Australian Outback Spectacular

This was a night I just wish my three kids were here to see - it was just too beautiful!
The group was invited to attend the Australian Outback Spectacular which was around 45 minutes from with the bus shuttle from where we were staying. The AOS (just to save time tying the whole thing) is one of the Gold Coasts must see tourist attraction. It is a Village Roadshow theme park where a story of love happens along the backdrop of the harsh but stunning Australian outback.
It was just like a move with lights, music, great acting, great props and stunning visual artistry.
Of course we ate a three course meal and had wine!

Surfers Paradise

I have always heard about this place called Surfers Paradise. Well now I am finally here at this famous place in Queensland. Surfers Paradise as I learnt is a coastal suburb along Gold Coast city. The place is clean, has efficient transport and many shops too.
The beach itself is clean and stretches for a long way along the coast. In the mornings, I would come down to the beach and walk along the cement footpath. There are so many people walking and running to get some exercise in the morning.

Early in the morning at around 5.30, the sun is already up

Experiencing the sand on the beach

Looking from the room back to the beach

Myself with Wattie exploring the place on foot

Beating Sago

Beating sago the Kurti way.... (Kurti is a language group on the north coast of Manus island, PNG).


The men and boys beat the sago this way and then the women collect the pulp in bags (see two bags already filled) and then wash it using a filtration and decanting process.

The bow (n'drangkei) that Iam holding is made from the root of tree. At the edge of a bow, we attach a piece of bamboo (modou). As we lift the bow and strike the sago, it is the bamboo that scraps the sago off. The finer the sago pulp, the easier to wash by the women thus more sago is produced. A really mature sago tree like this (which is sectioned into three parts) can in total produce between two to four 10kg bags of sago

Lorengau Market

Lorengau market at its best!

I remember the old market where the roof and benches were wooden. But the new market built with money from Australian taxpayers looks good. However, I think the thing Iam most unhappy about is that the sale of store goods at the market. I wish the management would place these sellers somewhere else and let the people who sell garden produce be the majority in the marketplace.

 The market is still the most popular place to hang out. You get to meet relatives and friends here. You get to eat food from the sea such as smoked fish, sea shells and garden food like baked cassava and down it kulai (coconut juice). Life is pretty must simple for most people here in Lorengau.

But being at the market too, one can see that people struggle to sell their items too. For those who come from the outer islands, they have to bunk up with wantoks (relatives) to sell their fish. This is the same for those who travel down from the highway. They either walk down or catch a PMV. Life is not easy for many people too.

The story of a chase

My father tells the story of how he, Ku-u and Paleh chased a cuscus ('kapul' in tokpisin). Cuscus are marsupials, even though they have some appearances, traits and attributes like those of lemurs of Madagascar, which are prosimians. Most Manusians living in Manus have eaten cuscus since childhood. It is quite difficult to locate and catch them as they live high up in the trees. Young men who are really good at catching them can get three or four a day. It is not easy as one has to venture deeper into the forest and spend the whole day walking through the forest to locate one.

54th PNG Mediical Symposium at DWU

Its the second day for me attending the 54th PNG Medical Symposium hosted here at DWU Madang. Its becoming obvious to me that there are so many Papua New Guineans in the PNG health system who are champions of positive change. There are curious researchers, effective clinical implementers and people who just want the best for this country.

 

 

 

For example, Im just sitting here listening in awe to a presentation by Dr. Livingston Tavul and his colleagues at PNG Institute of Medical Research on their research on Lymphatic Filiarisis (commonly known as elephantiasis). Their research work in 24 villages in Bogia District lead to World Health Organisation (WHO) changing its guidelines on treating this disease using mass drug administration.

According to WHO, 856 million people in 52 countries worldwide remain threatened by lymphatic filariasis and require preventive chemotherapy to stop the spread of this parasitic infection. In PNG alone there are estimated to be between 2-4 million people at risk becasue they live in the 'endemic' areas of the country.

This research by PNGIMR (in local and international partnerships with 9 organisations including NDOH, Provincial health and Bogia District Administration) in Bogia District provides the evidence for WHO and its member countries to treat this disease using mass drug administration outside of sub-Saharan countries.

This a is story about research in this country changing the world and at the same time getting rid of this dreadful disease that continues to cause shame, disability and death in PNG communities.

 

 

Online exams..

Finally the semester exams are here.
One of the features of the online life here on campus is the online examinations done on campus. The whole exam is prepared in advance a few weeks before today.
An exam for a particular unit is already stated in the Program Specification Document. All programs qualifications in the university are set out in the Program Specification Document. The document is available to stakeholders who wish to see see the university's programs.
The unit lecturers prepares the unit outline and gives the students a copy. The lecturer develops the exam paper, collecting items that have been taught during the semester and formulates questions types such as Multiple Choice, True/False, Short Answers and Essays. A few weeks before the exam is done, a vetting process begins. 

 During the vetting process carried out in each department, all department lecturers put up their whole exam and other lecturers critique the questions and answers. This is a quality assurance process that aims to maintain the quality and standard of the examination process.
Once the vetting process is complete at the department level, the examination papers go the Faculty's Curriculum and Assessment Committtee who then go through the exams once more. Once exam paper is approved, the lecturer can now upload the exam on Moodle.
During the exam period, a staff from the ICT Department will be present in the room. The ICT officer is to be present to make sure students have adequate access to the online connection. There is also another officer from the Learning and Teaching Department who is present to make sure the online learning management system - Moodle is operating smoothly. It definitely takes a team to ensure this online exams are done!

