Medical Ships - Australia

news update

The new year is here and with it comes new strategy! 2011 was an incredible year for the YWAM Medical Ship full of amazing, life-giving stories. The incredible success that was experienced in bringing medical services and hope to so many only encourages hearts to keep going and keep giving.

After making some improvements and additions, the Pacific Link is more ready than ever for 2012! Over 11,000 volunteer hours were spent chipping, sanding, painting, and improving the ship over two months! The modifications will help with liveability on board and also to accommodate more patients and storage of medical supplies. However, the ship isn’t the only thing that has had a makeover.

The PNG Department of Health recently released the new Strategic Health Plan for 2011-2020 and the YWAM Medical Ship team has been updating programs to best fit and serve the country’s overall plan. This includes more strategic community development through training and partnerships in addition to the essential services that are provided. The YWAM Medical Ship team continues their aim to come along side PNG villages and government to help them achieve their goals for healthcare.

Excitement is growing even more as the journey progresses and future plans draw near!

January 2012 edition

G’day from KenHappy New Year- 2012 is here already!! It’s shaping up to be a great year with many challenges, meetings, planning, a ship working bee, and communicating to many different people. We are busily getting our ship ready for outreach to help thousands of people in great need. One of my greatest joys are the people I work with; I’m so encouraged by their dedication, selflessness, and passion to see lives changed for the better. There is much joy in doing what we do, and it is wonderful to share that joy with you. We greatly need your involvement to see even more happen this year. Thank you for your continued support in making a difference!

www.ywamships.org.au

Ken Mulligan - CEO YWAM Medical Ships - Australia

Looking to the Future...

The Pacific Link is set to sail again to PNG in April this year!

You may have heard once or twice (maybe even more than that!) about the Ship Blitz. The goal was to make our ship run more efficiently and to be more accommodating for patients as well as those being trained on board. After two months of long hours and hard manual labour, here are a few photos!

Ship Photos!

After scraping off decades worth of paint, getting rid of the rust, and giving the Pacific Link some fresh coats, she’s looking spectacular and ready for action!

PNG Health Care Worker Shares His Experiencehow much he learnt from working with the dentists on board. He now is able to use that new knowledge and skill at the Kikori Hospital with patients that come to see him. He was also given dentistry tools and instruments that greatly benefit him and his patients!

Kimpson decided to join the outreach on the ship last year to learn more dentistry skills and experience a life-giving community, serving alongside other volunteers from all over the world. The dentistry team on the ship was definitely grateful for this man of character and his hard work!

Kimpson waits in the dental clinic for the next patient.

For more information:Address: PO Box 1959 Townsville QLD 4810 AustraliaPhone: +61 7 4771 2123 Fax: +61 7 4772 44144Email: info@ywamships.org Web: www.ywamships.org.au

Thanking our Sponsors:

Kimpson Kibou joined the Medical Ship for Outreach Two in 2011. He is originally from Ero Village in the Gulf Province of PNG but moved to Kikori, a more populated area, to help with basic oral health care treatment at the hospital there.

When he’s not cleaning and pulling teeth, he helps out around the hospital in whatever way he is able.

In 2010, while the Pacific Link was in PNG, Kimpson was able to join the ship for 2 days. In addition to the many extractions he performed, Kimpson also remembers

The stairs were redone (seen above) as well as a covering added over the deck (seen below).