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West Coast Santo
After a busy week of preparations we were ready to face the West Coast of Santo.The west coast has a reputation for being fairly exposed and the beach landings hazardous - usually big surf.(We were praying for little or no wind for the entire trip)God is so amazing - the winds dropped out a couple of days before we left so the swell had a chance to die down and we had a brilliant two weeks of weather for working the west coast.
The team arrived late on Tuesday afternoon and after a short stopover at Aore Island for dinner and an introduction of staff session we had a couple hours sleep then the Boat Captains were up and heading out at 11.30p.m.After motor/sailing down the straight and facing the dreaded SW corner which has sloppy swells from every which way then sailing throughout the night we arrived at Wusi the first stop.Even though the captains were up all night there was no rest.We had to load all the medical equipment and people into dinghies and head to the shore ready to set up the clinic.Our daily schedule was very hectic too.Usually we were up before dawn and motoring to the next village. After landing equipment and people we would help out doing blood pressure checks or health education then packing up to move to the next village for the clinic after lunch.We would repeat the morning's process then head back to the yachts to cook tea then fall into bed.
We had a team totalling 12 including ourselves. There were two nurses from Australia, and local staff from the Santo hospital, a Nurse Practitioner (the same as a Doctor over here), an eye nurse, an ENT nurse, a dentist,a pharmacist and ourselves doing blood pressure checks and helping with health education.We visited twenty villages, checked every school child, and restocked all the clinics and aid posts with 'in date' medications etc.During the two week period we conducted over five thousand health checks, gave out about 100 pairs of reading glasses, and we also did health education talks on women's health, dental health, the dangers of smoking, and general good diet/lifestyle choices.
The clinics were usually run in the Nakamal (community hall) or in the shade of the mango tree.There is no such thing as privacy, as a clinic is a big event and everyone comes to look.If there is anything unusual like lancing an abscess then everyone crowds around to watch. The lancee has instant celebrity status.
We were made welcome by the villagers who fed us very well every lunch time. During one of the lunches, in pride of place was a Flying fox dish, Tony was the only white guy game enough to try it, however our local staff finished it off quick smart. They also made lap lap, a local dish made for special occasions some of which taste better than others.It was good to have the local guys to help us eat it because it isn't a favourite dish with westerners.
We had amazing things happen.We were about ½ way along the island and were finishing up for the day, when a taxi boat came along with a girl who had somehow got a large cut on her head while hunting wild pigs, that needed stitching.They had seen the masts of the boats and knew we could help.I am not sure what they would have done if we weren't here.It might have been like another poor lady that we treated.She was a victim of domestic violence and had had a dislocated shoulder for four months.It had been out so long it had started to calcify and was very difficult to get back in. We had to strap it in place and hope the ligaments would go back to normal.Unfortunately her husband will be no help he had belted her up the night before we got there even though she was in such a condition. He was nowhere to be found while we were there.
Another sad thing that happened was when we met two orphan children.They had been found living alone in the bush and bought to live with an aunty and her four children. Their story was pretty awful. Apparently mum and dad died, we are not sure how, possibly a murder/suicide case and the dogs had eaten most mum's body before she was found and could be buried. Dad had mental problems and the kids have been labelled mental as well. (We are not sure if their learning difficulties are from some mental problem or if they are suffering from shock and trauma) They are certainly very withdrawn and shy of strangers, although Tony managed to befriend the boy.
However it wasn't all sad, we were able to bring an end to suffering for many people. There were plenty of people who got the dentist to pull out their rotten teeth.Sarah even had the chance to pull out another eight teeth.The doctor operated on several abscesses and the nurses dressed countless wounds.The ENT nurse also had to remove a couple of foreign bodies from ears and one from in the nose.
We also had some of the best fishing we have done for ages. We trolled behind the boat and caught a couple of barracudas, and a dolphin fish.We had spent about ½ an hour fighting the dolphin fish trying to get it into the boat when all of a sudden the water around him went red and he stopped fighting.We pulled in what was left of him, only ½ a dolphin fish.A shark or another fish had the first dinner off him.We also hooked a Marlin or something similar and after a demonstration of tail walking he broke the line and got away.
Now we are back in Luganville catching up on business and getting ready for the next team which starts on 31st August.
Love to all.
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