My watch showed 4:30 a.m. It was that time of the day where if you met someone on the road you’d take a moment to decide whether to say good night or good morning. Dawn was approaching. Sunrise on Nimoa Island.
We had spent the night on Nimoa Island after travelling from Misima. Nimoa is part of the Sudest group of islands in the Samarai Murua district of Milne Bay Province. Nimoa is about one hundred kilometres from Misima and about four hundred kilometres from Alotau, the capital of Milne Bay Province. From Nimoa we would travel further to Rossel Island, the edge of Milne Bay, bordering the Solomon Islands.
The four hours of sleep I got felt more like eight. A sign that I was excited for the day ahead. Carrying my two bags, I took one last look at the bed in which I’d slept. Then I half tiptoed down the steps to avoid waking the family. They had already done so much for me.
When I reached the bottom of the steps I walked quickly across the main path and dropped my bags on the cement floor around the health centre canteen. I sat down, took my notebook out and went over the questions I had to ask the sister in charge of the Health Centre as part of my research project. I hoped to interview her before we left the island.
By the time I finished the guys were stirring from sleep; they had slept next to the Health Centre Canteen, there on the cement. I wanted to join them but my hosts insisted that I sleep inside, on a mattress, under a mosquito net.
I decided to take a walk around the island and give the guys time to wake. The sun rose behind me as I walked through the village.
I saw people coming out of their houses with sleepy faces. A group of boys was already awake and kicking the soccer ball around on the field. I guessed that they were training for the Christmas tournament to be held on Misima Island in a few weeks time. I walked on, my phone camera activated.
On the edge of the soccer field stood the Catholic church. Nimoa Health Centre was Catholic run. The church there is called St. Alphonsus. I stood in front of the church and took some photos.
Past the church was the opposite end of the island from where we landed. Here was the primary school by the beach and the teachers’ houses on the hill, overlooking the school. Two sailing canoes stood idle on the beach, one was getting a look over by an elderly man. I busied myself taking photos, hoping my phone had enough storage space.
It was 7:45 when I returned. The guys were putting the breakfast things away on the dinghy. The thermos was still out so I made myself coffee. Breakfast was snax biscuit.
The previous day was spent installing vaccine fridges for the health centre. At a glance this morning the fridges were working well, but we would return for one last check after doing a similar job for Jinjo health centre.
It would take us three to four hours to travel from Nimoa to Rossel Island, where Jinjo Health Centre was. We would install the refrigerator around midday, wait a couple hours to confirm that it was working then we would travel back to Nimoa, spend the night and travel to Misima in the morning. That was the plan but plans can change.
I was with the EPI team; Extended Program for Immunization. Their job was basically to travel the whole province installing, trouble shooting and carrying out maintenance on vaccine refrigerators in health centres and aidposts. These refrigerators were vital in maintaining the vaccine cold chain.
Some health facilities had ice makers in addition to refrigerators, which meant they could take the vaccines on mobile clinics since the ice kept the vaccines viable for longer. These ice makers were also the responsibility of the EPI team.
The team was made up of Soney, cold chain officer and the team leader. Firm and steady, always pulling the strings but not pulling too hard.
J.M the skipper and man responsible for getting the team from point A to point B, handy with a wrench is an understatement; he can bring any engine back to life.
Uncle John the sparkie. Been wiring anything and everything in the province the past 3 decades. Solar panels, fridges, water pumps. He was your guy.
Mikes, cold chain officer and local tour guide. Been everywhere this side of the province. Knows every island, reef, coastline and speaks the local languages. Everywhere we land he speaks to people the way we talk to our neighbours when we walk out the front gate in the morning, even though these people are spread hundreds of kilometers apart on different islands.
Lastly was yours truly. Observer, medic and wannabe writer. This was my chance to visit Nimoa and Jinjo Health Centres as part of my research project. Jinjo had a certain pull because it was the last health centre in Milne Bay Province. Beyond it was the Solomon Islands. I see Jinjo and I see the end of Milne Bay Province. Not going on this trip was never an option for me.
We were ready to leave Nimoa. Mikes was on Sudest main island so we would depart as soon as he returned. The dinghy was packed, the guys were making small talk and the day was getting warm.
Next to the EPI dinghy was the Jinjo Health Centre dinghy, returning after bringing a patient to Misima district hospital. It was being loaded with cargo for a health centre staff transferring from Nimoa. We would depart around the same time.
It was about 8 a.m when I saw the Sister in charge walking towards the Health Centre. This was my chance so I followed her, notebook in hand.
I spent the next 20 minutes asking questions, writing answers to questions and taking photos of the Health Centre. We finished just in time to see a dinghy bringing Mikes. This was our cue to leave. I thanked the Sister and left the Health Centre.
It was 8:30 a.m when we left Nimoa. The sea couldn’t have been more calm, but the unbroken surface meant it reflected the sunlight better. Pulling my hat lower over my head, I regretted not bringing sun glasses.
