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

Hey Everyone!

Quick update from PNG!

Arrived on the MV Pacific Link and sailed to the gulf provence. Apparently the sail was rougher than usual and only 3 out of the 12 of us didn’t vomit. I was one of the 9 who became quite close with the vomit bucket ;)

But it’s still been an incredible experience to live on the ship, and see how much it takes to run…. And I’m getting much better at all the locations on the ship, aft deck, foc’sle, galley, etc.

We were a part of outreach 3 to the Gulf provence and the 12 of us were divided among optometry, opthamology, PHC (primary health care) and dentistry. I spent one week in PHC going to 5 different villages. Treated some malaria, lots of skin conditions, back and knee pain and a few pregnant mums. It was so neat to see the expression on the mom’s faces hearing the heartbeat of their baby for the first time!

Spent the 2^nd week in dentistry, which was initially a surprise, since I was expecting to stay in PHC. However, I made a great discovery that I have an passion and gift for teaching. I so enjoyed explaining the importance of post-op care and why it’s important after tooth extraction and had an appx.99% success rate of patient compliance after teaching and translating. That was extremely gratifying! Also taught the patients how to rinse and brush their teeth, and emphasized how they could “keep their teeth” until old age! Some of the patients are now taking the information back to their villages which gets me so excited!

On a personal note, I’m doing really well, learning so much, from being on the ship, to working with so many nationalities. I’ve picked up a little fijian! J Getting more and more organized living in community and sleeping in close quarters.  And living flexibily with “island time” where some things happen and some things don’t, you just have to roll with it!

 Love my DTS school/family, growing laughing, crying together, they are such a blessing!~ speaking of which, we have an update video on the YWAM reef to outback website. Check it out! J

I can’t wait to share with all of you the stories, excitement and passions from being here, and just realizing what it is to give life; that is to give someone else the opportunity for a rich and satisfying life as God intended.

Lots of love, Christina 

Finally, here in Papua New Guinea...

 Greetings Everyone!

I have the opportunity to hop into an internet café so I thought I would give a quick update.

            First of all, Hello! I am alive & I’m ok! No need to worry Mom! J I spent 48 hours with a sort of stomach bug, but I’m completely recovered and doing great!

So far the Ship DTS has divided into 2 teams, the highlands team and the Central Provence Team, which is the one I’m on. We went from the airport in Port Moresby to a church we stayed at for a few days. It was an adjustment sleeping on the floor with a foam mat and sleeping bag, but I’m getting creative in using clothes for extra padding.

We had the opportunity to share/teach with some of the locals as part of the clinic ministry/outreach the church has onsite. It was a great opportunity, especially for the nurses, but a huge challenge at the same time.  There were no doctors, and the nurses were assessing and prescribing medicine from a guideline/standard booklet. I have to give them credit, they are very creative for the resources they have. Every patient received prayer, with the idea that “we treat, God heals.” There were some unique things from would care and facial tumors that you probably wouldn’t see in the US, and amoxicillin is used for everything. We were so glad to be able to spend time with the patients while they were waiting, but the reality in cultural contrast was hard to swallow.

The pastors we stayed with, and all the Papua New Guinean’s we’ve met have been incredibly generous with us. No one does hospitality like they do!

We also did a Friday night youth program for the church, with a few dramas and testimonies. Saturday we traveled to Aroma, a village 6 hours drive east of Port Moresby. The drive within itself was quite an adventure, as in 6 hours in the back of an open flatbed truck. Everyone was a shade between red and brown from the sun and the dust. I had the great “privilege” of riding in the front seat with the driver, as I had the stomach bug and was having nausea and vomiting. The bumpy ride didn’t help at all, but at least my butt wasn’t bruised like those riding in the back described to me later. Also, that was my first experience of making a trip to the bathroom in the bushes on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. If I ever thought camping was inconvenient, I have had a sure change of heart… and perspective.

We arrived and stayed in Pelegai, which is a small part of Aroma. Janina (Switzerland) and I were paired together and stayed with the Malu family: Kuroa, Imana and their 4 year old daughter Valy. They were so incredibly generous, they moved out of their bedroom so we could sleep in a bed…. I was completely taken aback that they would do that for us. But while we were in the village, everyone treated us like we were royalty and gave us the best of what little they had. I can tell you I’ve learned a whole new level of what it means to be generous, as well as being grateful for what I have!

