Dano Aiya Jubilees

Sunday 7 November After a frantic week, my weekend was quiet and refreshing. “I feel almost ready to face the next thing,” I comment to Rosie. “I wonder what that will be?” she replied.

Monday 8th Phone call from Tabubil Hospital (3 hours drive from us). Confidentially we doctors are told Tabubil have a confirmed case of cholera. News comes in from Daru, there are 10 deaths from Cholera there.

That’s our provincial capital. We gather the staff and discuss the need to respond to the cholera threat.

Tuesday 9th We are allowed to tell the staff of the situation in Tabubil, now two cases. Death count in Daru now 21, we hear from a student here from Daru who talked to her family on the radio. Staff spend all morning discussing what it means for us. I chair the newly formed “Prevention” team. Wednesday 10th Confirmed cholera case in Kiunga, on the Fly River 40 min. drive south from here. We get a patient with diarrhoea, but can’t test them for cholera. The prevention team does “Awareness” health talk in Menomsore Village near here. We find out the outbreak in Daru is actually three weeks old.

Friday 12th Official opening of government building in Kiunga cancelled due to cholera.

Saturday 13th We set up handwashing outside each hospital ward and put up posters about prevention. Our diarrhoea patient is probably not cholera.

Sunday 14th I share at testimony time in church how Jesus is the water of life and more important than cholera and washing hands! Hundreds come to night meeting for DVD and Awareness at Rumginae Station.

Monday 15th First “task force” cholera meeting in the district since news of the outbreak.

Tuesday 16th I start teaching in outpatients how to bleach water, and train students how to teach it to others. Rosie does inservice for the staff on

the Biblical view of sickness.

Wednesday 17th A welcome day off. My friend Jennifer came around and we laughed! Felt so good.

Thursday 18th More cholera in Kiunga. Details are sketchy, but a ship full of people from Daru arrived in the town just near us. Three are sick with cholera. They say 40 from their village near the Fly river mouth died of diarrhoea.

Friday 19th Big meeting with all our staff aiming to have cholera treatment centre set up by Monday and allocate jobs to staff. But it is pay week and everyone takes off to town in the afternoon.

Saturday 20th We plan how to empty our TB ward to make a space for a cholera treatment centre. I work on a letter to our village aid posts to equip them how to give awareness and treat people with cholera.

Tuesday 23rd “The LORD gives strength to his people, the LORD blesses his people with peace.” I pray for that strength and peace. I am tired, struggling to prioritise and do the important things. Struggling to enlist the help of people. Please help me Lord.

Wednesday 24th In two groups I teach selected staff the basics of how to run a cholera treatment centre. A member of the community has volunteered to help, feeling called by God to do so.

Monday 29th All our outstations are sent “Cholera Kits” of information - how to prevent and treat cholera.

Tuesday 30th Area cholera report: Daru has had 996 cases, 180 admissions and 32 deaths. Another 132 cases on the mainland, mostly in the Middle and South Fly Districts.

Wednesday 1st December While teaching an inservice to our staff on Cholera, a very dehydrated woman was brought into the outpatient room just beside us. We used our “Cholera” buckets for her profuse diarrhoea and the Cholera admission sheet for the first time. What relief when the stool tested negative! This “practice run” revealed a lot of deficiencies in our systems...

Friday 3rd Our medical stores order from July has finally arrived! Along with extra water containers we had bought.

Wednesday 8th Supplies of antibiotics for Cholera arrived.

Thursday 9th Dr Dan and his family leave for a month’s holiday.

We praise God for his mercy in keeping cholera away. After a big month dominated by getting ready for cholera, we are finally prepared and ready for the next challenge. For me, that’s eventually being here longterm without Dr Dan! At the time we went to print, Dr Sharon reported they still hadn’t had a case in Rumginae. A few weeks ago there were 2 in Kiunga, so they had to retain some kind of alert. The crisis has passed, but the hygiene remains high in the community.