PNG - Land of the Unexpected

 The past seven days have been incredible . . . truly.  While the internet connections have been quite scarce, the people we have met along the way have been truly incredible.  After my last entry on our blog, we had flown to Phuket, Thailand, and then after a short stop (ten hours), we were back in the air to Philippines.  Taking off in Phuket, we had to thread the needle between a significant amount of very active thunderstorms.  Once we were clear through those, it was a nice flight to Zamboanga, Philippines.

 

Landing in Zamboanga was a whole new experience . . . . we only had a very short time there, and we were pretty keen to get to the motel to get some sleep before we headed off to PNG.  Not to be!  When we submitted our flightplan, we were told that we cannot take-off until 5am . . . three hours after our planned take-off time which would mean that we would arrive in PNG after dark.  After some very lengthy discussions, they finally agreed to let us take-off at the planned time of 2am.  Then refuelling . . . . one hour, two hours, two and a half hours . . .  to refuel with 800 litres.  Finally, after negotiating, wheeling and dealing to take-off at 2am, and refuelling operations, we were able to head off to the motel for a few hours sleep.  Four and a half hours later, we were back at the airport for our third saga . . . apparently, our planned route as per our filed and accepted plan was no longer acceptable, and we were told that our clearance was now for a different route at 15,000 feet!  I explained that this was not physically possible, and after literally 30 minutes of debate over the radio while holding short of the runway, we were finally cleared to track as per our flight planned route and at an altitude the aircraft could physically attain after take-off!  So, needless to say, we were happy to depart out of Zamboanga and head towards PNG.

 

What a thrill it was to cross the border from West Papua into Papua New Guinea!  For both Tim and I, there are just so many memories here, and it was like finally coming home.  We landed in Wewak, and we were soon greeted by the local NTM pilot, John Meerstra, and my dear friend, John Havora.  Joining the Millions Against Malaria flight was Walter Kaumi and Scott Penna . . . Walter would be assisting us with translation thoughout our flying in the PNG highlands, and Scott would be joining us for the remainder of the flight and filming the flight here in PNG and our return to Australia.

 

The next day, we took out our faithful ferry tank . . . it was so good to see that thing OUT of the aircraft.  While it served its purpose beautifully, the weight it added to the aircraft had kept us on our toes for many hours . . . I am almost sure I heard the Airvan give a huge sigh of relief when that tank was removed!!!  Okay, yeah, maybe a little exaggeration here . . . . ! :-)

 

With two seats added, we took off with Walter and Scott and headed to Telefomin.  Truly, there is nothing like flying through the highlands of Papua New Guinea . . . the scenery is truly breathtaking.  After a short flight of just over an hour, we touched down in Telefomin.  We had a wonderful time with the MAF team there . . . it was a real honour to meet such wonderful people out here in remote PNG.  We were able to spend some time at the medical clinic where the doctor was able to explain some of the issues the villages at lower elevetions were experiencing from malaria.  Chris Bubb, one of the MAF pilots, also talked about how MAF had delivered a huge amount of mosquito nets donated by the Australian Rotary Clubs.

 

The next day we headed out to Malamaunda . . . and what an experience that was!  There was an overcast over the ranges, and it took some time before we could find a hole in the cloud and get into the right valley so we could fly up to the Malamaunda strip.  Finally arriving there, Tim was able to demonstrate his bush pilot skills and landed on the short, sloped strip called Malamaunda . . . less than 600 metres long!  Malamaunda is one of the most isolated communities in all Papua New Guinea, and it truly was a heart wrenching experience as we talked with the locals here.

 

We stayed with missionaries Bob and Noby Kennell who are doing an amazing work there with learning the language at Malamaunda along with translations and literacy work.  In the evening, Bob announced that there would be a meeting at the church hall so we could talk to the people about their issues with malaria.  We were not truly prepared for what we heard . . . .

 

As Bob translated and we talked, the village opened up about the suffering they were experiencing due to malaria.  One lady told how she had lost three boys and two daughters to malaria, another man spoke of the three children that he had lost to malaria . . . the stories went on and on.  One chap said that until the missionaries came to Malamaunda, they had no access to any medicine due to their remote location, and the death toll each year was in the thousands.  Even now, the villages "close" to Malamaunda are a number of days walk away, and Bob Kennel told how a man had tried to bring his child sick with malaria to the village where Bob was - a three day walk.  After a day's hike, the child died in the man's arms and all he could do was return home to bury his little child.  This is happening right now.  As I write this, people here in PNG are dying from malaria . . . only a very short flight away from Australia.  This should not be happening . . . this must not continue to happen.

 

Departing from Malamaunda the following day, we flew to Goroka where we spent the night with some of Tim's close friends . . . some truly wonderful people indeed.  Refreshed and relaxed, we headed out to Port Moresby late the following morning, and at 2:30pm, we touched down in Jackson's Airport.  As I landed, so many memories came flooding back as this was where I learend to fly.  I taxied and parked at the South Pacific Aero Club, and Mouna Sago (a dear childhood friend) was waiting there along with her husband.  It was just fantastic to see them!

 

John Havora drove us to where we are staying now . . . and, wow, Port Moresby has really changed!  It even has a freeway!!

 

Yesterday, we went to church with John, and afterwards we were able to meet with the Deputy Secretary to the Health Minister of PNG, and he shared with us a staggering statistic . . . 400,000 - 500,000 people die each year from malaria in PNG.  We must act on this, and we must act now.  This cannot happen on Australia's back door.

 

Tomorrow, we embark on our final ocean crossing to Cairns! The end is in sight, but the goal is far from reached . . . there is so much work to be done to ensure that Australia collectively gets together and starts seriously working towards doing something about malaria, specifically here in Papua New Guinea.  My top priority is Malamaunda . . . they have no mosquito nets there, and we need to get at least 2000 nets there as soon as possible.

 

While the flight is almost over, the work has just begun . . .