The first week felt rather awkward, just with adjusting to a new environment and not sure how to bridge the gap with the culture and our family who spoke limited English. Not to mention it rained all that week so it wasn’t pleasant walking from place to place. But we spent some really great team time getting to know each other better.  However, the second week was fantastic! The weather was much better so we were able to walk different locations and spend time outside. We were able to plan programs (dramas/teachings) as a group and take them to the community. We shared for many R.I. (religious instruction) classes in the schools, and also did some sharing at the local market on Saturdays. We had so much fun, and really learned a lot from each other through those teachings. During that week we Janina and I really got to connect with our house mom, and shared some very special moments with her. I also felt I got more insight and understanding with relating to the culture as well. I learned a little bit of the language: “pogie pogie na ma na” means “good morning.”

Other things about PNG:

·         We got to pray for a lady named Helen who had malaria and a parasite on her brain causing numbness and tingling down her leg. At the time she wasn’t able to walk and wasn’t doing well… was able to walk (30min)to church the next week and was wearing a smile! J

·         Our bathroom was a 5 minute walk from where we were staying. In order to get to it, had to walk through ankle deep mud that squished between your toes. Also, had to watch for misquitos that would bite with your pants down.

·         We had our fair share of deep fat fried foods, but learned how to make “skons” PNG style. Was elated to see a green vegetable on the ship…

·         The village gave us so many baskets and bags as gifts when we left.

·         Can’t forget bucket showers! Janina and I shared quite the experience dumping buckets of water over each other.

·         We were so privileged to hear singing in PNG… the people here sing with such passion and have incredible harmonies, even the little kids. I was utterly blown away by their passion and hearts for singing- It was definitely a highlight!

·         Ate sago (ground tree bark) and mud crab that we killed ourselves

·         Learned that eyeballs of cooked fish are not meant to be eaten

I learned so much from the culture, community and have been experiencing incredible growth personally!

We now have the great privilege of being back on the ship and meeting up with the rest of the team! Yayyy! We will be in port until Friday and then we sail to Kikori to do medical clinics.

Please check out the YWAM reef to outback Facebook page (We are the CENTRAL PROVENCE team); we have posts and a video update… be sure to have a look!

Looking forward to this next portion of outreach….

Hope all of you are doing well!

God bless,

Christina

PS: Got some delayed mail; Thank you Grandma for the birthday card and the letter! And thank you Aunt Mary and Jim Sally and Kayla for the birthday cards! Loved it! So appreciated that you were thinking of me and made me feel special and celebrated! J

Gone To PNG....Be Back in 96 days

G'day Mates!

This will be my final update for a while, as I won't have internet available, but hope to update my blog once a month via internet cafes. So stay tuned! My class is rapidly packing and gathering things to get ready for the trip. Lots of baby wipes, hand sanitizer, batteries, sunscreen... you get the idea :) 

Some awesome praise reports that we are so thankful for: We as a class were waiting for a significant amount of finances to come in and they came! Our entire team is going to Papua New Guinea! The plane flights were found to be more than what we anticipated, but those came in at a lower price which was awesome! And we got approved as aid workers and can stay the entire 96 days rather than the 30 days for a tourist! Yayyy!

My outreach team ( Team "B" or Team Brilliant) will be heading into the Western Province and staying there for a few weeks. Then we will be meeting up with Team "A" aka Team "Awesome" on the ship. We will be doing clinics both on the ship and on land. We are gathering some small items to take for the kids we meet. pencils, string for bracelets. I can't wait to meet the people! I understand they are incredibly welcoming and a very hospitable culture. 

I'm currently in the midst of packing, which is quite a task and praying that my bag doesn't exceed 20 kilos...I have the biggest bag so I'm carrying my group's extra toilet paper :) Now I'm feeling the excitement of going to Papua New Guinea!  I'm just expecting the unexpected... and lots of adventure!

Thanks for all your love and support!

God bless, Christina 

PS: Hope to give an update blog approximately once a month via internet cafes, so stay tuned!

Culture, worldview and car washing

G'day mates!

I'm excited to report we've been doing more and more preparation for leaving for PNG! Just a few minutes ago we were outside taking photos of our outreach groups. Hopefully I will be able to post that soon.
We are 24 in our school (20 students and  leaders) and we are divided up into 2 outreach teams. There will be many people from the community coming to join us to assist with clinics and assisting with projects in PNG. The ship only hold 50 people total, so we are split into 2 outreach teams A & B, or Team Brillantly Bold and Team Awesomeness as we like to call them. We will be trading back and forth in staying on the ship and staying in the villages for 2 weeks at a time. I think there is one point where team A will be in the highlands (central) for 4 weeks and Team B will be on the coast for 3 weeks at one point.
I went shopping yesterday for some items for the ship and picked up: baby wipes... (need to go back for more for limited shower use) Baby powder (for the humidity), hair ties, band-aids (50pk). I still need to get lots of hand sanitizer, and a water bottle that won't get moldy. Oh, and get some anti-sea sickness pills.

