and health staff are grateful for this service that the yachts provide.

Team 4 was the largest that PYM has assembled to date. A total of 21 people, professionals, helpers, and yacht crews for 4 yachts left Sola, Vanua Lava on Friday Oct 5. This team worked on Ureparapara Island, plus 5 islands in the very remote Torres group: Loh, Tegua, Hiu, Metoma, and Toga.

The results speak of the teams efforts:

Medical:
354 patients examined in total - 263 adult and 91 children

Health Education:
Over 2600 attendees at 12 locations participated in workshops and presentations. Subjects ranged through the usual:
Back strengthening exercises and back care techniques
Dental health and food
Women’s health and Breast examinations
Family planning
Breast feeding
Infertility
Domestic violence, rape and incest
DVD’s on alcohol,tobacco, germs, STD’s, general health and hygiene, and HIV/AIDS
How to make a bush toothbrush

Dental:
479 patients examined - 306 adults and 173 children
96 adults had 145 extractions while 9 children (12 years old and under) had 11 extractions

Glasses:
72 men and 40 women were provided with glasses  - 66 pairs for reading and distance vision problems, and 54 pairs of sunglasses to help slow down the growth of Pterygium on eyes already affected

Vaccinations:
421 disease preventing vaccinations provided to babies, school children, pregnant women, and women of child bearing age

This was a great effort carried out by an expatriate doctor, a dentist and assistant (both from Vanuatu), 5 expatriate registered nurses (one a registered midwife), and a cook, plus two staff members from the TORBA Provincial Health Office in Sola (both RN’s) who were overseeing the vaccination program.

God has blessed Team 3 with amazingly mild weather for this time of year. This has made it possible for the team to reach four islands that are very difficult to access when the winds are strong. Two would have been impossible with the normal Trade winds.

Team members have made good use of the time given them:

Medical:
193 patients examined in total - 169 adult and 24 children

Health Education:
Over 2000 attendees at 3 locations participated in workshops and presentations. Subjects ranged through:
Back strengthening exercises and back care techniques
Dental health and food
Women’s health and Breast examinations
Family planning
Breast feeding
Infertility
Domestic violence, rape and incest
DVD’s on alcohol,tobacco, germs, STD’s, general health and hygiene, and HIV/AIDS
How to make a bush toothbrush

Dental:
346 patients examined - 192 adults and 154 children
126 adults had 185 extractions while 14 children (12 years old and under) had 17 extractions

Vaccinations:
878 disease preventing vaccinations provided to babies, school children, pregnant women, and women of child bearing age
There was a doctor and a dentist, both from Vanuatu, 4 registered nurses, and a registered nurse/midwife plus helpers (all expatriates) on this team. There was 3 nurses from the TORBA Provincial Health Office who lead the vaccination program. Thank you team for a great effort.

Medical:
671 patients seen in total
601 adults - 263 men 338 women
70 children - 45 boys 25 girls

Health Education:
3584 participants in 19 locations (6 of them schools)

Dental:
375 patients in total
345 adult - 154 men 191 women
30 children - 14 boys 16 girls

304 adults lost a total of 507 teeth
22 children lost 24 teeth

Glasses:
75 men 103 women provided with 151 reading/distance glasses and 30 sunglasses for eye problems

I’m sure you will agree, this team was very busy on the islands of Pentecost and Maewo. Here is the evidence:

Medical:
562 patients examined in total - 512 adult and 50 children

Health Education:
3262 attendees at 12 locations, four of these were schools, participated in workshops and presentations. Subjects ranged through:
Back strengthening exercises and back care techniques
Dental health and food
Women’s health and breast examinations
Family planning
Breast feeding
Infertility
Domestic violence, rape and incest
DVD’s on alcohol,tobacco, germs, STD’s, general health and hygiene, and HIV/AIDS
How to make a bush toothbrush

When puppet programs about dental care were presented there was no problem getting the school children’s attention. Hopefully they will remember the themes of the programs they enjoyed so much.

Dental:
297 patients examined - 268 adults and 29 children
244 adults had 409 extractions while 21 children (12 years old and under) had 23 extractions

Glasses:
28 men and 38 women were given help with reading and distance vision problems through 58 pairs of glasses, and 11 pairs of sunglasses to help slow down the growth of Pterygium on their eyes.

There were 2 expatriate doctors, a dentist from Vanuatu with his assistant, a registered nurse, and a registered nurse/midwife plus helpers on this team. This is a great result especially considering that a couple of the team members themselves suffered from viral infections some time during the trip. Thank you team for a wonderful effort.

Considering that Pacific Yact Ministries was yachtless 2006 was quite a successful year. Three teams provided Vanuatu communities with quality assistance. The fourth team, scheduled for October, had to be terminated at close to departure time because of circumstances beyond PYM’s control. One member of that team had already departed when the effort was cancelled. She was a great ambassador at Santo Hospital for the two weeks. Two more dental volunteers flew into Vanuatu in November and worked with local staff for two weeks on the island of Santo.

Volunteers of 2006 - we salute you! Thank you for making the year a success.  We praise God for willing volunteers.