NEWS FROM MALIANA
February and March have been exciting and rewarding months for IMOG.
- Volunteer husband and wife team Ben Kildea and Sally Johnson arrived in Maliana in February
- Honours Public Health Student Frances Knight arrived Maliana in March
- Purchase of 4WD drive vehicle for project team use
Midwife Sally Johnson and her engineer husband Ben are settling in well, and we are receiving comprehensive weekly reports from them.
Shortly after Sally and Ben’s arrival the Australian Ambassador visited the Maliana Hospital. This was an important event, attended by all officials and staff, and gave Sally and Ben an opportunity to introduce themselves to everybody, and also meet the Ambassador and his party.
Sally and Ben were happy to find the Learning Centre, which is also home for our volunteers, is very comfortable and secure, and that they are able to obtain produce from local markets, and all essential items from Maliana.
Sally has been working at the hospital for one day each week to learning the practices and functioning of the hospital, building relationships with the midwives and assessing their knowledge and skills and attitudes to hospital improvement and continuing education. Sally and Ben are also building relationships with the District Health officials.
At a Bonbonaro District Health meeting Sally and Ben found that the motorbikes have been enthusiastically received by health workers. However, there are still some areas where a motorbike is greatly needed, and we encourage you to consider giving support to this very important component of the IMOG programme.
Since early March, Ben has been overseeing and assisting with construction of the Atabae community birthing facility. Progress has been good and he has found the transfer of skills between himself and the workers has been a genuine two-way process. Skills taken for granted in Australia such as simple mathematics and use of basic tools are not always found here.
The building has generated much community interest, and planning has commenced for a community meeting to discuss the use of the centre and help create a sense of ownership by the women who will benefit from it. Sally has been working alongside the only Atabae midwife on some days while Ben and his team are building.
Sally has been involving herself in District Health activities with the head midwife Paulina from Maliana District Hospital, and the IMOG vehicle is provided for transport to mobile clinics one day each week. Sally is beginning to be recognised as part of the team and is starting to build relationships in the community while learning about the health System.
Frances Knight arrived in March. Frances is an Honours Public Health student; she has a Bachelor’s Degree, with a major in health. Her most important task will be Needs Assessment, followed by motivation of people in the villages. Frances will join in with the District Health activities, and particularly the mobile clinics.
Since Ben and Sally’s arrival we also had the visit of midwife Katie Reichstein sponsored by the Rotary Club of Edwardstown. Due to communication difficulties and inability to find a suitable interpreter it was not possible for Katie to undertake the training that had been planned, but she was able to develop a simple flowchart for Adult and Neonatal Resus, which we were able to have translated into Tetum. Katie was able to complete the training with 2 Kailaco midwives, a Kailaco nurse/health worker in Neonatal Resuscitation training, a hospital midwife and a hospital physiotherapist.
During her stay Katie was able to visit health posts at Cailaco and Atabae, assist with building at Atabae, work shifts in the hospital and interact with hospital staff and spend an afternoon in the Rotary ambulance with our driver Antonio.
A map of the region can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atabae