Soney sat to my left, Jux who was one of three crewmen, sat to my right, Mikes and Uncle John up front on the big esky. Skipper was behind us with the other two crewmen, keeping things ticking along.
The Jinjo dinghy led the departure from Nimoa. It was a twenty three footer with a forty horsepower motor. This was the preferred option around these parts. The Yamaha ones out of the Ela Motors outlet in Alotau pretty much sold themselves.
The EPI dinghy was larger. It had to be because it carried more equipment; gas cylinders, a ladder, extra fuel, rations. Powered by two 40 hp engines, Yamaha again.
About an hour from Nimoa, on the way to Jinjo, one has the option of either going through a passage or going around it. The Jinjo dinghy chose the latter, us the former. We chose the snake passage.
The snake passage. No there were no snakes there. It’s so named because the reefs and shallows there form a meandering path, forcing vessels that traverse it to snake back and fort in a zig zag pattern.
It was low tide when we entered the snake passage so even though we were in a dinghy and thus lighter we were forced to take the winding way through. The calm waters made it difficult to see the reef below. Mikes was up front acting as spotter.
In the distance, exiting the passage as we entered, was the boat Acknow. She was on a government charter run and carried equipment for Jinjo Health Centre, including the fridge we had come to install. So if we arrived at Jinjo before Acknow we would have to wait for the fridge to be delivered.
We passed two passenger boats going the opposite direction, their passengers waved at us and we waved back. It was a feel good exchange. On the top of the boats, the Papua New Guinea and Milne Bay flags flew proud in the breeze.
It would be about an hour until we exited the snake passage. Between here and Rossel Island was open sea and very few islands to see. During bad weather, this leg of the trip was where you expected to be hit the hardest. But today the weather was far from bad; blue skies and bluer seas. All the way to Rossel Island, not a single wave splashed into the dinghy.
Uncle John sat still as a statue on the esky, the only time he was disturbed was when the guys wanted drinking water stored under his seat. We glided over the water. Betelnut was plenty and conversation was easy. We even got in some trawling while one of the motors was being worked on.
The trip took us 4 hours and it was 12:30 p.m when we arrived at Rossel. By arrive I mean travel alongside the island until we reached the entry to Jinjo village. We passed Acknow a few kilometres up the coast from Jinjo village. Reef was extensive around the coast of Jinjo and anything larger than a dinghy couldn’t make the landing.
Sticks were stuck in the shallows to guide small vessels to shore. Mikes was up front again, his hands busy signaling the route that the Skipper should take, maneuvering the shallows. It was slow going. Villagers looked on from the shore. Children resumed their games after seeing it was just a dinghy arriving.
In typical Mikes fashion, he was trading jokes with the locals before we even jumped off the dinghy. A few minutes later we were surrounded by helpful villagers who steered our dinghy into position. We were greeted by Sylvester who was a community health worker (CHW) at Jinjo. Sylu as he’s called by his friends, was on the Health Centre dinghy that departed Nimoa a few hours earlier and so he was expecting us.
Sylu led us through a patch of marsh which seemed dry because it was low tide. Mikes told us of a time before the footpath on which we walked, was made. At the end of the marsh was the base of a knoll and a footpath wound its way to the top. Sylu continued and we followed. We found the health centre a few minutes later.
Jinjo Health Centre was a long building on the edge of an elevation. Simple in design; the entrance at one end and the exit at the other. The outpatient area at the entrance, the offices, wards, storage and examination rooms in the middle and the toilets at the end.
To continue the climb would bring us to the staff houses, just next to the Health Centre. I wondered where we would stay. Or how long we would stay, since Acknow had also just landed and our fridge would not yet be at the Health Centre.
Immediately below the Health Centre two buildings caught my attention. One whose roof was still intact, was derelict and obviously abandoned. Inside it some nappies hung on a clothes line. I was told this was the old health centre. The walls long gone but the frames held the roof up while letting the wind in, and the roof kept the rain at bay, so naturally clothes lines were installed by the patients.
Next to the old health centre stood a traditional house on stilts. Odd and out of place but surely being used as I saw people going in and out. Jinjo village was behind the health centre and so that’s where the other village houses are. Health Centre staff houses were further up the hill. So what was this house standing alone yet close enough to be part of the Health Centre? I would soon find out.
The sister in charge of Jinjo Health Centre was not working the shift when we arrived. We informed the CHW on duty of our visit and proceeded to the staff houses behind the health centre. We dropped our bags under a house and sat on the benches. It felt good to sit down in a different position after sitting for hours on the dinghy. I didn’t know whose house it was, but island hospitality suspended the answers to such questions and we quickly made ourselves at home.
END OF PART ONE. TO BE CONCLUDED IN PART TWO
Note: This story was originally pubslished on my personal blog on January 16th, 2022 while I was a resident medical officer in Alotau and doing my rural attachment training at Misima District Hospital where I got the chance to visit the last health centre in Milne Bay Province- Lincoln Kumbeli
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