So I made it safe and sound to New Guinea…on the other side of the globe! I left life as I know it last Wednesday to fly across the US, to Brisbane and then to Port Moresby, the capital city of Papua New Guinea. The international airport had three gates…but I made it with my luggage (no small miracle) and was picked up by a wonderful woman who is friends of the family at the hospital and lives in the city. She gave me a ride to the hotel where I spent the night (because apparently taking a taxi can be rather dangerous). In asking about her family, I found out that her husband was recently diagnosed with cancer and is undergoing radiation therapy so keep them in your prayers. On Saturday, I flew from Port Moresby to Kikori, a small small village on the gulf. It was almost surreal flying over the country, because when you looked down there was absolutely nothing except jungles and snaking rivers, and the occasional man fishing out of a canoe carved from a log. At the airport, I was met by Barb, another wonderful woman who works at the hospital here. I had understood that they would be bringing a vehicle to meet me and bring me back to Kapuna (where I’m at now) …this vehicle was actually a fifteen-foot wood-bottom boat with a motor on the back. We sat underneath a tarp as it was raining and took a four-hour boat rider up the river! Crazy stuff. I asked Barb if there were really a lot of crocodiles around the river, and her response was this..”yes…that’s where faith in God comes into play.” Nice.
When we arrived at Kapuna last night, we were greeted with a warm reception. Lucy, one of the hospital nurses, gave me a gorgeous lei made of real hibuscus flowers. I’m staying in a house called “treetops” house with Dr. Manar, who came from England a week ago. The house is the coolest thing…very Swiss Family Robinson-esque if you can imagine…it’s on stilts and is open to the outside, but we have running water, a stove to cook on and even a washing machine in there. When you look out the windows you see coconut, banana, lemon, and guava trees. It’s amazing.
Last night we ate dinner with Barb and her husband Colin…cooked pumpkin, banana, sweet potato and egg…I have a feeling I’m going to eat a lot of new things here but it was delicious. Dr. Lin, who was until recently the only doctor at the hospital, came to join us. She is 84 years old (that’s right) and has been living here since the 1950s. I can’t wait to get to know her and hear her story. We were called over to the hospital around 9PM for a four-year old who was “breathing fast.” I got over there and the boy was breathing but not responsive…apparently he had been like that for hours. Here in the US we would have called the pediatric rapid response team, but apparently they have no such thing here. Imagine that. Dr. Lin, Dr. Manar and I examined him and started him on antibiotics thinking (actually they thought:)) that he likely had pneumonia (even though his lungs were clear) or meninigitis. I was really worried about him but amazingly he was semi-awake and eating this morning. It’s so different how medicine is practiced here…I definitely have a lot to learn.
This morning we went to church with the local community. We sang various worship songs, none of which I knew but which were praising God all the same. Different people came up to share their testimonies or something that had happened to them last week, and even I, as a new member of the community, was called to say a few words! The people here at Kapuna are some of the most welcoming people I’ve met…I absolutely love them. It was also cool to me to see how they worship with such pure hearts even though their worship service is by no means fancy. God was definitely in everyone’s heart this morning.
We were called from church for a delivery… I of course was really excited but the baby had just been born when we got there. I don’t know really what I was expecting, but the delivery suite basically just has a table in it…no monitors, no IV poles, and no anesthesia. They do have a few of the basic drugs in case of emergency. I just wonder what happens when there’s a complication…no C-sections are done here. For mom and baby’s sakes I hope I don’t have to find out! What was really neat is that we pray and sing the mother a song after every delivery. There’s another woman in labor right now…and I’m on call so hopefully I’ll get to do the delivery later tonight!
Alright, that’s all I’m going to write right now. I’ll try and keep you guys updated as often as I can….I’ll be here at the hospital in Kapuna for a week or two at least…and then I’ll either go on patrol to see patients in the villages or go work at Kikori hospital. I want to thank you guys all again for your support and prayers… it truly means a lot to me and I know that prayers were a big part of the reason I’ve ended up here safely.