Outreach 3- Gulf Province

Hello everyone!

I hope all of you are doing well and enjoying the fall sunshine! I'm still adjusting to the weather changes and the dry heat here, but overall I'm really enjoying being home.

Thank you so much to all of you who have been supporting me since being home and taking an interest in what I've experienced. It's been wonderful to catch up with everyone and find out what has been going on here in your lives. :)

As I'm unpacking my experience of the last 5 months, and recounting the stories I wanted to share an exciting piece of information with you: 24 individuals in my school impacted and made a difference in the lives of over 25,600 people in 3 months!!!!         Isn't that incredible???? :)

Glancing back in my journal I rediscovered my packing adventure (it was quite an event) where I had to use PAM spray on my luggage zipper to get it sealed. Thankfully it traveled to Australia, PNG and back home, though I set a personal record for packing and repacking 11 times from home including my time in PNG. I'm not quite an expert, but I can confidently say I can pack my luggage in a short amount of time.

June 22. 2012 ~



MV Pacific Link



Left Aroma village to join the MV Pacific Link docked in Port Morsby; commenced clinic orientation. The ship runs health care clinics (dental, primary health care, optometry, opthalmology) for a period  of 2 weeks at a time. Volunteers (Doctors, nurses, dentists, optometrists, general volunteers) ranging from vast parts of the globe come to live on the ship and serve in a clinic for 2 weeks. Due to the fact I was part of a school that was involved with the ship, we participated in multiple consecutive outreaches and clinics.



Christina and Candace managing Triage!





PHC clinics



I was placed in the PHC “Primary Health Care” clinic team and was responsible for triage with Candace, a medical student from Malaysia. We made a dynamic team and learned many things together! The first clinic day we had the opportunity to work with the doctors and nurses  in the outpatient at the Kikori hospital and I was in charge of wound care for that day. It was a far cry from abundance of supplies I was accustomed to and grimaced as I chased away cockroaches from my working area and  wound dressings.  I was amazed to work with one of the nurses who was insightful and knowledgeable concerning the myriad of tropical ulcers we saw and how she treated her patients with basic supplies. Even though I carried a backpack containing wound care ointments and dressings, it stretched my nursing brain and skill set to realize there wasn't likely to be follow up or daily dressing changes. I came to recognize yellow puss-filled and purulent ulcers required antibiotics but it astounded me that in recounting a patients history, a child stated he fell while playing 3 weeks ago and received a small laceration; presenting now with a 2 inch convex raw ulcer.


 


David RN and Christina presenting mosquito education



Christina with a baby who liked the tasty stethoscope



Each day following we spent in a different village, setting up clinics in churches, or schools. One young boy had some kind of congenital birth defect and had club feet which tore my heart when I saw him. Yet, he moved and walked which amazed me! I couldn't believe his adaptability- he walked down a muddy, slippery mountain, that I had trouble getting down!



young boy with congenital defect/club feet



This was also the village (Babaguna)where I met a woman who acted as translator for us, but also was seen as a patient. She rolled up her sleeve to reveal a stump on her left arm. She explained her husband was drunk and chasing after her with a knife and sliced deep into her flesh- so deep it required amputation. I remember looking in her eyes to see a reflection of such deep fear, pain and hurt. Yet, she informed me she was no longer with her husband, but as a single mom was doing the best she could for her children. She was such a help to us, speaking excellent English. Though my heart ached for what she had been through, I was impressed and grateful her village accepted and included her.

In case you're thinking that all of PNG contains is sad stories, I can reassure you that's not the case. I did witness heartbreaking poverty and stories as those described above, but there were also uplifting stories as well.



PNG boys outside clinic



Dr. Waimbe is a PNG opthalmic surgeon. He works at a hospital in Port Morsby, but came on the ship to  get more training and practice with Dr. Keith, an opthalmic surgeon from New Zealand. It was wonderful to see their partnership as they were able to share skills and techniques with each other. This is one of the goals for the ship ministry: to raise up leaders and individuals in PNG that will carry on this mission of mercy to the poorest of the poor within their own country. So it was with great celebration that Dr. Waimbe had the privilege of receiving higher training and that we were so blessed to have him on board. Soft spoken in voice, he has a smile that breaks out from the corners of his mouth and lights up his whole face. Click on the link below to see a video of more of this story!

 http://www.ywamships.org.au/2012/09/png-ophthalmologist-dr-waimbe-wahamus-story/

I hope you've enjoyed reading my blog today! If you have any questions or are interested in ways to be more involved, please email me at: christyp20@gmail.com. I would love to hear from you!

Thanks heaps! God bless,

Christina

HOME!!!... and back to Fahrenheit

  G’day Everyone! J

Hope this finds all of you well and enjoying September!

