Since October 2017, YWAM Ships Newcastle fully engaged in the Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea (PNG) via its vessel, the s/v Ruach. Since then, the diverse professionals started to provide training – whether sail, educational or medical training. In March, our team was invited by the leader of Naura, a village of the Alotau’s area, to provide a Health Seminar. It was led by one of the s/v Ruach crew, Josias Vogt.
“The reason I came on the s/v Ruach was to reach people with Medical and Health care, as I’m a paramedic in Germany. I like to teach and share my knowledge.”
About 20 to 25 women came to the Health Training that day. We covered general teaching – about the immune system, the body reactions to different situations – and practical topics – such as wound care, fever or cold. The teaching was followed by a demonstration and practice time on various techniques, from how to find and take someone’s pulse, to recovery position and how to do CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation).
“Some people took a two hours trip to come to the training so I wanted to serve them to the best of my abilities. They were very friendly; we had a great time of fellowship and I got to know more their traditions. We may come back to that village to do another seminar with different topics.”
We believe that more than teaching, we are empowering the population with knowledge they can and are responsible to share with others. We want to see sustainable health and quality of life improvement within the Milne Bay Province and are thrilled to be part of that process.