After the May 2017 Coastal Expedition and Dedication Ceremony (Tufi Health Clinic), No Roads – Health reconnaissance teams headed further north and south of Tufi with a view of expanding our outreach patrols. We have been concentrating our efforts in the villages between Sefoa in the north and Jebo in the south (about 2 to 3 hours paddle by canoe) with a view of connecting these communities with the staff of the Tufi Clinic and encouraging them to use the new facility. We ventured as far as Tumari Bay / Berubona to the north and Marassa to the south and discussed our 3 needs with local village leaders:
After an hour in a dive boat, we arrived at Berubona to meet Stephen who works at the aid post by himself with a scant supply of resources but a huge love for his community. It was an amazing welcome and our small group set to work and saw a record 167 patients for the day!! This trend was replicated as we travelled back towards Tufi and then well south, staying in beautiful village wind-houses and eating freshly caught tuna and mackerel with local produce prepared for us by the local communities. In total the team saw in excess of 730 patients in 4 ½ days – a huge effort but reflective of the health care needs of these remote communities.
- Safety and security of our teams
- Logistical requirements (a place to eat / sleep / wash)
- Community support.
After an hour in a dive boat, we arrived at Berubona to meet Stephen who works at the aid post by himself with a scant supply of resources but a huge love for his community. It was an amazing welcome and our small group set to work and saw a record 167 patients for the day!! This trend was replicated as we travelled back towards Tufi and then well south, staying in beautiful village wind-houses and eating freshly caught tuna and mackerel with local produce prepared for us by the local communities. In total the team saw in excess of 730 patients in 4 ½ days – a huge effort but reflective of the health care needs of these remote communities.
We said farewell to Al & Sue on Friday – a huge effort by them to do back to back health trips of this magnitude and we set up for the organised training for Village Health Volunteers (VHVs) and Village Birth Assistants (VBAs). Both the Tufi Health Centre Staff and our teams had been promoting the training as we travelled through the villages but we had no idea what the response would be.
The result was beyond our wildest expectations. I took a dinghy north to pick up any candidates and came back fully loaded. Two other dinghies, again fully loaded, came from the south and many other candidates either walked or paddled in canoes to register for the training on Saturday morning. In total we had 54 community members join us for the training and their speeches of thanks and the gifts we received, confirmed to me that we had now created a network of trusted and enthusiastic volunteers that we could support in the future in partnership with the Tufi Health Centre Staff. Our mantra of creating capacity and not replacing it and to build resilient and healthy communities and not reliant ones, had taken a quantum leap in the right direction.
The No Roads – Health Coastal expedition will follow a different itinerary in the future and a core objective will be to support and develop this newly trained group. To this team who worked tirelessly throughout – thank you on behalf of the Tufi region communities and personally for the many memorable moments.
Jo Bergman
Clinical Coordinator “No Roads - Health”
and
Stewart Kreltszheim
Expedition Coordinator “No Roads - Health”
The result was beyond our wildest expectations. I took a dinghy north to pick up any candidates and came back fully loaded. Two other dinghies, again fully loaded, came from the south and many other candidates either walked or paddled in canoes to register for the training on Saturday morning. In total we had 54 community members join us for the training and their speeches of thanks and the gifts we received, confirmed to me that we had now created a network of trusted and enthusiastic volunteers that we could support in the future in partnership with the Tufi Health Centre Staff. Our mantra of creating capacity and not replacing it and to build resilient and healthy communities and not reliant ones, had taken a quantum leap in the right direction.
The No Roads – Health Coastal expedition will follow a different itinerary in the future and a core objective will be to support and develop this newly trained group. To this team who worked tirelessly throughout – thank you on behalf of the Tufi region communities and personally for the many memorable moments.
Jo Bergman
Clinical Coordinator “No Roads - Health”
and
Stewart Kreltszheim
Expedition Coordinator “No Roads - Health”