Did I mention that I went to the doctor and got my cholera "vaccine?" it was actually a drink that didn't taste the greatest, but reminded me of dental floride. When I left the states I didn't think I would need to get cholera, but we will be visiting some villages that have had an outbreak, so I will take one more dose of that 10 days before we go.

I also found out that we will be flying out of Townsville to Cairns and then to PNG.

But!!!!! The excitement is beginning to build on our teams more and more....

On Monday night, we have outreach prep and we spent the time learning some songs to sing in pigeon (sp?). It was so much fun. The words are very phonetic , so it's a matter of wrapping one's brain around that. The 3rd item down is a video of us learning one of the songs. Grace, one of the staff here, who is from PNG instructed us on how to pronounce the words, which was really helpful. She explained that she  is so excited that we are having a heart for her country and actually bringing hope and good news since there are so many bad or negative associations with PNG.

 Nathan (with guitar), Kylie, Brandy and Angelica 

 Our team and the world map on the wall

Learning to sing in Pigeon

Last week we also had the opportunity to be taught by Tabitha who has a heart and passion for community development. She challenged us to think about our worldview and what factors affect our thinking and perspective. 

She gave us an exercise to break up into 2 groups where the Americans would interview the Aussies and Kiwi's (New Zealanders) and the Canadians were interviewing the Europeans. We were given the task of asking open ended questions to find out about their culture, customs, what's important to them, their way of life. I must admit it was quite a challenge to ask questions that didn't compare American culture and look at differences, but we learned about holidays, morning tea, history, important holidays, food and sports as well as relationship with natives/aboriginals. Apparently Rugby is huge in both countries and they consider Australia and New Zealand to be in a sibling rivalry of sorts. 

It was an enlightening experience to find ways to be introduced to a new culture, especially without comparing them to your own. I actually feel I know more about my perspective and worldview from that exercise than learning about it in school, and it will be great to practice that in PNG. 

Other events this week were a S'more night at the Coopers, one of the families (staff) right outside the base. It was a great opportunity to have a change of scenery and relax at the end of the week. There was a small bonfire  and it was great to try to instruct some of the Europeans on how to roast a marshmallow. Sven in particular (from Switzerland) was hilarious to watch as he kept burning his marshmallow on accident.

 Sven with his marshmallow and Kayla (USA) in the background

 Annalisa (Faroe Islands) Brandy (Canada) Jade (Australia) and Angelica (Canada) skewing marshmallows

 Hanging out and catching up

 My DTS family: Brigitte (Switzerland) Brittney (USA) Sonia and Nathan (Australia) and Sven (Switzerland)

Briggie, Marnie (Canada) and Christina enjoying marshmallows and laughs 

On Saturday we also had a car wash as a fundraiser to help acquire the remaining funds for our outreach. It was such a cool experience, asking God to bless our efforts. We really made the priority of building relationships in the community instead of having the focus on money. We had a car lot attendant and a hostess to talk with people while their cars were being washed, and answering questions about our cause and the medical ship. Here's a shout out to the community of Townsville who were incredibly generous, as we raise $560 in 4 hours! A record for car-washing fundraisers! WOOO HOOOO! 

 Christina and Angelica (Canada) with advertising

 Brandy (Canada) Kylie (Australia) and Angelica

 Simon (Germany) and Guy at the BBQ for "snags" aka sausages

Squeaky Clean!

 Tim, one of our fearless leaders....

 Brandy and Sven using plenty of soap!

 Haha! Making sure things are staying "cool"

 Nathan, our car lot attendant

 Kayla and Kaylin (both from Oregon), our advertisers

Kevin (Scotland), Marnie (Canada) and Briggie (Switzerland)

There's also been great excitement as we've watched much needed funds come in over the last week. We're celebrating together!!! Thank you all who were praying for that!

That's all I have for now, but stay tuned for more "Australia Adventures!" I hope you've enjoyed it! 

If you could give any feedback I would greatly appreciate it. Please feel free to leave feedback here on my blog or on Facebook. Please let me know what you think of the information or have any questions regarding the medical ship, PNG, or my exciting adventures here in Australia!

Thanks so much!

 God bless,

Christina

If you are interested in knowing more information about supporting me or being involved, please contact me at christyp20@gmail.com