bush clinic
Every year there are 30.000 new cases of Tuberculosis in Papua New Guinea. Only half of them are medically taken care of. For a population of 7, 6 Million only 600 doctors are available. In rural areas medicine always runs out – especially during the Malaria – season. From Sam’s village in the province of New Ireland it is a 130 km distance to the next hospital. Many women and their babies die during delivery. It is our heart to improve the health-care in New Ireland by setting up a bush clinic in Sam’s village.
Sonja: “The people there live without running water and power and provide for their families through the fruits of their gardens in the bushes. Their work is physically very hard. On every visit to Sam’s village, I provide simple first aid care for small wounds. Already basic medical care makes a big difference! As a young woman I was always impressed by Albert Schweitzer’s bush clinic. I am looking forward to start a similar project for Sam’s village and the surrounding communities.”
Meeting with our local team in Kabil village
vision
is to save lives and improve the health care for the people in New Ireland by setting up a hospital in Sam's village (central part of New Ireland).
phase 1
Our first step is to supply and support the Aid Post in Kabil village with some medical equipment (blood pressure machine, baby weighing scale, portable ultrasound to check babies heart beats, etc.) and a solar-run refrigerator for storing medicines and vaccines. One of the big challenges is the lack of medicines during the high season of Malaria. Many times malaria supplies (medicines) run out and this is something that we would like to see it change.
phase 2
The second step is to get an Ambulance for the Bush Clinic. Kabil Aid Post is 130km away from Kavieng Hospital. It is too far if there is an emergency, even for a normal health check-up. That is one of the reasons why we are building this Bush Clinic to help enhance health care and medical needs for the people.
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phase 3
​Our third step is to take the Aid Post and make it become a Community Health Post. The community health post will have an outpatient, delivery room, men, female, and babies ward, plus a small operating room and three to four staff housing. Because Kabil doesn't have electricity and running water, we are planning to use solar energy as the source of electricity for the Bush Clinic. Water is a big part of the running of the Clinic. Three years ago we met with our local water board in Kavieng to see how they can assist us to set up the water supply for the Bush Clinic. We even brought some water for them to do some tests. After they did the testing, they advised us that the water is good for usage.
