HOPE WITHIN THE MOUNTAINS

HOPE WITHIN THE MOUNTAINS(The Village Health Volunteer Program)By Sr. Maria Elena Adre, FdCC

Hope in its deep and powerful sense is not the same as joy that things are going well or the willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously headed for early success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed... [Hope] is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense regardless of how it turns out. (Vclav Havel 1st President of the Czech Republic)

Last July 5, 2006, we proudly witnessed the graduation of 19 village health volunteers from 9 villages of Rigo, Central Province, Papua New Guinea (PNG). I look back with deep peace recognizing the hand of the Lord in the transformation from hopeless resignation to hopeful struggling among the people of the villages.

I arrived in PNG in August 2004 and was immediately confronted with the reality of inadequate health services to the settlements and villages within and around Port Moresby. Six months after my arrival, I went for medical patrol in Boregaina and was overwhelmed by more than a hundred patients in less than 3 hours. They came with health problems that were all preventable by good hygiene and use of clean safe water. That afternoon, I left determined to try and work out a solution with the people.

In the following months, I spearheaded a series of dialogues and meetings with local leaders and sectoral representatives. I met up with various people from both government and non-government organizations believing that the model of the Community-based Health Program (CBHP) of the Philippines was a viable solution to the situation. However, it had to be contextualized and acceptable to the people of PNG.

The local people were guided through processes based on community organizing practice in order for them to make a collective decision in addressing the health situation. After this fairly long process of dialogue, study, discussion, discernment and planning (February June 2005), the Village Health Volunteer (VHV) Program was deemed as a suitable supplement at the very least to the inadequate government health services in the district of Rigo. The training commenced with participants from nine villages: Boregaina, Daroa, Diguarobo, Dorom, Galeba, Gamogagolo, Kwikila, Seba and Taukomana.

The community of Port Moresby began the endeavor with nothing more than a US$ 650-donation from Assunta, Sr. Fely Tolentinos friend from Italy and a lot of hope. The program was sustained through the generosity of local donors, mostly Filipinos, as well as the moral support of the archbishop, and provision of training personnel by the Central Provincial Health Office.

Nineteen village health volunteers, none of whom finished formal secondary education are currently serving 38 villages in the mountains of Central Province.

(top) Sr. Fely and VHV Muksy Malo treating the skin sores of a sick child

(top) Trudging through mountains, rivers and forests

(right) Sr. Yel teaching VHV Brendan Banaga how to auscultate an old woman with asthma

(left) VHV Jean Auki assisting Sr. Fely in examining twins suffering from malnutrition and pneumonia.

(right) Discussing with VHV Grace Vana, the case of a patient with severe psoriasis.

The work is far from over. The volunteers continue training in a variety of topics like leadership, community organizing, ecology, natural family planning, alternative medicine, etc. The consolidation phase of the program lasted till December 2007.

We continue to nurture the hope within ourselves and the hope we found within the mountains of Rigo among the village people.