2017 began with the unpacking of A 20ft container that was despatched to Lae, PNG on 13.12.2016. The container held 846 Birthing Bundles, medical and educational supplies.
846 Birthing Bundles contain: 2,538 cotton wraps; 846 bunny rugs; 1,692 baby hats and booties; 1,692 onesies; 846 towelling nappies. That alone is an awful lot of caring people doing an awful lot of sewing and knitting!
The Birthing Bundles along with medical and educational supplies are currently being used by village families, Hospitals, Outreach Health Centres, and Schools right throughout PNG.
In January 2017 I received a request from Kathy, a nursing sister in Alotau, PNG. The hospital had no sheets!
A beautiful representative of a cruise ship company arranged for their ship to drop off 200 white bed sheets when next they berthed at Alotau.
The sheets were kind donation from a local commercial laundry. I filled the remaining space in the cartons with hospital equipment [thermometers; surgical gowns; bandages; etc] and sent a sewing machine to the ladies in the hospital laundry so they can do repairs as required.
Our next 20ft container departed Brisbane on June 1, destined for Madang.
This contained 339 Birthing Bundles; 2 x Delivery beds; 2 x newborn bassinets; crutches; 135 boxes of hospital supplies; 23 boxes of School books and stationery; Sewing machines [ along with cottons and fabric pieces]; Sewing kits; tools; and much more.
The tools were a request from a “Special School” whose teacher is passionate about setting up a program to train the older students to earn an income when they leave school. Most of the students at this little school live with disabilities – the little girls in the photo is deaf. The boys set about making stools [which were sold to raise money for school equipment/supplies]. The girls were taught to use a sewing machine and the teacher made new curtains for the school classroom.
In November, a second consignment of sheets; towels; pillow slips and medical supplies was delivered to the Alotau Hospital.
We finished off 2017 with a container delivered to Modilon Hospital, Madang.
This again contained the usual necessities – 270 Birthing bundles; 129 boxes of medical supplies; a Dental chair donated by a dentist in Southport, 210 hospital sheets, 170 Pillow cases and towels; 12 wheelchairs; crutches; and 147 boxes of School books and stationery.