 I’m happy to say I’m back home on American soil and relishing harvest season, though I’m still adjusting to the temperature difference, especially since it's not in celsius. When we left Papua New Guinea (PNG) I don’t know what the temperature was, but it was hot! The humidity was something like 84%, and it dropped drastically to 48% when we reached Townsville. What a difference! Coming to Spokane almost seemed like winter!!!

This week I’ve been catching up from jet-lag and recovering from a cold I picked up the last week in Townsville. I traveled from Townville (left at 6am Sunday) to Brisbane to L.A. arrived at 7:30 am Sunday. Hit Spokane at 7pm Sunday- what a trip!!! I think the trip was 28+ hours and I’m giving myself a gold star for navigating the international airports! WOO HOOO!!! J

Thank you so much to everyone who has been reading my blog and keeping updated with Facebook and photos. I’m so excited to be sharing this journey with you, and I’m filled with enthusiasm to share my experiences, but this wouldn’t be possible without the love and support of all of you! Thank you also to my parents for spreading the word and advocating about my mission and purpose, and those who were praying for me and my team. We saw breakthrough, miracles and lives changed because of your dedication!

These last 5 months (8 weeks in Australia and 12 weeks in PNG) has been the experience of a lifetime! I’ve lived in villages without electricity or running water, and also taken on the role of a doctor prescribing medication for adults and children. I’ve experienced multiple 28 hour sails (with seasickness),sank into thigh-deep mud, almost fallen through bamboo floors and shared my story in front of a crowd of 300 students. WOW!

 I look back and realize that even though it was hot, muddy and extremely trying at times… I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything. I see myself sitting in a rocking chair 50 years from now with my grandchildren, recollecting stories of PNG. I yearn to tell them what it is to have mothers inform you they are unable to feed their babies because flooding has destroyed their crops and they have no food. To convey the pain and intimidation in one woman’s eyes as she reveals a stump on her left arm from amputation- a result of her drunk husband chasing after her with a knife and slicing deep into her flesh. And yet, to convey the laughter and hilarity, sheer joy of late nights on the ship singing songs in Motu and Pigeon (2 of the 700 languages in PNG) with the PNG nationals aboard the ship. I want to urge and implore my grandchildren to experience and know first-hand what it is to be a life-giver, to offer hope…real hope.

Christina with mom and happy baby (before immunizations) in Western Province

PNG brought out some characteristics I didn’t even know were in me. I discovered I have substance: I’m strong, and more importantly, I am an overcomer! I can conquer challenges; stare fear in the face, and laugh while having “nothing.” I realized that the intimidation of impossibilities is just a screen ready to be marched through and conquered! Through this, I realized I have a fiery, fervent desire to be a part of something greater than myself; I want to be part of the solution, justice to those suffering the injustice of poverty.  

Our motto heralding the ministry of the medical ship is “Mi Like Stap Laip” which in English means “I want to live.” This is derived from John 10:10 which says “The devil comes to steal, kill and destroy, but Jesus came to give life and life abundantly.” I feel I was born to fight for something… I want to fight for LIFE! It is for this reason I am planning to return to Townsville in Australia in January to complete a second-year school “Introduction to Primary Health Care” (IPHC) which trains individuals to be capable of treating 80% of the diseases in the developing world. As I mentioned in my previous posts, I discovered and grasped a hold of a passion for teaching, and have excitement about training non-medical individuals to have the medical knowledge and skills to diagnose and treat 80% the preventable diseases in 3^rd world countries. Similar to the DTS school I just completed, I would spend a portion of the time in lectures with an outreach portion in PNG!!!!!!! J After the five months of school, I will commit to be on staff for 2 years.  I am here in the States for 4 months to take care of a few things as well as raise support since I’m returning as a full-time volunteer.

 Because there is no way to describe 3 months of PNG in 1 post, I wanted to start sharing stories over a period of time as I recount this incredible journey. Sorry to keep you waiting, but be watching with baited breath for the next post! J

Hope you enjoyed reading this. If you are interested in more information or would like to partner with me in more specific ways, feel free to email me at christyp20@gmail.com !

Thanks a million!

God bless,

Christina

Back in Australia

Gup pla Morning Olegeta!
Well, it's afternoon actually. But that is a Pidgeon phrase we learned in Papua New Guinea.
I hope you are all well, I'm glad to say I'm back in Australia and going to be heading home early next week.
Thank you all for reading my posts and traveling with my journey. It's been exciting for sure!
I will be updating my blog with a few stories each week to share with you since there are so many! So please be watching for that!
Feel free to send me an email (christyp20@gmail.com) to say hi and update me on how all of you are doing. Would love to get an update!
Also, We have graduation as a school (the discipleship training school I've been a part of these last 5 months) which is tomorrow at 11am (6pm pacific time). It will be on the YWAM reef to outback homepage (www.ywamrto.org). You're invited to watch, if you would like!

That's all for now, but I will be writing another post soon.
God bless, Christina