Its an experience that I always remember, having walked through some of Papua New Guinea's rugged terrain, all in the name of health services. Let me take this time to share with you some experiences bringing health services to the remote places. I also learnt valuable lessons from the Tsewi people in the remote part of Menyamya, Morobe Province that shaped my entire life. A life that I promote to be very healthy and practical even now.
It was in 1996, when I worked with Lutheran Health Services (LHS) as a nurse in Menyamya district in Morobe Province. I led a team of health workers, compromising of a Community Health Worker(CHW) and a Nursing Officer(NO) during a Supplementary Immunization Activity (SIA) program to Tsewi village( pronounced sewi). Tsewi is a small village located in the midst of Marawaka district, EHP, Markham district in Morobe province and Menyamya. The only government service available is a community school siutated 5 -6 kilometers from the village. Most children walked everyday and some gave up before the school year ends.
We were dropped off by a chartered light fixed wing NCA plane at Tsewi community school. The headmaster is the only teacher available,while the rest have left to other schools in towns due to its remoteness. The lone head teacher managed to keep the school grounds neat and tidy. We overnight at the school and before dawn, around 4.30am we left for Tsewi village. It was still dark and had to navigate through the thick jungles with our bright torches. On our way, we come across snakes and leeds. Even worse,the leeds sucked blood from our feets. This is the first time I saw leeds sucking blood. It was daybreak atfer two and half hours of walking. We had our biscuits and fresh water from the running creek. After the short break, we continued walking until we reached Tsewi at 6:00pm. The welcome reception given by the locals was the best I ever experienced in my entire life. There were shouts of women,children and men with singsing and kundu beats. We were accorded the 'masters welcome' that one would give to a queen's visit. But more to that, I can see the feeling of joy and peace in their heart from our presence. They seem to be the happiest people I ever met.
The next day we immunized children and treated other minor health problems. We also conducted a health education and did antenatal examination. We worked all day till 6:00pm and left the next day for Menyamya district.
I try to figure out what makes them happy and satisfied. Well, it is very obvious, they lived a very simple and humble lifestyle, with basic necessities as the centre of life - food, water, shelter, air and they have these basic needs in abundance. As long as they have these basic necessities in abundance, they are satisfied. Furthermore, they lived an independent life and making the best use of what is availabe at their disposal. They build good houses, make more gardens to provide adequate nutrition for their families and also health conscious.Thus, from our examination, their babies are well nourished. From this perspective, I learnt that having alot of material wealth like money, clothes, vehicle etc...does not neccessarily make a person happy. As long as there is food, water, shelter,family and air as well as making the BEST use of what you already have - talent, skills, knowledge, will make you the happiest person on earth.
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