Approximately 220 km’s from Australia’s mainland lies a country where one child in every thirteen will die before the age of five years, a rate far greater than any other in the Pacific region. It is not hard to imagine why this is so little known. Due to the remoteness, media coverage is difficult to access in the province of a nation that ranks lower in poverty than countries like Ghana and Kenya.

“I have eight children”, one mother said. But only four

children played together in the yard. When asked where the other four played, she answered, “They died”.

YWAM volunteer and midwife, Naomi Colwell, was on the YWAM Medical Ship in the Western Province of PNG helping to teach mothers how to better care for their babies. In addition to attending to health concerns and treating patients, she and others set up day and week long clinics to equip and train locals.

Naomi’s first patient this trip was little Umi. Umi’s family live in the village of Bamio. Umi was eight weeks old and weighed just 1.7 kilos. A healthy baby at the same age should weigh about 4.7 kg. Umi’s mother had to leave her baby in the care of her husband or a neighbour while she worked in the fields making sago (a local food source from trees) each day, but she did not let the neighbouring women feed her baby for fear of disease transmission.

Naomi was able to explain to Umi’s family and the women in the village that it is safe for different women to nurse the same baby. Simple education like this could be the difference between life and death.

A volunteer who assisted Nurse Colwell, Nathaniel Baldock said, “It seems that death is so common that it was strange for us to suggest changing the way things are done so that Umi can live.”

Nathaniel said, “It must be difficult, it seems to have always been like this and from their perspective how could it ever change?”

Regardless of the reasons why Papua New Guinean babies are dying, at least part of the solution is empowering local mothers with knowledge and hope. While in the Western Province for two weeks, the YWAM Medical Ship was able to run education sessions, with a total of 2,389 attendees.

Medical Ships - Australia

news updateSeptember 2012 edition

G’day from KenI so often see stories of hunger, hurting, and poverty from around the world. It can be easy to become overwhelmed, as many of you may also feel at times. The Western Province of Papua New Guinea is no exception. Then with gratitude, I see all of the positive stories from the Medical Ship. I recognize that with wisdom and respect for the rich culture, we have the amazing privilege of helping establish community development in PNG, along with immediate relief through aid. With only one month left of our outreaches, I am more encouraged than ever. I hope this newsletter will enrich your perspective on the role you play in seeing positive change in our world.

www.ywamships.org.au

Ken Mulligan - CEO YWAM Medical Ships - Australia

Babies Dying Off Australian Shores

Baby Umi -- just 1.7 kg at eight weeks old.

In continuing with community development, so far this year we’ve been able to deliver 38,622 health & training services. Primary Health Care Patients - 3,696Immunisations Given - 1,704Dentistry Procedures - 2,727Optometry Clinic Patients - 1,957Group Education Attendees - 10,412Individual Education Attendees - 2,085Village Workers Trained - 96Preventative Health Resources - 15,910Ophthalmology Patients - 35

Thanking our Partners:

Within Bamio village lies one of the best health clinics in the area, operated by village health care worker, Josephina. Josephina came to the village in 2009 to provide services for the surrounding Bamu River villages.

In the back of the clinic sits a room labelled “Delivery Room,” and it is only about 2.5m x 3m. It is outfitted with a bed made of bamboo and grass, covered by one plastic sheet that Josephina cleans and reuses, as well as two buckets filled with water. When the expectant mothers of the village go into labour they come to see Josephina and she checks them to make sure labour is going as it should. If they are 2-3 cm

dilated, she instructs them to walk around. When their water breaks they lie down on the birthing bed and begin pushing. She has very few resources to work with, and the single plastic sheet dramatically increases the possibility of infection or even death for both mother and baby.

After meeting Josephina in Bamio, YWAM Medical Ships was able to give her twenty-five birthing kits to use. These birthing kits each have one new sheet of plastic and soap to keep the mother and baby clean and prevent infection. They also come with string to tie the umbilical cord, gloves for whoever is assisting with the birth, a sterile wipe for the baby’s eyes, and one clean razor to cut the chord. With these birthing kits Josephina hopes to see a decrease in the amount of labour mortalities; offsetting the staggering statistic of 1 in 7 women in rural Papua New Guinea dying in childbirth.

Birthing Kits for Josephina

Health care worker of Bamio village, Josephina, talks with patients in the clinic.

The delivery room in Bamio village where health care worker, Josephina, helps expectant mothers give birth.

For more information:Address: PO Box 1959 Townsville QLD 4810 AustraliaPhone: +61 7 4771 2123 Fax: +61 7 4772 4414Email: info@ywamships.org Web: www.ywamships.org.au