I have been involved in the process of delivering exams online here and I can honestly say that it takes a special team of committed academics, administrative and ancillary staff to make online exams at DWU a success each year. It also shows that strong leadership is paramount to effective learning. God bless DWU!

Our first visit after....

Its been a while since we last went to see you, I think its our first since you were rested. Its been hard on us all. Im glad that we came to see you.

Andrew Tabel got a small brown bus and we drove with the gang to Alexafhen. He was the driver and Beno was with us too and we all went together.

Happy Birthday!

So today was my birthday. You were sick in your bed but you asked me to go down to the cafeteria at ground floor of the hospital to get a small cake. I got a slice of cake and came up to the room. Together we sang 'Happy Birthday' to me...lol. This is the best birthday gift I have received. To sing with you is something I am so grateful for my best friend!

Painim Aut Health Seminar

DWU's Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences held its first health seminar on Wednesday 4th October 2017. The seminar was titled 'Painim Aut Health Seminar' with the theme: 'Capturing current health research: A collaborative focus to address the Health Vision 2050'. This small project is a partnership between Divine Word University, the Papua New Guinea Australia Alumni Association, and the PNG Australia Alumni Association - Madang Chapter.

A typical Madang garden

A typical garden on the coastal, lowland parts of Madang province. As you can see, there are bananas trees, yams growing in mounds with sticks used to assist the vines of the yams grow upwards above the ground. You can also see betelnut trees lined in between the yams and the banana tress. The ground looks cleared and cleaned suggesting that someone is tending to the gardens on a regular basis. Right in the forefront of the picture, someone just planted some sweet potatoes (kaukau).

A simple analogy of health service user fees in PNG

Wanpla papa em name blong em ‘John’ na em I gat wanpla kanu. Displa papa i promisim ol pikinini blong em olsem em bai lukautim ol na displa kanu bai givim helpim lo ol taim ol i bungim hevi. Nau displa kanu i gat wanpla wokboi isave lukautim em na papa blo kanu i save baim wokboi sampla moni lo wok em i wokim. Planti taim wokboi em i save hamamas tru lo wok tasol sampla taim, papa blong displa kanu ino save givim mani blong stretim kanu or baim nupla pul or stretim saman blo kanu. Nau, kanu ino stap stret na halivim igo lo ol pikinini blo John ino kam gut tumas. Ol pikinini blo John bungim hevi na wokboi I wari lo ol. Wokboi i kirap na tok: ‘Ol pikinini, sapos yupla laik mi halivim yupla, orait yupla putim mani kam na yumi stretim saman blo kanu na displa kanu bai halivim yumi gen’. Ol pikinini i harim displa na tromoi mani igo lo wokboi na wokboi usim mani lo stretim kanu na i halivim ol pikinini. Papa blo displa kanu I lukim displa samting i kamap na korosim tru wokboi na tokim em lo stoppim displa pasin. Em tokim wokboi: ‘displa em kanu blo mi na mi bai givim mani or stretim lo laik na taim blo mi, ino wok blo yu lo painim mani na stretim kanu’. Wokboi i harim displa na em i belhat nogut tru na tok: ‘Boss, yu stap na lukim hevi kamap lo kanu na yu no stretim, yu larim ol pikinini blo yu bungim bikpla hevi tumas. Mi stap wantaim ol na mi lukim hevi blo ol. Nau yu tok mi noken kisim mani halivim lo ol pikinini lo stretim displa kanu. Displa kanu ino halivim ol pikinini blo yu blong wanem yu yet ino stretim displa kanu.  Na yet yu tok mi mas ronnim displa kanu na stap isi tasol. Boss,displa toktok blo yu em i asua tumas'.

In this story, the 'papa blo kanu' is the Government, the 'wokboi' represents public health services and the 'pikinini' represent users of the public health system. This story above is a simplified version of public health services such as hospitals, district hospitals, health centres charging the public, user fees, to operate and maintain their respective services while the government looks on and does not fund the required infrastructure and maintenance of primary health care. 

Now we hear that the government has cut K50 million from Church Health Services this year. Where is the rationale in this? All the Community Health Worker Training Schools are run by Churches. 

In 2012, the PNG Promoting Effective Public Expenditure(PEPE) project surveyed 360 primary schools and health clinics across eight provinces. Many of the same facilities were also surveyed in 2002. They discovered that the average health clinic sees fewer patients and has a lower level of drug availability than ten years ago.
 • 41 per cent of clinics received no external funding or in-kind support in 2012.
• 29 per cent relied only on user fees to cover operational costs.
 • Only 20 per cent of health clinics have beds with mattresses.
• 75 per cent of health workers contribute to the cost of health care delivery from their own pocket.

The PNG health care system is really on life support.....

But there are good strategies for the way forward such as the private partnership programs between the state and private institutions to bring health services such as Oil Search in delivering Malaria and HIV/AIDS  programs. A key point highlighted by Feachem et al is changing the way we have been doing things in order to achieve better health outcomes. In their report, they pointed out that the PNG Government must implement a newer approach to managing health which is to embrace public private intergrated partnership (PPIP) whereby the government become 'stewards' rather than 'providers' of the health system.

Mi mekim 'Homemade Ginger Beer'

After my recent trip to Port Moresby where I stayed with the Christian Brothers, they showed me how they made the non-alcoholic ginger beer. So when I came back home, I decided to brew my own. The first version is good but the second one will be great.

When I went to town, I saw that the same version but factory made is around K20 for only four bottles. So if you make your own, you could have more than four bottles!