Newsletters

Paul wrote he had learned to be content in every circumstance, but I didn’t know how I’d go. New Zealand circumstances are rather different to those in PNG! Many thanks to my New Zealand friends and family who have given me a very rich fruit-salad of experiences in my six months kiwi leave. I’ve loved it! Fancy meals, comfortable beds, keys to the car, picturesque walks,... > Read more

If you wanted more details of the mission rescue of the man attacked and shot by arrows in Papua New Guinea mentioned in the last issue, here is a newspaper article of the incident published by the Challenge Weekly July 2011. The man responsible for the attack has been caught and put into custody. > Read more

Love and War Love is... spending all day going to a bush fowl nest in search for the delicacy it may hold! The nest's as big as a room and made of leaves. It has to be dug by hand deep down to the ground over such a big area. Two old ladies, one that I call "mum", came back exhausted... > Read more

Catching Up It feels like ages since I was in touch with my faithful friends. But I want to thank you for your prayers, because it has been a time of growth for me and many others. December was a month I had battled to be positive about as it approached. Dr Dan went on holiday, leaving me with a... > Read more

Sunday 7 November After a frantic week, my weekend was quiet andrefreshing. “I feel almost ready to face thenext thing,” I comment to Rosie. “I wonderwhat that will be?” she replied. Monday 8th Phone call from Tabubil Hospital (3 hours drive from us). Confidentially,... > Read more

URGENT PRAYER REQUEST - Daru Cholera Outbreak - Papua New Guinea Please pray for us on the brink of a cholera outbreak. Our provincial capital Daru, Papua New Guinea has had 21 deaths in the past 3 weeks, we found out yesterday. There should only be a case fatality rate of 1%, but they may be... > Read more

Body Parts ROUTINES ARE ALL VERY WELL but in the land of the unexpected... what can you expect? In the middle of the theatre list with Dr Dan, I was called to the radio. A 15yr old girl in a remote village had severe lower abdominal pain with fever, starting the day before. She wasn't eating... > Read more

Original Recipes RECIPE FOR BUSYNESS • two tired doctors • donor agencies • sixty bed hospital • rumours of Cholera • equipment odds and ends • two questioning UK med students Take the 2 doctors firmly in both hands, cover with demands from the donor... > Read more

Grace THERE'S SOMETHING THERAPEUTIC about writing a newsletter today. I mean, it's good to step aside and take stock of life here, but also the physical fact I'm managing to sit in the house for long enough to get this done is quite a relief. Work in the hospital has been so crazy. Taking... > Read more

Rural Medical Training I'VE JUST SPENT A WONDERFUL WEEK in the cool Highlands with other doctors from the PNG Rural Medical Society. We were on a course on Surgical Care in the District Hospital - a good level for me, as a non specialist doctor who gets called upon to do all kinds of things.... > Read more

Runginae Hospital Experiences My first four weeks of Rumginae Hospital Experiences A mother in the pushing stage of labour for 16 hours coming in from the bush. The baby dies and the mother has... > Read more

The Team at Rumginae Hospital Meet some of our team at Rumginae Hospital, the maintenance team for my new house at Rumginae. We're actually the Missionary Team in the North Fly region, an... > Read more

I trekked for 8 hours with about 150 ladies then stayed in a bush material tent, squashed up with people from our district. Curious people surrounded me wanting to hear me speak and observe... > Read more

My experience of a villagers death in a Papua New Guinea Village I WOKE TO THE SOUND OF EERIE WAILING My first inkling that the week was about to take on a new direction. Our “cousin”... > Read more

I have to say that language learning is nothing like what I expected. The books I read before I came had me imagining sitting with someone each morning, doing dialogues and language drills and... > Read more

Local Worker I know I work with Pioneers, WHICH SPECIALISES IN WORKING WITH PEOPLE groups, but one of the treats of Papua New Guinea is that the local church is living and active. I work within... > Read more

HIV in PNG I'll call her Suzie. SHE CAME WITH A 2YR OLD BOY, HER YOUNGEST He lay still, but labouring to breathe in her arms, a feeding tube through his nose. Her husband was with her. This was... > Read more

My village family "It seems I'm to treat them and be treated as part of their family too." THERE ARE UP TO EIGHT OF US IN OUR HOUSE. Sarome (who I call Andy's mother) is a pastor's... > Read more

Returned After saying enough goodbyes to last 3 years, I’m back in NZ after a 2-month tourist visa! From all the stories I hear, it could take a few weeks to a few months to get the 3... > Read more

Just a glimpse Kinship system and gift giving SNORKELING THROUGH REEFS, HIKING through jungle, making a drum oven, learning to dehydrate food, working with Americans, hearing about World War II... > Read more