Medical Ships - Australia

news updateJune 2012 edition

G’day from KenIt has been a very successful month with the completion of our first outreach into the Gulf Province. I’m so encouraged and annoyed; we have wonderful stories, then the confronting situations of the suffering and needless death we see. It doesn’t take long to remember why we do what we do, and that it has to be a collaborative effort. I’m so thankful for the hard work every volunteer, supporter, and all involved in helping to train and improve lives.

www.ywamships.org.au

Ken Mulligan - CEO YWAM Medical Ships - Australia

Sauga Mabaia’s dream has started to become a reality. Learning even the basics of dentistry used to be a far off idea, but the 29 year-old father of two, living in Karati village, has finally received the opportunity to begin learning with the help of the dentists that were on board for outreach one.

In a country longing for dental care, Sauga is ready to fill his role. Though he only had a few days to learn the basics, one of the volunteer dentists who was involved in training Sauga, Nirooban Sivarajah, described it as giving Sauga a crash course in pain management and treatment. This will cater to the majority of dental needs in his village. “We taught him what questions to ask to find out what the problem is,

to know what is worth keeping or taking out, and then how to extract the tooth itself.”

Although a full, in depth education of what Sauga learned would take years, Sauga did a phenomenal job with the “crash course” he went through due to the limited amount of time. The dentists were confident in his abilities to perform basic treatment after the ship had gone from his village. Sauga was also able to attend a training session with other health care workers in his village, hosted by members of the primary health care volunteers who were on board the ship. His excitement to learn and help his village was an encouragement to many volunteers on board!

PNG Local Receives Training From Volunteer Dentists

Volunteer dentist, Zaid Wall, instructs Sauga on numbing a patient’s gum before extracting a tooth.

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

Thanking our Partners:

Outreach 1 Photos!

Volunteer doctor on board, Robert Bester, trains local health care workers in Karati village.

Optometry Clinic Leader, Debbie Bollinger, sets up spectacles in the optometry clinic on the first day.

Suffering Woman Finds Relief at Health Care ClinicWendy came to the primary health care clinic in Karati hoping for some help. Months prior, Wendy had suffered major burns on many areas of her body including her arms and her face. After her accident, the scar tissue had built up all down her arms, leaving

her unable to extend them fully.

One of the doctors on board for the first outreach, Dr. Peter Schindler, looked to see what help he could offer. He concluded that he could safely cut open and remove some of the scar tissue on the inside of her arm so that she could have full range of motion back.

On the morning of the second day in Wendy’s village, after having a consultation the day before, the doctor began the procedure. Though the burns damaged both arms, the

doctor decided it would be best to only do one arm, and preferred the right because it was the arm that was the most troublesome to her.

Wendy did very well through the procedure and came back the following day for check up. She was happy with the results and extremely grateful for the help she received. Four days after the procedure, the doctor removed the gauze, and Wendy was able to straighten her arm almost completely!

Wendy’s arm before the procedure was done.

Doctor on board who performed the surgery, Peter Schindler, holds out Wendy’s arm four days after the procedure.

Deckhands, Pete Moody and Fleming Isorua, fix up a motor in Gigori village. Boys from Wowobo Village visit the ship in their canoes!